Brisbane basks in 27 degrees, prepares for holiday influx of shivering southerners
As southern capitals go through a sharp downturn in weather, Brisbane Airports has estimated that 1.5 million people will pass through its domestic and international terminals over the school holidays starting today.
The tourism recovery is well underway (Photo TEQ)
Brisbane was expecting the next week to be in the mid-20s compared with Melbourne’s 14 degrees today.
It comes as Flight Centre revealed this week that leisure travel was gaining momentum and the total transaction value (all bookings made through the company) was broadly in line with pre-Covid times.
Cruise tourism had actually exceeded pre-Covid levels.
“For many, travel is a necessity no matter what the price,” the company said in an investor briefing this week.
Its research found that 72 per cent of travellers intended making more than one domestic trip in the next 12 months and 88 per cent of Australian travellers expected to have an overseas holiday in the next 12 months.
“Multiple holidays are still on the agenda with the preference for a longer stay (more than one week),” the briefing documents showed.
Travel destinations had also shifted. For tickets sold in Australia, the UK had taken over from the US as the number one destination followed by New Zealand, Fiji and Bali which was taking longer than expected to recover.
Brisbane Airport said capacity was still only at 84 per cent of pre-Covid levels however there had been a surge in international travel which was up 53 per cent on this time last year.
The airport said there had never been so many options for New Zealanders to get to Brisbane and most carriers had boosted capacity to Queensland.
