Virus peak a ‘diabolical’ few weeks for tourism

GOLD Coast tourism businesses face a “diabolical” month, with the industry’s peak state body warning the Omicron peak will be the most difficult period since the pandemic’s beginning.

The spread of the highly contagious Covid variant is expected to reach its height in the final weeks of January and early February, crippling the final weeks of the school holidays.

It caps off a month of disappointments for the city’s biggest industry, which had been counting on a boom once borders reopened on December 13.

While the border checkpoints will disappear on Saturday, Queensland Tourism Industry Council CEO Daniel Gschwind (above) said more pain was coming.

“It is diabolical. This is probably the worst situation our industry has found itself in during the Covid crisis,” he said.

“The next few weeks are facing up to be the toughest period for our industry and they will have a significant impact.

“The idea is it will be shortterm pain but the industry needs to be healthy to survive.”

He called on the federal and state governments to consider cash flow support for businesses struggling with large numbers of staff unable to work because they have Covid or are close household contacts.

“We need to revisit cash flow support because we are at risk of seeing the structure of many business decimated and their capacity for recovery damaged,” he said.

“We were fearful at the beginning of this crisis in 2020 but this time many operators are genuinely at the point

where they are wondering how to maintain viability.”

Food, staff and supply shortages this week forced the state government to allow a small number of workers across a range of professions to return to work in a limited capacity in order to keep the state functioning.

Queensland Airports CEO Chris Mills welcomed the elimination of domestic requirements for travellers.

Those coming into Queensland will no longer be required to fill out a border pass or show a negative Covid-19 test.

Mr Mills said Gold Coast Airport passenger numbers had dropped to half of 2019 levels this week and pre-departure testing requirements were a key reason fewer people were travelling.

“We have seen about 14,000 passengers a day on average coming through the airport from the start of the year,” he said. “But the number has

dropped this week to around 10,000 passengers a day.

“Challenges around pre-departure testing, including the availability of rapid antigen tests, have impacted the sentiment of travellers.”

Mr Mills said the removal of domestic border processes would provide confidence that unrestricted travel would soon become a reality for domestic and international travellers.

Although optimistic, Mayor Tom Tate said the Omicron peak would have long-lasting repercussions for tourism.

“This has pushed the recovery back by a minimum of four months – to April at least,” he said. “The data suggests the peak will not fully come down until the end of February, we will then need to restock and rearm, so I don’t think it will be until mid-april that we get going again.

“This gives us time to prepare the economy ... it does not mean we cannot pre-plan.”