Australian international borders are open but visitor bottlenecks remain

While Australia’s international borders are open, slow visa processing times are hindering the flow of international visitors with some choosing to travel to competing destinations due to the uncertainty of timely visa approvals.

The issue of Australia’s visas was raised in talks between Prime Minister Albanese and the Indonesian Government this week during his visit where he was accompanied by new Federal Tourism Minister, Senator Don Farrell.

Australian Tourism Export Council (ATEC) Managing Director Peter Shelley advised “we are pleased to see the new Government is having timely and productive talks with one of our emerging visitor markets seeking to find solutions to some of the issues impeding the recovery of Australia’s export tourism industry.

“Right now, we need to be doing everything in our power to welcome back international visitors by removing impediments which may encourage visitors to choose an alternative travel destination. The reality is the issues raised by the Indonesian Government are reflective of experiences across several of our international markets.

“Australia has a $45 billion tourism export industry has been shut for two years due to our border closure, however slow visa processing is now hindering its recovery’

“The delays in visa processing are having a considerable impact on export tourism business and there is an urgent need for action to improve processing times and avoid losing valuable tourist dollars to other competing destinations.”

A recent survey of the industry conducted by ATEC revealed:

• 54% of export tourism businesses say visa delays are impacting bookings

• 55% reported their trade partners in market have reduced or stopped selling Australian holidays due to visa challenges

• Impacts are being experienced across all markets but predominantly South East Asia including Indonesia, India, Vietnam and Malaysia

• In some instances, visitors are receiving visa approvals as little as one or two days before travel

This week ATEC is delivering its latest educational program, Indonesia Host, focused on educating tourism suppliers about positioning their product to cater for the growing Indonesian market.

Meanwhile Australian Federation of Travel Agents Chief Executive Dean Long has welcomed the Federal Government’s announcement of an additional call centre to address the current delays in passport applications.

The Federal Government announced an additional call centre is being set up to help meet the challenges of record passport application and renewal levels. There has been a surge in applications and renewals from the pre-COVID levels of 7,000-9,000 applications to the current 10,000-12,000 per day. Tuesday saw a record 16,417 applications lodged.

The new call centre will initially have 35 staff on deck this week with 35 more to be added next week and a minimum additional 250 staff over the next six months to address the current pressures and delays.