Shadow Minister for Trade and Tourism, Kevin Hogan, said Australia needed more air travel to boost the tourism sector’s recovery.
“Australian Bureau of Statistics figures today show tourism is still lagging other countries around the world who have returned to and exceeded pre-COVID levels,” Mr Hogan said.
The Albanese Government’s decision to reject an additional 28 Qatar Airways flights a week does the opposite of what’s needed to support the $166 billion sector and speed up its post-COVID recovery.
“The government has stopped 700,000 additional seats from Europe and the Middle East each year – flights that would have significantly boosted our tourism industry,” Mr Hogan said.
“The government claims it is in the national interest but why is it in the national interest when it means fewer people visiting Australia; why is it in the national interest to keep air fares high and why is it in the national interest to hurt our economy?
Today’s figures also show the majority of international visitors come to visit family rather than as tourists. Forty-one per cent of visitors came to visit friends and family, compared with 30 per cent pre-COVID, and 36 per cent to holiday, compared with 45 per cent.
“Professor Rico Merkert, Chair in Transport and Supply Chain Management and Deputy Director of the Institute of Transport and Logistics Studies at the University of Sydney, today estimated the decision to block the additional Qatar flights would cost the Australian economy $1 billion per year.
“We need more flights and more tourists at the moment, not less.”