Extended closure to hurt Coast tourism operators

QUEENSLAND’S bizarre sixmonth border lockdown plan will boost NSW tourism operators as billions of dollars normally poured into the Sunshine State is redirected locally.

NSW residents spend about $4 billion a year holidaying in Queensland, but if the northern border remains shut until September as planned, that cash will flow to bushfire ravaged coastal areas, Byron Bay, the Blue Mountains and other tourism hot spots.

The Gold Coast Bulletin can reveal analysis by Tourism Research Australia found about 2.2 million people from NSW usually travel over the border to Queensland in a six-month period, but the extended ban would force holiday-makers to spend locally instead.

Tourism Minister Simon Birmingham has slammed Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk for her nonsensical decision to keep the state isolated for months to come, despite there being no national health advice this is needed.

“I think the Queensland Premier’s suggestion that border restrictions be in place until September is one that will cause real economic harm to their tourism industry,” he said.

“If the success of suppressing the spread of COVID-19 is maintained over the coming weeks, then there is no reason why those border controls should still need to be there in September.”

The average NSW holidaymaker spends $969 in Queensland per trip, which if redirected within the state would support thousands of jobs as one in 13 people in Australia are employed in the sector.