Border lift can’t come sooner
CAIRNS hotelier Zac Sarnecki sums it up perfectly when he talks in today’s Cairns Post about the need for plenty of warning on lifted border bans.
“You can’t tell Australians on a Sunday night that the borders are open and expect everyone to turn up on the Monday morning.”
The Far North tourism industry has been crying out for direction from the State Government about when interstate travel will return.
There finally seems to be an answer after the Prime Minister pressed the issue and beat Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk to the punch to announce a July 10 travel ultimatum.
It is not set in stone but the Premier’s office confirms the July 10 date will be observed if the nation’s COVID-19 recovery remains on track.
That gives tour operators, restaurateurs, hoteliers — everyone in long the long tourism food chain — something to aim towards.
Ms Palaszczuk will hand down her final decision at the end of this month, which is almost exactly three weeks before the NSW and South Australian school holidays begin.
Tourism Tropical North Queensland CEO Mark Olsen has previously said three weeks was the minimum window needed to allow prospective visitors to make up their minds about where they will travel, and to secure their bookings.
It is cutting it fine, but that seems to be the name of the game.
Anyone who has had a walk through one of Cairns’ empty hotels in recent weeks will attest to the truly depressing aura of the experience.
It will take a long time to recover, but even the slimmest of pickings are better than our beautiful region’s current heart-rending state.
Chris Calcino chris.calcino@news.com.au
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