COVID-19’s immediate impact on domestic tourist movements across Australia will extend to sweeping long-term changes in tourist behaviour, according to a new survey assessing the future of domestic tourism in Australia.

Researchers at Flinders University have found that people are flagging future changes to their activity engagement, modes of transport, and the types of accommodation they will select once restrictions are further relaxed or eventually removed.

The survey shows that most recipients remain very cautious about recommencing leisure travel and have a list of limiting factors that will influence their future engagement in domestic and international holidays, according to lead authors Gareth Butler, a senior lecturer in tourism management, and Gerti Szili, a lecturer in geography at Flinders University. 

Dr Butler and Dr Szili found that almost 93 percent of recipients placed the safety and wellbeing of themselves and their families as the most important factor when choosing to re-engage in either domestic or international leisure travel.

They deduced that more than 85 percent of potential travellers were concerned about the safety and wellbeing of host communities at destinations they would visit.

Other strong concerns voiced by survey recipients were their strained financial situation, fears of encountering a second wave of COVID-19 infections, and the possible need to self-quarantine after travelling.

Despite these concerns, two-thirds (67.2%) expected to take intrastate overnight holidays within three months, and 80 percent wanted to re-engage in day trips within three months after restrictions are relaxed or removed.

However, 29.4 percent remain ‘unsure’ when they would take interstate holidays, even if restrictions relax.

ACTIVITIES CHANGE

The survey results also drilled into what types of activities tourists plan to engage in, and it showed a sharp decline in people prepared to attend sporting events and cultural festivals/events (more than 20 percent), with drops also registered in tourist re-engagement of most other activities. The notable exception was that more tourists would be keen to engage in planned exercise when on holiday.

Changes in tourism transport choices showed expected growth in private car and campervan use for leisure journeys, but a sharp decline in all other forms of transport use (aircraft, mini-buses and coaches, taxis, public transport) and  especially cruise ships (by a whopping 57.1%).

Changes in accommodation choices will lead to a substantial growth in the use of personal properties for leisure, although guest houses and bed and breakfast accommodation also likely to become more popular.

The use of hotels, motels and resorts is expected to remain stable, but more than 42 percent said they would avoid backpacker hostels.

The full report will be available from Flinders University on August 21, 2020.

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By Leon Gettler >>

THERE IS no doubt 2020 has been a difficult year for Australia’s hotel industry. With air travel and tourism stopping because of COVID-19, revenue has crashed and many hotels face going out of business.

On the other hand, hotels are working closely with the government in areas such as quarantine. Eventually, the economy will re-open and hotels will be back in business again.

Dean Long, the CEO of the Accommodation Association of Australia, the peak industry body representing close to 3500 hotels and nearly 58,000 employees across the country, said it had been a key year of learnings for the industry and government. 

He said the industry had been absolutely devastated with revenues falling 75 percent and 85 percent across the city and regional areas. In a space of four weeks, it had gone from occupancy rates of 90 percent to below 10 percent.

HOTELS IN ‘ISOLATION’ BUSINESS

The industry is now providing the space for self-isolation for incoming travellers and some front-line workers.

“One of the things as an industry we’re proud of is that when we were asked to step up to help healthcare workers stay safe to support their families and also to keep the community safe at the request of government, we were able to provide facilities that enabled that protection to take place,” Mr Long told Talking Business.

He said it had been disappointing to see some of the lapses in government processes in Victoria, but in every other jurisdiction it had worked well.

While other states had used defence force personnel and the police, Victoria had chosen to employ private security guards which appears to have been a source of the outbreak in the state. He said the industry was now looking forward to the findings of the judicial inquiry into the employment of private security guards.

Mr Long said the hotels had provided the governments around Australia with the hotels and had ensured staff were trained in areas like fire protection procedures and evacuation procedures and were there to support the check in processes of the people that were going through the self-isolation.

“What it showed was that in seven of the eight jurisdictions, it worked really well, and I think for the overwhelming majority of cases in Victoria, it also worked very well,” Mr Long said.

He said nobody had gone into the self-isolation process with any bad intentions.

“This isn’t a witch hunt,” Mr Long said. “We need to get to the bottom of what happened so if it does happen again, we know exactly what went wrong so we don’t make the same mistakes again,”

 “And that goes on both sides of the equation. The hotel industry will be far more stringent in what they request of the government in their processes and systems and I think government will be very clear and very certain to not make the same mistakes that have been made to date.”

SAFE GUIDELINES FOR STAFF

Mr Long said the hotels had also implemented safe guidelines for their staff, setting out how to interact in these environments, from the front of the house to those cleaning the rooms and making sure they have the right personal protective equipment (PPE).

All the hotels had increased their cleaning standards and number of times rooms were inspected. He said this would be ongoing.

“What travellers are looking for is a safe, secure tourism experience,” Mr Long said.

He expected hotels would emerge from this period with a greater investment in technology.

“People are going to be much more comfortable with the idea of using their phone to access their room, the ability to self-manage your accounts and interact with a light touch with a number of employees,” Mr Long said. 

“I’m expecting that technology investment to drive some increasing ease of access to hotel facilities and I think consumers are really going to gel with that.”

Mr Long sees a 50-60 percent recovery in the hotel industry towards the end of 2020-21.

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Hear the complete interview and catch up with other topical business news on Leon Gettler’s Talking Business podcast, released every Friday at www.acast.com/talkingbusiness.  

THE FINANCIAL assistance package for Gold Coast theme parks will allow Ardent Leisure to implement the staged re-opening of Dreamworld and WhiteWater World, with both parks expected to re-open in mid-September, ahead of the school holiday period.

The support package was jointly announced this week by Queensland Premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk and State Development, Tourism and Innovation Minister, Kate Jones.

“We appreciate the Queensland Government’s strong recognition of the important role that the theme park industry plays in the economic development of Queensland and the broader tourism industry in Australia," Ardent Leisure Theme Parks and Attractions chief executive officer, John Osborne said. 

"The Queensland Government’s foresight in providing this financial assistance package will enable Ardent to re-open its iconic theme parks, continue to employ hundreds of people and continue to invest in future tourism infrastructure and create more local jobs.

“We are very excited about welcoming back our valued team members and loyal guests and have already commenced preparations for the re-opening of our parks, including the implementation of our Queensland Health approved COVID SAFE Plan.” 

The September re-opening date for Dreamworld and WhiteWater World will be confirmed over the next week. 

www.dreamworld.com.au

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QUEENSLAND Treasurer Cameron Dick has formally announced that Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre (BCEC) will re-open in August 2020, with Queensland Health approving the centre's Site Specific COVID Safe Plan.

Mr Dick called the re-opening of BCEC i"a significant milestone for Queensland".

"As we unite and recover from the pandemic, it's cause for celebration that we can welcome staff and visitors back to this outstanding venue," Mr Dick said.
 
BCEC general manager, Bob O’Keeffe said the centre's plan is integrated with VenueShield, a new environmental hygiene protocol developed by BCEC’s parent group, ASM Global and rolled out at ASM Global’s 325 venues worldwide. VenueShield provides the most advanced hygiene safeguards and exceeds current regulations, according to Mr O'Keeffe. 
 
To develop the comprehensive new protocols, ASM Global engaged its in-house executive teams including BCEC and distilled the expertise from across its global network of venues spanning stadia, arenas, theatres, convention and exhibition centres, including the Asia Pacific region. 
 
The centre is planning to host its first events from August 2020, with the health and wellbeing of clients, patrons and staff given top priority.
 
A newly developed BCEC Safe Event Guideline has been prepared and will assist clients in planning their events at the Centre and encompasses all the necessary health and hygiene safeguards, food safety measures and social distancing required under the current opening conditions. The Guideline is designed to ensure the safe hosting of events, providing reassurance and confidence for the Centre’s patrons and staff.
 
With a total of 44 meeting rooms and event spaces, as a venue BCEC is able to provide the additional space that is required to accommodate current social distancing regulations for events of all sizes. The Centre has flexible and adaptable spaces, floor plans and capacities to satisfy all required protocols.
 
Mr O’Keeffe said, "It is yet another sign of green shoots in the recovery of the business events industry. 

“BCEC drives almost 70 percent of Brisbane’s business events room nights and we are looking forward to welcoming events back to the centre and doing what we do best, attracting much sought-after and high yield business events to Brisbane and Queensland.”

www.bcec.com.au

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