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Before COVID, Cairns-based restaurateur Harry Sou ran four restaurants catering almost exclusively to hundreds of Chinese group travellers each day.
Key points:
- The federal government has recommenced approving visas for group travel from China since borders closed three years ago
- Regional Queensland tourism figures hope that signals a return of mass Chinese tourism but remain wary of a sudden influx
- Before COVID, China was Australia's largest and most lucrative inbound tourism market with visitors spending $2 billion in 2019
His business came crashing down when international borders were closed, with China the first country banned in early 2020.
Pre-pandemic, approximately 1.4 million Chinese visitors travelled down under, making it Australia's most lucrative international tourism market.
A big percentage made their way to regional Queensland to experience the Sunshine State's natural wonders — from the reef and rainforests of the north to the dusty plains of the outback to the sand and surf of the south.
Borders between the two nations re-opened earlier this year and this week the federal government announced it would recommence approving visas for group travel from China.
But tourism operators are cautious about a return to boom times.
Costs passed to consumers
Mr Sou hasn't seen enough momentum yet to gear his business back towards that market and fears other global factors may make Australia cost-prohibitive for the average Chinese traveller.
"Airfares have gone up significantly and the group package prices have gone up 150 per cent with the cost of fuel and inflation," he said.
"The Chinese consumer from before the pandemic to now, [they] suddenly must absorb all these costs and the shock.
"You almost have to be among the rich and famous before you can come to Australia, not like the everyday Chinese citizen who can't afford that."
Concerns about the overall health of the Chinese economy, largely due to an ailing property sector, have added further uncertainty to tourism businesses pinning their hopes on a Chinese comeback.
Group market key
Skyrail Rainforest Cableway general manager Richard Berman-Hardman said about 250,000 Chinese group travellers frequented the far north annually, with that market contributing 15 per cent to Skyrail's business before the chaos of COVID-19.
"The reality is at this point in time, we're back to around 80 per cent of our pre-COVID numbers and battling away quite happily," he said.
"But for us to get back to 100 per cent and to have absolute, resolute confidence in the future, we need China back in business.
"For us to be motoring along on all cylinders, the group market is really important.
"Some economic uplift in China would be a nice thing to give their middle-class the opportunity to jump on planes."
He and his Chinese business development team plan to travel to China to meet face-to-face with group travel operators to rebuild relationships.
"We can't expect to open the doors and for the China market to be instantly at the levels it was pre-pandemic," he said.
More flights to resume
Last month, China Southern Airways announced the resumption of four flights per week between Guangzhou and Brisbane from November.
Mr Berman-Hardman said it was a great start, but more routes were needed, both internationally and domestically, for the post-COVID recovery to take full flight.
"We need a greater network of flights into Australia, particularly for us up in Cairns, into Queensland, and then domestic flights close or at pre-pandemic capacity levels, as China returns," he said.
In the Whitsundays region, where the world-class Great Barrier Reef experiences were a major drawcard for Chinese group travel, operators are looking to the skies with uncertainty.
The Whitsunday Regional Council's director of commercial businesses, Craig Turner, said any quick rebound in group travel was unlikely due to a lack of flights.
"This is a great start that will benefit plenty of destinations within Queensland and Australia," he said.
"But, I think there'll be some headwinds with regards to realising the inbound capacity to support this initiative."
The Gold Coast Airport is not expecting to see an immediate influx of Chinese travellers either.
Pre-COVID, approximately 300,000 Chinese passengers passed through Gold Coast Airport each year, almost all of them on domestic services from Sydney or Melbourne, according to an airport spokesperson.
"We expect to see passenger volumes return steadily through next year," they said.
Gold Coast gearing up
The COVID recovery has been anything but linear.
After lockdowns, social distancing and mandatory vaccines at the height of the pandemic, industries like tourism were forced to adapt quickly to cater for whatever markets the laws allowed at the time.
The director of the Griffith Institute for Tourism, Associate Professor Sarah Gardiner, said this may have lingering consequences for operators still "really oriented" towards domestic markets.
"Prior to the pandemic, China was our largest visitor market, and also our biggest spending market for international visitors," Dr Gardiner said.
"Trying to manage that mix of customers, Chinese, other international visitors and then domestic tourism will be quite a challenge for the industry moving forward."
The tourist mecca of the Gold Coast is "savvy ready" for its biggest international source market to return, according to the peak industry body.
Destination Gold Coast's acting chief executive, Rachel Hancock, said it was previously worth about $337 million each year.
"Our operators have always kept those relationships warm and Destination Gold Coast itself has an in-market rep, so we never took our foot off the pedal," she said.
"I think, definitely, we'll start to see some good opportunity soon."
Diverse markets
Craig Turner believes the Whitsundays region is better placed to lure high-end travellers, as opposed to larger group destinations like Cairns and the Gold Coast.
"For us it's really about driving yield along with the passengers rather than lots of volume at a lesser yield," he said.
"We're looking at that higher-end Chinese traveller that will come here in small groups for Golden Week and for Chinese New Year.
"The great thing about Queensland is that we have so much to offer from so many different destinations, so we're complementary in what we offer."