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Aussie regions worst-hit by border closures

New data reveals how badly Australia has been hit by travel bans. Images: Getty, TTF.
New data reveals how badly Australia has been hit by travel bans. Images: Getty, TTF.

It’s been nearly a year since Australia shut its international borders to all but essential travel, and while normalcy has returned for much of the country, new data reveals the areas that are still doing it tough.

More than one-in-three regions across Australia have suffered a 40 per cent loss in visitors in the year to September 2020, new data compiled for the Tourism & Transport Forum (TTF) by Stafford Strategy has shown.

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The remaining areas of the country have also experienced drops in visitors of between 40 per cent and 10 per cent.

“Despite small pockets of visitor resurgence in some well-known locations, this heat map highlights almost every corner of Australia from Inner Melbourne to Broome and from South Australia to North Queensland is still reeling from the pain of this sharp and sustained visitor drop-off,” TTF Australia Chief Executive Margy Osmond said.

“The fact remains that despite some intrastate visitation slowly coming back, as state border closures or merely the threat of them continues to dominate the headlines, widespread consumer confidence and travel is at an all-time low.”

She said that even as the vaccine is rolled out, state and national governments need to commit to providing surety over state borders.

Here's how the border closures have hit Australia

Image: TFF
Image: TFF

Melbourne

Image: TFF
Image: TFF

Brisbane

Image: TFF
Image: TFF

Sydney

Image: TFF
Image: TFF

Earlier research for the TTF found that Australians spent an estimated $2.8 billion less in the lead up to Christmas last year than they would normally do, with Osmond calling for urgent support for the tourism industry.

“A year into this pandemic, we need both consistency among the state and territory governments and meaningful support from the Federal Government if we are to collectively survive 2021 and then recover beyond that.”

Targeted support for tourism

The TTF isn’t alone in calling for greater support for Australia’s tourism operators, with the Queensland government and the Australian Council of Trade Unions also pleading for federal support.

“Industries like tourism, hospitality and retail continue to rely on JobKeeper and face an uncertain future without the payment at the end of March,” ACTU president Michele O’Neil said.

“1.5 million workers were still on JobKeeper at the end of 2020 and whilst the Government teases potential support for some sectors, these people continue to live with uncertainty. The Government must commit to ongoing support to businesses that are continuing to suffer a proven serious drop in turnover and extend JobKeeper to cover those affected by snap lockdowns.”

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has hinted the Government will soon unveil a targeted support package for tourism and aviation, which he said would be revealed in “a matter of days”.

“These are important issues that we’ve been working on for some time. We’ve done an extensive amount of work,” he said.

“It’s about targeting that support but also providing opportunities for those who are doing okay to even take on more workers, which is going to be good news for people across the country.”

State governments have attempted to resuscitate tourism through various voucher schemes, with Queensland in recent days rolling out both a $200 broad tourism voucher scheme and a $150 voucher scheme specifically for students visiting the Great Barrier Reef.

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Image: Yahoo Finance
Image: Yahoo Finance