Promising outlook for global travel markets

TOURISM leaders expect international visitation to the Great Ocean Road to be close to pre-pandemic figures by the middle of this year as the $100 million market continues its rebound.

Industry figures were buoyed by news earlier this month that Chinese airlines would begin ramping up flights to Australia from February, after arrivals had slowed to single figures a week for much of the past three years.

Latest Tourism Australia analysis of passenger trends predicts 44 flights a week will arrive in Australia from China next month – or 23 per cent of the figure from February 2019.

Capacity is expected to reach 36 per cent by June, while Chinese aviation authorities have said carriers will be at around 80 per cent by the end of 2023.

For total international markets, the Australian tourism body predicts passenger numbers will be at three-quarters of the pre-COVID figure by the end of February, and up to 85 per cent by June.

Great Ocean Road Regional Tourism (GORRT) industry development manager Jo Birley said the influx would provide a welcome boost to local visitor-reliant businesses that had suffered without global travellers.

“This data is encouraging for the Great Ocean Road Region to provide a much needed boost to our visitor economy out of peak season.

“In 2022, many operators had a tough winter due to the lack of international visitors and we are looking forward to seeing the total number of international inbound arrivals this June return to around 85 per cent of those in June 2019.”

Before the pandemic, GORRT said the region would welcome more than 1 million international visitors annually, who would contribute 977,000 visitor nights and a $109-million boost to the local tourism economy.

Ms Birley said she expected the Great Ocean Road to remain a top destination in key international markets as travellers flocked back here.

“GORRT have been actively working to target international markets and in 2022 engaged leading local Chinese and Indian content creators living in Melbourne to highlight our region’s attractions and appeal to these communities: keeping the region top of mind for visitors.

“We expect the first Chinese arrivals to be those visiting friends and relatives, so increasing awareness of our region to ensure we remain a destination of choice is critical.”