Busy Christmas ahead for Gold Coast businesses, despite COVID cancellation speculation

Long COVID-19 testing queues have fuelled speculation this week that some travellers may end up cancelling trips to Queensland for the festive season, because of difficulties getting a negative result in time for travel. 

But on the Gold Coast — the entry point for many southerners coming to Queensland after months locked out — business owners say they're still confident their wish for a busy Christmas is about to come true.

Julie Smith, a resort manager at Coolangatta, says that "there's a really good vibe in the air; people are feeling excited."

Occupancy at the resort was down to 37 per cent in August, and only 57 per cent in November.

Now, it's sitting at 92 per cent.

"It's [an] extreme jump," Ms Smith said.

"[We're] getting used to being busy again.

"Getting the staff in place to be able to cater and cope with the volumes of guests coming in and out, which is a great problem to have."

Currently, those entering Queensland from a designated hotspot like New South Wales or Victoria need a negative PCR test within the 72 hours prior to arriving.

Ms Smith said while people not getting their results back in time had resulted in a few cancellations, she wasn't concerned it would negatively impact business.

"For those that don't cross the border from Victoria and New South Wales, and they cancel, we'll be able to fill that with Queenslanders," she said.

Coolangatta Surf Club manager Steve Edgar said there was a noticeable increase in foot traffic on the southern Gold Coast.

"It's not been that way for a long time, so it's very encouraging," Mr Edgar said.

"The spirits are up.

"We're all pretty confident, I think it'll be an extended busy period through Christmas." 

Christmas this year better than the 2020 version

Destination Gold Coast chief executive Patricia O'Callaghan said the region was sitting above 80 per cent occupancy for the Christmas-New Year period, which was "really positive".

"This is great news and a welcome step forward," she said.

More than 52,000 travellers have made their way to the Gold Coast since Queensland relaxed its border restrictions last Monday.

Ms O'Callaghan said while this year's Christmas is by no means a record-breaker, it's a vast improvement on other points throughout the pandemic.

The Gold Coast lost a billion dollars in tourism expenditure in the September quarter alone.

"We know we're not at the height of previous Christmases and we know that since the pandemic we've lost over $3.6 billion from out of our economy, but ... it's better than this time last year," Ms O'Callaghan said.

"The fact that we have people moving around Australia is really good news and hopefully an optimistic signal of what 2022 will hold for us."

Premier signals testing changes

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk this week discussed a potential downgrading of the PCR test requirement, to using at-home rapid antigen testing.

"We had a great national cabinet meeting [on Wednesday]; we're talking about those rapid tests," Ms Palaszczuk said on Thursday.

Queensland Airports Limited CEO Chris Mills said he would welcome such a change, with PCR testing requirements "clearly impacting" the ability to travel.

"That would be the single thing that we think would stimulate more travel to the Gold Coast."

The Premier also yesterday urged Gold Coast residents to get vaccinated, saying the region was lagging behind others in the state's south-east.

"In Brisbane, they're heading towards 95 per cent but on the Gold Coast it's 88.8 per cent," she said.

"This is a tourism hotspot. This is where the tourists are coming from just across the border."