The Sydney-based tour company, CBT Holidays, is optimistic that the reopening of China’s borders will revive Australia’s struggling tourism sector, according to a report by Aljazeera.
The company, specializing in package tours to China, lost access to its biggest market in 2020 when both countries closed their borders in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
As a result, CBT Holidays was forced to cease operations altogether for much of 2021 due to a lack of customers. Despite efforts by tour operators to pivot to domestic tourism, the industry remained slow throughout the year.
Eric Wong, product manager at CBT Holidays, said that they initially received compensation from the Australian and New South Wales governments but eventually had to shut down the business. He stated, “And [then] we just shut the business down.”
With China reopening its borders on Sunday, potentially millions of Chinese, including tourists, students, and business travelers, are expected to travel overseas for the first time in three years, which is a positive development for the tour industry.
“[It’s] good news, the Chinese border is open… More or less, the business will come… and then we can make the profit again,” Jimmy L, the owner of CBT Holidays, said.
However, the tour company owners are cautious about how long it will take for the business to bounce back, given the current lack of flights in and out of China and the prohibitive cost of fares.
“For example, before, the return ticket to China was about 1,000 Australian dollars ($688). And now [it’s] 8,000, 9,000 [Australian dollars] ($5,500, $6,200)… for economy,” Jimmy L said.
Similarly, Sun, the managing director of China Travel Service, another China-focused operator in Sydney, stated that there are currently only “a couple of flights” coming to Australia from China, carrying just a few hundred passengers.
While Chinese airlines are increasing flights to and from Australia, Australia’s national carrier, Qantas, has yet to announce the resumption of routes to China.
Sun is optimistic that things will change soon, as he believes, “when the airlines increase the flight schedule… I think the people exchange between these two countries will be more and more frequent and then gradually go back to normal”.
However, there needs to be more action from the Australian government to encourage travel between China and Australia, despite Chinese visitors accounting for 12.3 billion Australian dollars ($8.5bn), or one-third, of all tourist spending before the pandemic.
The Australian government recently announced that travelers from China, including Hong Kong and Macau, would have to provide a negative COVID-19 test result prior to travel, due to concerns over new variants of the virus entering Australia.
The decision has been met with criticism from Beijing, which stated that any COVID-19 control policy needs to be “proportionate” and “science-based” without affecting “normal travel and people-to-people exchange and cooperation.”
Despite this, tour operators are optimistic that the testing requirement will allow Chinese travelers to visit Australia.
Sun said, “I think that’s fine… That’s very, very reasonable.” He added, “Even now, for Australian people or for the Australian-Chinese to visit China, they still need a 48-hours COVID test. It is the same.” He also stated that it might take some time for the policy to take effect.
In conclusion, the reopening of China’s borders is seen as a positive development for the Australian tourism industry, particularly for tour companies that focus on package tours to China. However, with limited flights and high fare prices, it may take some time for the industry to recover fully.
Additionally, while the Chinese market is a key market for the Australian tourism industry, there needs to be more action from the government to encourage travel between the two countries.
Isn’t it exciting how the reopening of China’s borders is expected to inject a much-needed boost into Australia’s tourism? Imagine the new cultural exchanges and stronger bonds it could bring! 😊