Tourism calls for border clarity

CAIRNS tourism businesses are calling for an end to the “ambiguity” over Queensland’s border plan in the lead-up to an expected influx of visitors at the beginning of November.

The border to New South Wales could reopen on November 1 under the Queensland government’s COVID-19 recovery road map.

This would hinge on there being no further unlinked cases over 28 days.

Port Douglas Sailaway owner Steve Edmondson said Far North businesses and holiday-makers alike needed more than a road map.

“If the situation threatens to change at the moment, people aren’t going to be booking flights,” he said.

Mr Edmondson said his business had done moderately well over the last school holidays, but the lack of support outside of locals and the few domestic travellers allowed into Cairns was concerning.

“These restrictions are putting pressure on the businesses that need the most help, and putting the decision entirely on the chief health officer while the election’s happening hasn’t helped,” he said.

“COVID isn’t a state problem, it’s about your ability to manage it and having confidence in your health system to get on top of it.”

Tourism Tropical North chairwoman Wendy Morris said success over the last school holidays had been patchy, with some businesses doing well out of it, while others had struggled.

“The most successful businesses have been ones with a strong access to local markets, which is why it’s important to have that air access,” she said.

Cairns Chamber of Commerce chief executive Patricia O’Neill said the Queensland border remaining closed had caused the Far North to miss out on lucrative flights from the trans-Tasman travel bubble with New Zealand.

“When the opportunity comes for people from New Zealand to move, they’ll jump at the chance, and unfortunately it looks like they’ll be going straight to New South Wales,” she said.

Last week, two Cairns restaurants and two Cairns flights were on a public health alert after a woman who tested positive to COVID in Melbourne previously visited the region.

Cairns and Hinterland Hospital and Health Service praised the two restaurants, Tha Fish and Vivo Palm Cove, for their COVID-safe plans allowing health authorities to easily perform contract tracing.

Ms O’Neill said Cairns businesses needed to do their part by not becoming complacent.

“We need to understand that COVID isn’t going to go away, it’s about how we as a region prepare ourselves every day,” she said.