Billions lost in visitor spend

Published: 10 February 2021. (Note: information was correct at date of publication but may have since been changed or superseded.)

More than $2.2 billion of visitor spending in the Far North was lost last year as a result COVID-19 related travel restrictions.

A report to Council outlining Tourism Tropical North Queensland’s activities, revealed that prior to the coronavirus pandemic, the region recorded 2.9 million visitors spending $3.51 billion for the year ending March 2020.

Notably, domestic overnight visitor expenditure in Far North Queensland grew to a record high of $2.6 billion in the March in the year to March 2020.

However, the impact of COVID-related travel restrictions resulted in an estimated loss of $1.6 billion loss of domestic visitor expenditure, along with a further $650 million lost due to international border closures.

The domestic visitor market is expected to underpin the region’s recovery, with domestic visitor expenditure expected to account for 82% of all visitor expenditure in 2021 (up from 68% in 2019).