Via Domain:
Tourists are abandoning regional Victoria and NSW in droves, with cancellation rates of more than 60 per cent even in towns outside the bushfire zones causing economic damage of up to $1 billion.
The vast majority of cancellations come from Australians choosing to stay home, leaving industry experts to call for new campaigns urging people to get back out and spend money on their holidays.
International visitors have so far not been cancelling to the same extent but industry experts warn Australia’s reputation as a “pristine” destination will take a hit due to worldwide coverage of the devastating fires and loss of wildlife.
Local cancellations should not have much impact in aggregate given folks probably just went somewhere else (though maybe they stuck in on the mortgage?)
The worry is international tourism. I expect it to take a goodly hit through 2020.
