Front Desk

We all deserve a break!

It is time for COVID-19 to give us all a break! Here at Accom News, we have sadly witnessed surprise dissolutions of well-known publishers. Gratefully, our family business remains strong and we thank our readers and team for their loyalty and support.

We had to say goodbye to our wonderful editor Kate, and while you have known me for many years, writing and publishing content for you in Accom News, I am now trying on Kate’s editor shoes for a while and I hope they fi t as nicely.

I am a Queenslander but Oamaru, New Zealand has been my temporary home for the past six months, with cancelled fl ights I bunkered down in the cool South Island throughout lockdown. The experience has given me a unique perspective and an insight into how the

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accom industry on both sides of the pond managed the COVID-19 crisis and how it is faring since lockdown eased.

Both nations (for the most part) did a brilliant job and I hoped (along with many) for a ‘Tasman Bubble’ to open in July.

It did not happen, my hopes faded as the frightening second wave developed in Victoria and border restrictions were strengthened. Now I think we must all come to terms with the fact that the return of international incoming visitors is a long way off .

We know we must remain protective of our borders and our health. While I am keen to return home to Brisbane, I am not quite so keen on the idea of forced isolation in a hotel, especially aft er all the tales of COVID spreaders causing chaos in Victorian isolation. Aft er spending so long on an island that has been essentially free from COVID cases, I fear I would be at risk of catching the virus in a hotel facility fi lled with hundreds of overseas travellers from global hot spots.

Will this be the ongoing travel dilemma for us all in a post-COVID world? Without a vaccine, I think it is very likely that domestic travel will be the only form of travel for the foreseeable future.

If a second wave of COVID does not reach the other states (as we go to print, NSW hot spots have hit the news) Aussies will certainly stick to their own backyard. Economic recession may make everybody less inclined to go on holiday, even locally. Still, I predict a surge of long weekend visitors from larger towns and cities to coastal and regional towns, with camping, holiday parks and smaller accom proving popular. I also think locals will be tempted to book deals close to home in luxury hotels if the price is right!

Longer term, my hope is that COVID-19 kickstarts a more sustainable tourism industry for us all. It should force us to strategically target a longterm domestic market. Think about all the billions of dollars, extravagant Aussies spend every year travelling the globe – it would be great to see those dollars fi ltered into our tourism related industries and of course the accom industry.

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