Is the COVID Vaccine the Light at the End of the Tunnel for Tourism?

Gold Coast Bulletin 20/2/2021

The Gold Coast tourism sector had 120,009 people on JobKeeper 1.0 and dropped significantly to 49,222 on JobKeeper 2.0. A total difference of -59% (ATO). Whilst this is the third worst percentage in the country behind Mornington Peninsula in Victoria, due to lockdowns, and Cairns, due to international reliance, other tourism regions have fared much better in terms of percentage decrease, and more importantly, number of people reliant on wage subsidies. Based on this assessment of JobKeeper, and the consensus of the roundtable, border stability is proportionately more important to the Gold Coast economic recovery than anywhere else in Australia.

With the roll-out of the COVID-19 vaccine commenced in Australia, the Queensland government should now be able to deliver stable and open borders that will protect the livelihoods of tens of thousands of Gold Coasters, without compromising health outcomes, so that we can continue to move forward with our economic recovery in leaps and bounds.