THE retail industry has welcomed the announcement of international borders reopening to the country as a “relief for businesses” after more than 700 days cut off from overseas travellers, costing the local economy around $90 billion.
The Australian Retailers Association (ARA) noted this reprieve would be particularly welcome news to small businesses including travel retailer and tourism operators, both of which are of course rely deeply on customers generated by international tourism and have been particularly hard hit by their absence throughout the course of the pandemic so far.
“This has been a long time coming, after more than 700 days cut off from the rest of the world. It’s critical to business confidence that we remain consistent in our plans to reopen and stay open,” said Paul Zahra, CEO of ARA.
Zahra noted that this release of border measures will not see an immediate return to business as usual for retailers, with full recovery likely to take years as international travel patterns slowly regain.
In the 2018-19 period, before the onset of the pandemic, tourism was a major branch of the Australian economy, with international travellers spending roughly $45 billion.
“The revitalisation of our CBDs needs to remain a key focus as the return of international tourists, students and workers aren’t silver bullet solutions. We need to incentivise people back to our city centres, back to the office and back enjoying the cultural attractions which make a trip to the city an unrivalled experienced,” added Zahra.
Recent research from Dexus revealed Australia’s CBD retail landscape is likely to recover, albeit gradually, from the latest setbacks brought on by Omicron, as office workers, tourists and university students slowly return to city centres.
“It’s also important that the states and territories are aligned in their approach to managing overseas arrivals. We’re going to repel tourists if they have to go into quarantine for several days,” said Zahra.
This could be an especially important factor, with the other main source of CBD retail success, office worker foot traffic, expected to remain limited in the short term, with office capacity set to take months to return to 70% to 80% capacity.
“Western Australia remains a roadblock to our global positioning with its border remaining closed. We call on the WA State Government to set a date for the reopening, so the country is united in its approach to living with Covid,” concluded Zahra.
