Coasters need to step up and book
OPPOSITION Leader David Crisafulli has urged Gold Coasters to take the place of Sydney travellers shut out of the state after this week’s border crackdown.
The Broadwater MP said some hotels had lost “a third of their business overnight” after the Queensland border closed to Greater Sydney.
However, many accommodation providers remain optimistic.
Queenslanders and interstate visitors from elsewhere were already scrambling to take advantage of Sydney cancellations, according to providers like Accor.
Still, Mr Crisafulli is adamant,
“The phone is ringing, but for all the wrong reasons for many of our tourism operators,” he said.
“This is Queensland’s hour of need, these operators need you, and if you have the ability please step up and help them.
“It’s been a horrible year for tourism and people understand why, they just want to know there’s some
way to get back on their feet. That starts with this holiday period. Many operators live and die on a couple of holiday windows.”
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has defended the sudden closure and said the “strong border measures” were in place to “keep Queensland safe”.
QT Surfers Paradise general manager Steven Oakley said the hotel would typically draw around “2530 per cent” of business from the Sydney area.
But he said bookings were “superseding previous years” regardless of the shut-out.
Western Sydney‘s Dino
Pesce, of Stanmore, has been staying at Main Beach Tourist Park with his wife Amanda and sons Samuel, 11, Archie, 9, and Ollie, 7.
His family entered on Sunday morning, just ahead of the Queensland shutout.
Mr Pesce felt somewhat guilty he could enjoy the Coast while others were
refused entry.
“It’s lovely here. It‘s right across from the beach, it’s got a nice pool and the accommodation is fantastic and clean — it ticks all the boxes,” he said.
“We only just got in. It was all pretty chaotic. Then the s--t hit the fan.
“It (the border closure)
happened so quickly, that’s the hardest part, of course. You don’t even have time to think about what’s going on. It escalated pretty quickly.
“There’s a bit of guilt. It’s quite sad — a lot of families haven’t had this opportunity.
“I’m sure we were one of many who were lucky, but many weren’t so lucky.”