Canberra tourism operators positive despite Omicron uncertainty

VisitCanberra director Jonathan Kobus had noticed a rise in tourism but said it would be a "wait and see" game over the summer holidays.

"At the moment there's still a lot more information that we need to understand, of course we will take advice from the health authorities and respond accordingly, but at the moment it still appears to be a positive summer season," Mr Kobus said.

"While we have noticed the market response lately, it's mainly because people are booking closer to date than usual."

"I think that's due to how quickly things have changed with COVID, but since restrictions lifted in October bookings across the board have gone up."

The Dinosaur Museum's general manager David Barker was "cautiously optimistic" about the upcoming summer season, with bookings still strong despite the latest COVID variant.

"We were really busy this weekend with the number of visitors at the same level before COVID existed, and based on our bookings it looks like the same goes for the next week," Mr Barker said.

"It has noticeably picked up with families, which the staff really love to see, so we anticipate it to continue for the holidays as it seems less people are phased by this variant.

"What would be really awful is if borders closed again. There's only so much support the local ACT market can give, so we're watching closely with how the Omicron variant develops."

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The Omicron apprehension was shared by Questacon senior manager Angie Good, who described its approach to reopening from 19 November as a gradual process.

"We probably won't be able to assess what the impacts of Omicron is until there's more information on how fast it transmits and whether being vaccinated protects you, but bookings still seem strong," Ms Good said.

"We will remain open even if borders close from this variant as we've learnt from the past 18 months that decisions for opening and closing borders can happen very quick.

"The best approach we can take it to remain really responsive and agile to whatever comes our way."

Canberra Region Tourism Leaders Forum chair Dr David Marshall said the rise in tourism came down to the ACT's unique position as an operator.

"Overall 90 per cent of Canberra's tourism comes from domestic travel before the pandemic, which is why it's looking so positive for the ACT in the summer," Dr Marshall said.

"Eighty-five to 90 per cent of visitors travel by car, which also puts Canberra in a great position because people feel safer travelling by car.

"Two-thirds of our tourism comes from NSW alone, so you can imagine why ACT tourist operators are feeling so positive for this summer season when international travel still isn't huge."

The National Gallery of Australia's head of marketing Kanesan Nathan shared this optimism and viewed its particular position as fortunate due to the structure of its venue.

"As borders open up the numbers in the gallery are getting bigger and that's very encouraging," Mr Nathan said.

"People actually feel comfortable and safe in galleries because of the sparse sort of area and the safety protocols in place, so it's a new drawcard for those who might have been holding out for a while.

"We're really excited particularly for the Jeffrey Smart exhibition that started this past weekend and how that will bring numbers up."

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