Queenslanders drive regional tourism boom – Noosa Online News

Queenslanders embrace regional tourism ahead of border reopening

Francis Witsenhuysen – Noosa Online News

You only need to visit the Sunshine Coast hinterland town of Kenilworth to see the bustling normality of a region trying to get back on its economic feet.

Since school holidays began last week, the Kenilworth Bakery has had lines spilling down the street with eager travellers and locals awaiting patiently to taste a famous gourmet doughnut.

The cafes and sidewalks are busy, offering a comforting sign of normalcy, much like reports of other regional areas across the nation.

Australians appear to be driving a revival in domestic tourism, with new data from Airbnb showing a surge in bookings, especially in regional areas.

With same-state travel resuming across most states except for Victoria, Australians are booking and planning holidays and getting ready to immerse themselves in their own backyard and in turn, helping tourism to slowly recover from the impacts of the pandemic.

While it’s still early days and the future remains highly uncertain, there are some strong signs of economic recovery, with interstate bookings in some regions exceeding those in the same period in 2019.

From early June, Queenslanders have been able to enjoy unrestricted travel throughout the state, and new Airbnb data shows residents have wasted no time in committing to future trips.

The company’s Queensland bookings already slightly above 2019 levels for this time last year, equating to a 2 per cent increase.

The data further reveals Australian domestic bookings on Airbnb have recovered to 97 per cent of pre-COVID levels when compared with the same week last year.

Importantly, regional areas are set to welcome significant numbers of interstate visitors, with 80 per cent of bookings for places outside of capital cities, helping valuable tourism dollars to flow to local businesses across hard-hit communities.

Queensland is bracing itself for an influx of interstate travellers.

It’s been 15 long weeks since the QLD border closure, but from July 10, residents from all states are again welcome, expect for Victorians.

With all of Victoria now declared a COVID-19 hotspot, if you are a Victorian resident or an interstate traveller who has travelled to the Garden state in the last two weeks, unless you have a rare exemption, you will be turned away.

Airbnb continues to remind all travellers to follow government advice and put health and safety first.

Airbnb’s Country Manager for Australia, Susan Wheeldon, said the QLD border reopening and the early positive signs of domestic travel getting ready to make a comeback is a welcome relief for the local families and communities who depend on Australia’s tourism industry.

“People are excited about being able to get back out there and immerse themselves in all the things that make Australia so great – including our nation’s incredible natural beauty and famously friendly people,” Ms Wheeldon said.

“We’re particularly seeing people searching for unique and affordable getaways that will give them a really authentic local experience.

“As it has driven economic growth in the past, domestic tourism would play an enormous role in driving economic recovery, especially in the regions.

“It’s been great to see that both hosts and guests on Airbnb have already expressed a strong desire to continue supporting the important work being done by governments to drive tourism growth, just as they’ve done in the past. To date, communities have been doing the right thing, for which we’re very grateful, and we urge everyone to make sure they keep following the rules and listening to government advice.”