Home Travel News

"A good start" Flight Centre sales spike after QLD border opens

Flight Centre CEO Skroo Turner says he is confident Queensland tourism is back on track after the state reopened its borders under a "more pragmatic" chief health officer.

Flight Centre CEO Skroo Turner says he is confident Queensland tourism is back on track after the state reopened its borders under a “more pragmatic” chief health officer.

Tens of thousands of fully jabbed interstate travellers began arriving by road and air following the Queensland government’s decision to drop entry and quarantine restrictions at 1 am on Monday after hitting the 80 per cent double vaccination target.

It has sparked hope interstate Queensland tourism can generate millions for the state economy again and maybe even threaten pre-COVID-19 levels when it brought in $10 billion annually. 

Mr Turner was quietly confident the border would stay open under Dr John Gerrard, who started work as new chief health officer on Monday, in what would be a shot in the arm for Queensland tourism.

However, the travel boss has urged the Queensland government to declare when it will throw the welcome mat out for international visitors.

Dr Gerrard on Monday warned COVID-19 would spread throughout the state with the borders reopening but did not expect hospitals to be overwhelmed.

He said despite an Omicron “curveball”, he expected Queenslanders to be protected thanks to the high vaccination rates.

“I think the new CHO does seem much more pragmatic than the health department has been in the past,” Mr Turner told AAP.

“People are starting to believe we won’t get locked down again quickly, which I think previously they were worried about that.

“A lot of this depends on the health advice and if you have a pragmatic CHO that is a really good start.”

Flight Centre received a huge online spike after the border reopened, with around 100 flights booked every hour from 9 am on Monday.

Qantas and Jetstar were expected to carry 10,000 passengers on flights to and from the state on Monday.

They will this week operate around 700 flights to and from Queensland across 28 routes from Victoria and NSW and up to 1200 weekly flights next week.

Virgin Australia announced flights as low as $59 one-way to destinations throughout the state, with more than one million seats made available.

“It is a really good start. There is no doubt everyone is breathing a sigh of relief,” Mr Turner said of the border reopening travel response.

However, he hoped the state government would confirm when they would ease quarantine restrictions for international travellers sooner rather than later.

The Queensland government says it will drop quarantine requirements for double dosed overseas arrivals once the state hits the 90 per cent fully vaccinated milestone, expected to occur by mid-January.

Asked if he expected Queensland tourism to bounce back, Mr Turner said: “So far so good but there is still a long way to go.

“It would be good to know when we are open to international visitors … regardless of the exact vaccination rate.”

The border reopening is a much-needed boost for tourism, particularly in the state’s far north, where more than 9000 industry jobs have been lost since early 2020.

“Both NSW and Victorian visitors put a million a day each into this economy so we have really been looking forward to having them back,” Tourism Tropical North Queensland chief executive Mark Olsen told Nine Network.

Federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg was confident Queensland tourism would recover.

“The Queensland tourism industry is worth more than $20 billion a year, it supports more than 200,000 jobs and when Queensland prospers, Australia prospers,” he told Seven Network.