A survey of 31 economists by Finder suggests that Australia’s international travel market won’t reopen until mid-2021, with the exception of New Zealand:
Around four in ten say it’ll be before March [2021], while more than half say it’ll be by June. Eight in ten say September 2021 by the latest. If that sounds a long way away, two cynics even claim the calendar will read 2022 before we can travel freely again.
Given international tourists throw more than $45 billion into the Australian economy each year according to official figures, it’s money the country will miss as much as it misses travelling itself.
The full text of this article is available to MacroBusiness subscribers
Leith van Onselen is Chief Economist at the MB Fund and MB Super. He is also a co-founder of MacroBusiness.
Leith has previously worked at the Australian Treasury, Victorian Treasury and Goldman Sachs.
