Hawkeyefan

We all know about the bushfires and their supposed impact on the tourism industry in AU. Is anyone traveling to OZ over the next 3 months or so...and have seen impacts to tourists namely eased pricing on TPAC flights there? Just curious if the impact is real or perceived.

Thx!

Aussienarelle

I haven't looked at airfares but the traditional fireworks to celebrate Australia Day on January 26 have been cancelled in many places due to the extremely high fire risk. Although Sydney did the fireworks over the Harbour for NYE I an not sure there will be the January 26 fireworks.

As long as you stay in the major cities - Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Brisbane and Perth you should be fine but many of the tourist attractions outside the major metropolitan areas were destroyed or badly damaged and although they need the tourism dollars (desperately in order to recover) I would not suggest the next three months while they rebuild. For example, Taronga Zoo on the Harbour is fine, beaches round the city and along the Gold Coast. Business in the major cities continues apace.

My family lives all round New South Wales. One of my sisters had the fires go through the property but there was a water drop on the farmhouse that saved the house. Their neighbors were not so lucky. Rural communities rally together and will rebuild.

I have plans to go over our northern hemisphere summer and prices for fares are not low. There are some good close in fares but I think that is reflective of normal pricing close to the flight dates. I have generally been able to pick up good fares to SYD to attend funerals.

Hawkeyefan

My fam will be there in March and we have no desire to canx. Sticking to Syd, GC, and Noosa areas though and away from interior AU.

I have been checking prices on TPACs a few times per week since Nov, and have not noticed much pressure downward.

findark

It takes a lot (think HK protests) to see short-term impacts on fare levels. Also, Economy fares to Australia have already seen a huge amount of downward pressure in recent years from all the capacity adds.

bensyd

Australia is a big place. Most of the fires have affected places where locals holiday, but that are, at best, second tier spots for international tourists.

CPMaverick

Most people book flights several months in advance, and most economy flights are non-refundable.

The bushfires are having a very real and difficult effect on tourism, but primarily in affected areas. Australia is a large country and there are many places to visit that are fine, including all the major cities that are primary tourist attractions.

So I don't really expect short term airfares to be impacted at all. Most people won't cancel non-refundable tickets. If the area they were visiting is not OK, they just drive or fly elsewhere in the country.

TuxTom

I've been looking at fares a bit lately as I'll probably be travelling down to Sydney once or twice this year. So far, nothing has stuck out compared to what I paid last time in Sept. 2018. I'm mostly booking close in but $1000-$1300 is pretty normal.

sydunipete

The press really has had a field day with this. Looking at Twitter or reading what passes for news these days you'd think Australia was burnt to a crisp. The latest figures I saw are that 2.2% of Australia has been affected. All of those places (except maybe Kangaroo Island) are well off the well travelled overseas tourist path.

So Australia very much is open for business and even the directly affected locations are getting back on their feet and welcome tourists again.

Back on topic - I've not seen any change in flight prices. Business is not affected and outward (from Australia) tourism has probably picked up if anything.

bensyd

Which is a pretty irrelevant fact considering the size of Australia and the concentration of the population along the south eastern seaboard.

dlffla

Totally distorting the facts that:

1) Only 63% of Australia is habitable for humans and much of this is grazing land.
2) The fires are unusual in that they are burning in populated areas and have burned 16 million acres.
3) 2,500 homes have been destroyed and 29 people have been killed
4) 450 million animals have perished or are facing death from starvation or dehydration
5) Smoke has blanketed Sydney, Canberra, and Melbourne with its related impact on air quality
6) NASA has been tracking a plume of smoke the size of the continental US

As to fares, I only look at Delta One fares which seem to bounce between 5 and 13k. I just bought one at $6,400.