Accor boss calls for QLD borders to reopen

With border restrictions still in place, Australia’s leading hotelier has warned that more than 21,000 Queensland hotel rooms and apartments will not be filled this summer and tourism revenue will lose out on billions of dollars.

Accor Pacific boss, Simon McGrath, said Queensland was approaching "crisis point" as regular visitors to Queensland start booking vacations in other areas due to the fact that they don’t know if Queensland’s borders will open up. 

Accor is predicting that if border uncertainty continues, more than 70% of Queensland’s 30,000 rooms will remain vacant.

"It's not good enough for the Queensland government to say 'we will make a decision in November or December'. People are making their bookings now, they are not going to sit around and wait," Mr McGrath told The Australian Financial Review.

"They are looking at places like Northern NSW or finding other destinations intrastate – the pace of bookings into Queensland has slowed quite dramatically."

In order to “save summer” a definite reopening date needs to be announced in early October.

Due to being declared hotspots, Queensland borders are closed to Vic and NSW.

Accor quoted Chamber of Commerce and Industry Queensland and Queensland government figures, saying that tourism contributes $25 billion annually to the Queensland economy and employs 217,000 Queenslanders

"If Queensland misses this crucial booking window and JobKeeper falls away, then some hotels will close for the first six months of 2021. 

"This will significantly impair the state’s ability to bounce back; certainty is required now," Mr McGrath said.