The Queensland tourism industry is facing huge losses during one of its busiest times of the year, with no definite timeframe on re-opening the state borders.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
There had been hopes that Queensland would reopen its borders in June, however, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk stated this week that the decision would be reviewed monthly, but borders might remain closed for another three to four months.
Destination Gold Coast CEO Annaliese Battista said that Gold Coast tourism had been heavily impacted by this pandemic and that 2020 would be a very challenging year for the sector.
"Destination Gold Coast estimates that the economic impact to tourism will range anywhere from $3.3 billion to $4.3 billion depending on various factors including the duration and the extent of travel restrictions measures," Ms Battista said.
She added that tourism operators were working within the timeframes outlined by both the federal and state governments and they would need to once-again re-manoeuvre if the border restrictions remained in place after July.
"The safety of the community is first and foremost a priority, but just how long operators can hold out for interstate visitors to return remains to be seen.
"What remains critical is rebooting the economy as quickly as possible.
"Pent-up demand for domestic travel will continue to ramp-up in response to the easing of restrictions.
"We know that the first visitors to return will be the drive market, so we will work to entice those tourists in great numbers in the first instance followed by intrastate travellers."
