‘Australia still tourist star’

STRONG demand for travel to Australia will help make up for the loss of Chinese visitors in the next year and set the industry on track for recovery.

Federal Tourism Minister Dan Tehan told the CAPA Centre for Aviation conference on Wednesday that Chinese tourism was unlikely to reboot for some time, given the zero-risk approach being taken by the country ahead of the Beijing Winter Olympics.

In the years leading up to the pandemic, China was Australia’s

greatest source of international visitors after overtaking New Zealand.

Mr Tehan said other travellers would make up any shortfall because “Australia’s star had shone bright throughout the pandemic as far as the rest of the world was concerned”.

“People want to come to Australia, and that is the message I’ve got very, very clearly, whether it be North America, Europe, Asia,” Mr Tehan said.

“We’re not likely to see Chinese tourism reboot for the first six months of next year, but what we will continue to see is Australians continuing to holiday at home and spending more.”

Although international tourism to Australia at present was limited to Singaporeans, Mr Tehan was hopeful of soon welcoming visitors from Japan and South Korea.

Since the two-way bubble with Singapore began on November 21, numbers had grown steadily to be 33 per cent of pre-Covid levels, he said.

“My hope is Europe, North America and the Pacific will follow Japan and South Korea and if we can continue to open up safely there’s no reason why we shouldn’t be able to bring those countries on board sooner rather than later,” Mr Tehan said.

Tourism operators hoping for an extra handout from government to help them ramp up their recovery would be disappointed, though, after Mr Tehan indicated that it was unlikely the government would provide further financial support for the industry, following “unprecedented” assistance during the pandemic.

“As we come out of the pandemic, government has got to get out of the way. That is what will ensure we do come out of this as strong as we can,” he said.

Interest in heading out of Australia has continued to climb, with major travel retailer Flight Centre having recorded three times more inquiries about international travel than domestic trips in the past week.

The US proved the biggest beneficiary of that interest, with a 45 per cent jump in trans-Pacific flights booked in November compared to the previous month.

Overall, international bookings were up 70 per cent in November from those in October, with Fiji and Indonesia also attracting plenty of travel dollars.

Flights to Queensland remained the most searched for on the domestic front, with borders due to open to NSW and Victoria on Monday.

Mr Tehan said the imminent reopening of Queensland borders was “wonderful, wonderful news”, and praised South Australia’s decision to remain open despite rising Omicron cases.