Queensland looks to outdo NSW & Victoria, in attracting NZ tourists

The Queensland government could get the jump on NSW and Victoria by locking in flights from New Zealand, before the Australia-NZ travel bubble takes shape in September.

As Prime Minister Scott Morrison continued to push states to open up their borders by July, Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk all but confirmed her government will revert to its original July 10 date to reopen the borders, Financial Review has reported.

Negotiations between Air New Zealand and the Queensland government this week has raised the prospect of the Sunshine State locking in a cross-border deal on flights to New Zealand ahead of their southern counterparts, the report said.

An Australia-New Zealand “travel bubble” for all states and territories is not expected until September, until the Jacinda Ardern-led government is comfortable with the rate of COVID-19 infections, especially in NSW and Victoria.

Queensland has long been a favourite destination for Kiwi tourists, especially during the winter months, as they seek warmer climes on the Gold and Sunshine Coasts.

New Zealand Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters this week also singled out Queensland as one of the Australian states that had done a good job of containing the coronavirus.

NSW and Victoria have open borders, but Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia, Tasmania and Northern Territory are closed. There are only four active cases of COVID-19 in Queensland which is expected to be reduced to zero by next week.

There are still hundreds of active cases in NSW – despite new community transmissions being reduced in the past fortnight – while Victoria has about 60 active cases.

Queensland Tourism Minister Kate Jones – who has been the subject of fierce lobbying by tourism bosses to open the state’s borders sooner rather than later – said New Zealand was one of the state’s most important tourism markets, worth more than half a billion dollars.

More than 480,000 New Zealand tourists visit Queensland each year.

“We’re working hard to ensure we fast track Queensland’s economic recovery. Flights are vital to the tourism industry,” Jones said.