Australia’s hospitality industry is welcoming the removal of the ‘last barrier’ to full reopening with an announcement from the federal government that international borders will reopen to fully vaccinated tourists from February 21, 2022.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, hospitality has been one of the hardest hit industries – having to endure lockdowns, volatile consumer demand, restrictions, uneasy financial positions, massive staff shortages and the virus itself.

“The announcement that tourists will be allowed to enter Australia is an absolute lifesaver to the business owners and employees who have had to endure so much during COVID,” said R&CA CEO Wes Lambert.

“According to research company IBISWorld, restaurants, cafes and caterers have lost $10 billion in bookings and events since the start of the pandemic. On top of this there have been over 100,000 job vacancies in hospitality across Australia.”

“With the reopening of Australia’s international borders, Australia’s hospitality and tourism sectors will once again flourish with holiday-makers travelling down-under for the first time in over two years”, Mr Lambert said.

“This is a long time coming. When the pandemic started the first thing to be restricted was international travel coming into Australia. With this last barrier removed it feels like we’re finally seeing some semblance of normalcy”.

“While many businesses have unfortunately not survived this period, I know that we will come back roaring better than ever, ready to retake our position as one of the world’s favourite holiday destinations,” he said.

R&CA will continue to advocate for support for businesses during this time as well as seek ways to solve the current staff shortage in the Australian hospitality industry.