CPA Australia’s latest LinkedIn poll has provided some insight into the perceptions accountants and business owners have when it comes to booking travel and accommodation post-lockdown.
According to the results, 39 per cent of respondents remain hesitant about booking international or interstate travel and/or accommodation in 2022 due to there being “still too many unknowns”.
Meanwhile, 26 per cent said at the moment they wouldn’t consider it but would be open to it in six months. Twenty-three per cent said yes and that they can’t wait to travel and 12 per cent said the same though noted they would “feel nervous” about doing so.
“These results confirm what we’ve suspected for a while, which is that for some sectors it will be a long road to economic recovery,” Dr Jane Rennie, general manager external affairs, said off the back of the results.
“There’s still a lot of uncertainty about when border restrictions will lift and when they might be reimposed. Not surprisingly, people are hesitant to make holiday and business travel arrangements under these circumstances.
“The upside is that in areas which have been heavily locked down, such as Victoria and New South Wales, intrastate tourism is likely to surge. This will give local businesses a much needed boost, however it won’t replace interstate and international tourist numbers.”
Dr Rennie said looking ahead, she expects confidence to see an uptick.
“People’s confidence in their ability to plan ahead is likely to rise in the new year, but this may not come soon enough for tourism operators hoping for a bumper summer season,” she explained.
“Several business support schemes have recently closed or are finishing soon as a result of vaccination targets being reached. But that’s quite a different metric to business health. Many businesses won’t get back to speed for several weeks or potentially longer. Sectors like tourism and events and geographies such as CBDs are among those that may take longer to recover.
“We need a nuanced approach to post-lockdown support which reflects this and provides targeted assistance to sectors which may take longer to recover. It would be a shame for businesses to hang on this long only to fall at the last hurdle because governments withdrew support too fast.”
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