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Tourism operators on the South Coast are gearing up for what they say looks like being their best summer ever. The block on foreign travel plus the lifting of state borders is pushing bookings up. But the demographic seems to be changing so that more older people are heading there – and some hoteliers say the older guests are just a little bit pickier. But nobody’s complaining too much about more guests, whatever the age. Business is business. “We are looking like it’s going to be a record number,” Mathew Hatcher of Guerrilla Roasters in Moruya said. “It’s gearing up to be the biggest summer ever.” “All these people who normally go to Bali or Thailand are coming here instead,” said Mr Hatcher, who is president of the Batemans Bay Business and Tourism Chamber. There has been a drive to attract visitors this summer after the bushfires and the epidemic damaged trade. A big Christmas tree has gone up in Batemans Bay. Mr Hatcher said there did seem to be more older people than usual, particularly mid-week. Hotel and motel owners had noticed the same. Some said the older guests tended to make more demands. “As you get older, your needs change,” said the tourism operator, who didn’t want to be identified. She wondered if these were people who would normally travel overseas at this time of year. The reopening of the NSW-Victoria border has boosted bookings in the last few days, said Alison Miers, who runs Bay Breeze Boutique Accommodation. “Last week, we had a few from Victoria,” she said. Batemans Bay was a good pit-stop for Victorians heading to Sydney and that has bumped up bookings. She’s noticed far more people in their 70s than the pre-COVID usual. “They are quite specific in their requirements,” she said. The general observations of hoteliers and other tourism operators along the South Coast was borne out by a survey done for the Tourism and Transport Forum which represented the industry nationally. The results indicated three-quarters of Australians who were planning a summer holiday would travel within their own state and a quarter wouldn’t travel at all over the Christmas break “due to continuing concerns over COVID-19”. The industry body said its survey of 2300 Australians indicated “the same number are choosing a good old-fashioned road trip in lieu of flying”. It added: “There is still significant work to do to encourage Aussies to take to the skies and to open up the nation’s ailing visitor economy and to attract the higher yield interstate travellers”. The forum’s chief executive Margy Osmond said 70 per cent of those who had planned a trip abroad said they would spend all or part of their budget domestically, saying: “While there was still some reluctance among respondents to get on a plane there was also reason for optimism with regional areas nationally experiencing record bookings and over 70 per cent of those who had been planning overseas travel saying they would spend all or part of their budget domestically. “Of those surveyed who had been planning an international trip this year, 42.5 per cent said they would spend all of their travel budget locally with another 28 per cent indicating they would spend part. “This is great news for domestic operators and shows there is significant opportunity to capture the outbound spend of locals who were going abroad although it would still not fully compensate for the lack of international visitation. Anecdotal data from our airline members also shows bookings have ramped up since Queensland announced it would open its borders to Victoria and New South Wales and with the South Australian/Victorian border reopening. Confidence, however, continues to be an issue but the low COVID case figures over the last couple of weeks hopefully will alleviate these concerns.”
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Tourism operators on the South Coast are gearing up for what they say looks like being their best summer ever.
The block on foreign travel plus the lifting of state borders is pushing bookings up.
But the demographic seems to be changing so that more older people are heading there – and some hoteliers say the older guests are just a little bit pickier.
But nobody’s complaining too much about more guests, whatever the age. Business is business.
“We are looking like it’s going to be a record number,” Mathew Hatcher of Guerrilla Roasters in Moruya said. “It’s gearing up to be the biggest summer ever.”
“All these people who normally go to Bali or Thailand are coming here instead,” said Mr Hatcher, who is president of the Batemans Bay Business and Tourism Chamber.
There has been a drive to attract visitors this summer after the bushfires and the epidemic damaged trade. A big Christmas tree has gone up in Batemans Bay.
Mr Hatcher said there did seem to be more older people than usual, particularly mid-week. Hotel and motel owners had noticed the same. Some said the older guests tended to make more demands.
“As you get older, your needs change,” said the tourism operator, who didn’t want to be identified. She wondered if these were people who would normally travel overseas at this time of year.
All these people who normally go to Bali or Thailand are coming here instead.
Mathew Hatcher
The reopening of the NSW-Victoria border has boosted bookings in the last few days, said Alison Miers, who runs Bay Breeze Boutique Accommodation.
“Last week, we had a few from Victoria,” she said.
Batemans Bay was a good pit-stop for Victorians heading to Sydney and that has bumped up bookings.
She’s noticed far more people in their 70s than the pre-COVID usual.
“They are quite specific in their requirements,” she said.
The general observations of hoteliers and other tourism operators along the South Coast was borne out by a survey done for the Tourism and Transport Forum which represented the industry nationally.
The results indicated three-quarters of Australians who were planning a summer holiday would travel within their own state and a quarter wouldn’t travel at all over the Christmas break “due to continuing concerns over COVID-19”.
The industry body said its survey of 2300 Australians indicated “the same number are choosing a good old-fashioned road trip in lieu of flying”.
It added: “There is still significant work to do to encourage Aussies to take to the skies and to open up the nation’s ailing visitor economy and to attract the higher yield interstate travellers”.
The forum’s chief executive Margy Osmond said 70 per cent of those who had planned a trip abroad said they would spend all or part of their budget domestically, saying: “While there was still some reluctance among respondents to get on a plane there was also reason for optimism with regional areas nationally experiencing record bookings and over 70 per cent of those who had been planning overseas travel saying they would spend all or part of their budget domestically.
“Of those surveyed who had been planning an international trip this year, 42.5 per cent said they would spend all of their travel budget locally with another 28 per cent indicating they would spend part.
“This is great news for domestic operators and shows there is significant opportunity to capture the outbound spend of locals who were going abroad although it would still not fully compensate for the lack of international visitation. Anecdotal data from our airline members also shows bookings have ramped up since Queensland announced it would open its borders to Victoria and New South Wales and with the South Australian/Victorian border reopening. Confidence, however, continues to be an issue but the low COVID case figures over the last couple of weeks hopefully will alleviate these concerns.”
