It was a bright spring morning just before the COVID-19 pandemic when Kate Bradley stepped outside her café on a berry farm on Tasmania’s east coast, looked at the view and went speechless.
It was not the restless waters of the Great Oyster Bay or the silent ink-blue mountains of the Freycinet National Park that took her breath away.
It was the sight of 16 tourist buses packed with hundreds of Chinese travellers.
“I looked at the car park and got quite a shock. It was absolutely packed, so I went in and told the girls, ‘Get your act together, we’re going to be flat out today’,” Ms Bradley told SBS News.
Ms Bradley established Kate’s Berry Farm 34 years ago, but somewhere along the way through sheer word of mouth, the farm became a must-stop destination for thousands of Chinese tourists on their way to Tasmania’s iconic Wineglass Bay.
“We used to get around 50,000 visitors each year before the pandemic and I would say 70 per cent of them were from China,” Ms Bradley said.
Today, however, in the absence of those travellers, it’s a very different story.
Kate Bradley is eagerly waiting for international tourists to return to her farm in Tasmania. Source: Supplied
“Let’s just say it’s a bit quiet nowadays and we have a lot more time to make strawberry jam,” she said.
Kate’s Berry Farm is not alone
Businesses – small and large – across Australia have borne the brunt of a lack of international tourists.
Before the pandemic, Scenic World amusement park in the Blue Mountains in NSW used to receive 1.1 million visitors a year, of which about 650,000 were international tourists. About 200,000 of those were travellers from China.
Anthea Hammon, managing director of Scenic World, told SBS News it’s been incredibly hard for the business in the absence of those tourists.
International visitors to Australia. Source: Australian Trade and Investment Commission
“We have been surviving for more than two years with less than 25 per cent of our usual visitation. The domestic market didn’t really make up the difference unfortunately,” Ms Hammon said.
Over in Victoria, it's a similar story for other tourism businesses.
Up to 70 per cent of the total visitors - or about half a million people - at Phillip Island Nature Parks were international visitors in 2019; a demographic that has all but disappeared in the past two years.
The return of international travellers
For the first time in almost two years, Australia (with the exception of Western Australia) is set to open its borders to fully vaccinated international tourists.
While visitors from Japan, New Zealand, Singapore and South Korea have enjoyed some travel exemptions for the past few months, the move will enable visa holders from all over the world to visit parts of Australia from Monday.
But for a number of reasons, Australia’s biggest source of tourism, China, will be missing in action.
Chinese tourism in Australia
According to data received from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), more than 9.4 million international tourists touched down in Australia in 2019, contributing $31.43 billion to the country’s economy.
Of those travellers, more than 1.3 million came from China, contributing $10.3 billion to the economy.
Sun Jian – managing director of Sydney-based China Travel Service – told SBS News the industry has really suffered in the absence of those tourists.
“Those are big numbers. We haven’t had those numbers for the past two years and we can only hope we get back to normal in 2022 or 2023,” Mr Sun said.
China Travel Service specialises in inbound Chinese tourism and while the company has managed to survive the pandemic by the skin of its teeth thanks to the government handouts, Mr Sun admits many other similar businesses haven’t been so fortunate.
Sun Jian is the managing director of Sydney-based China Travel Service, which heavily relies on inbound Chinese tourists. Source: Supplied
“It has been very hard for so many businesses and it’s not over yet,” he said.
Why the Chinese tourists are not returning
According to a McKinsey & Company report filed in August 2021, China’s “outbound travel is likely to remain muted for the next 12 to 18 months” for a number of reasons.
Unlike most other countries that are trying to “live with the virus”, China is still pursuing a zero-COVID strategy, which means Chinese citizens are only allowed to travel internationally for essential purposes, with returning travellers having to quarantine for 14 days.
“We have started receiving some VFR [visiting friends and relatives] enquiries. Chinese citizens who have family members in Australia really want to come to Australia and reunite with them. But the 14-day quarantine requirement is a deterrent for them,” Mr Sun said.
“Until those restrictions are lifted, the inbound Chinese tourism market will clearly not recover,” he said.
But even within the VFR market, there are limitations.
“Six COVID-19 vaccines have been approved for use in China but only two of them [Sinovac and Sinopharm] are recognised by the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) of Australia,” Mr Sun said.
The TGA has approved Sinopharm for travellers under the age of 60, which makes it harder for older people from China to come to Australia.
“Chinese parents of Australian citizens who are older than 60 and received that vaccine won’t be allowed in,” Mr Sun said.
Souring diplomatic ties between the two nations are also having an impact, according to Lowy Institute research fellow Dr Jennifer Hsu.
“China has expressed its dissatisfaction with [the US Secretary of State Antony] Blinken’s visit to Melbourne last week, citing that AUKUS and Quad is subscription to a Cold War mentality, which means China and Australia will find it much more difficult to find common ground in rebuilding the relationship,” Dr Hsu said.
If the ties don’t improve, China may take drastic steps, such as actively discouraging its citizens to travel to Australia, even after the pandemic is over, she said.
“We have seen in the past where the Chinese government has warned Chinese international students about coming to Australia, so there’s the possibility for Chinese government representatives warning citizens from going to any country that they deem potentially harmful,” she said.
SBS News has contacted the office of Foreign Affairs Minister Marise Payne for comment.
What’s being done to address the problem?
Even during the pandemic, Australia continued to promote itself “to Chinese consumers through traditional marketing channels, along with trade and social media activities”, a DFAT spokesperson said in a statement.
“Recent consumer activity has seen over 1.5 billion views of a post on social media, where we continue to engage and inspire consumers with Australian content.
“Tourism Australia’s trade marketing efforts include hosting the 2021 Australian Tourism Exchange with a live event held in Suzhou, China, where more than 200 travel buyers in the market met online with Australian tourism product suppliers.
“Meanwhile the Aussie Specialist Program is continuing to train frontline travel sellers across China so they can expand their knowledge of Australian products, destinations and people.
“Tourism Australia is ready to activate a full marketing campaign in China when it is optimal to do so and in the meantime is ramping up activities in markets open to Australia from 21 February."
What else can be done?
In addition to Australia's Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) recognising more vaccines approved for use in China, Mr Sun said the Australian government should actively support the coach industry.
Coach companies that specialise in offering bus tours to inbound Chinese tours are the spine of this sector, he said.
“They have suffered terrible losses during the pandemic and the government should continue to support them.
“If this sector disappears, there will be nothing to support the Chinese tourists when they return and that can have worse consequences for our industry."
