July 2020 Report
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AU/NZ REPORT PREPARED FOR COLORADO TOURISM OFFICE JULY 2020 cases are at 7,519 and there have been EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 247 deaths in total. The vast majority of active cases reside in the state of Victoria, where in the past 24 hours there have July marked the first month of FY21 – a been over 700 new cases reported as the year in which we expect a rollercoaster locked-down state continues to battle a journey to a return of international second wave. travel. While border opening dates remain unknown, predictions continue to span The New Zealand (NZ) Department of from September/October for trans-Tasman Health reported total and probable cases travel and late 2020 through to Q2 2021 are 1,569 with 479,000 tests conducted. for long-haul travel including the USA. As The current active cases are 24 and total Australia regained confidence in booking deaths are 22. travel domestically in June and early July, the soaring COVID-19 cases in the state of In July, the focus for both AU and NZ Victoria caused somewhat of a realization has largely been the return to economic that we are far from clear of the virus stability, albeit with Victoria now as state borders tightened once again, an exception. In NZ, all coronavirus creating a new wave of cancellations. restrictions have been lifted except for international travel as daily life returns to Despite the uncertain environment, we a degree of normality. With the exception have kicked off the new year attending of Victoria, intrastate travel continued to several insightful webinars across the increase as confidence in regional travel trade and media landscapes, networked returned. Restaurants and bars are often with key travel writers at the first at capacity and recommend bookings ASTW lunch to return and have placed as they continue to adhere to social inspirational content across both distancing rules, including QR code check- trade and consumer media outlets to ins at most establishments. ensure Colorado remains front-of-mind. Conversations with Dan and Zora Avila As the month progressed, Australia have also been extremely positive, with experienced a second wave, with an several placements of the Travel Shooters epicentre in Victoria. Governments series confirmed. were fast to stop access to other states from Victoria (and vice versa), however, We look forward to another year ahead travellers from the state have been working with the Colorado Tourism Office responsible for small clusters appearing to inspire Australasians to return to in New South Wales. While cases in Colorado as soon as it is safe to do so. Victoria are climbing by 250-700 per day and having doubled Australia’s total COVID-19 death rate this month alone, NSW cases are controlled with an average of 10-15 cases per day with single digit COVID-19 UPDATE cases now creeping into Queensland. The Queensland premier reacting to two cases that had entered the state through The Australian Department of Health’s flights from Melbourne via Sydney closed latest update (5 August) reports 19,444 the border to Victoria and the Greater cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed in Sydney area. This move caused a loss Australia (AU) and more than 4.5 million of confidence in booking travel as many tests have been conducted. Current active Sydney residents had made plans over the coming months to travel to Queensland 1 LINKD TOURISM MONTHLY REPORT: JULY 2020 AU/NZ REPORT PREPARED FOR COLORADO TOURISM OFFICE JULY 2020 following the border re-opening in early in early July (most notably the QLD/ July and created further cancellations for NSW border) was highly anticipated, with travel agents who had managed to pivot many interstate travel plans secured as their business to domestic bookings. NSW residents were able to travel north to higher temperatures on 10 July. The The Victorian government has now closing of this border to greater Sydney announced a state of disaster and tough later in July reduced consumer confidence new lockdown laws, including stage four in making interstate bookings, furthered restrictions and a curfew for metropolitan on 5 August when this ruling was Melbourne and stage three restrictions expanded to the whole of NSW and ACT, for the rest of the state, most retail shops expected until at least the end of August. in Melbourne will close from 6 August with many business sectors scaling back On a more positive note, advances in on workers and output to limit movement travel insurance policies began, with and contact. Emirates announcing free Coronavirus coverage for all passengers (including Mask wearing became mandatory in medical and quarantine expenses) and Victoria with the NSW Premier strongly Brand USA Australia confirming they recommending masks on public transport were in positive talks with Aviva who are and in situations where social distancing finalising an insurance policy. was likely to be compromised, for example the supermarket. Brand USA’s monthly research indicated a more substantial lack in confidence of The Victoria cluster has also led the booking international travel as a result National Government to acknowledge that of the accelerating cases of Coronavirus we are not aiming for virus eradication in domestically – where in June there was Australia – and instead, we will have to only a small 15% decline in AU/NZ intent move forward with a suppression strategy to travel internationally compared to to minimise and contain potential clusters 2019, a report published on 21 July that may arise. indicated this was now a more significant decline of 42%. This figure had rebounded JobSeeker 2.0 was announced in Australia, 10% in the 3 months to June and we which, although brings some reductions expect once this second wave has been ($300 per fortnight for eligible full time suppressed will rebound once again. staff) and a tighter eligibility test, was a great victory for the travel industry after extensive lobbying, as this government support is extended from September to March 2021. New Zealand on the other hand has not had an extension on government assistance, with many travel companies now lobbying for extra help as an opening date for international travel remains unknown. Travel Outlook Source: Brand USA Engine/ORC Custom Study Throughout July, travel focus remained Speaking at the Visit USA Australia mid- primarily on closely watching the domestic year review on 29 July, Carolyn Childs, borders. The re-opening of some borders co-founder of My Travel Research, 2 LINKD TOURISM MONTHLY REPORT: JULY 2020 AU/NZ REPORT PREPARED FOR COLORADO TOURISM OFFICE JULY 2020 acknowledged that consumer opinions are split. She referenced Newgate Research PR ACTIVITY indicates that consumer desire to open borders – even to New Zealand – has Strategic initiatives/activity dropped to less than 50% in the past two weeks. A negative trend is that July continued the challenge for the “work together” mentality that had proactively pitching U.S. destinations as been prevalent in the initial status of protests and continued steep upswing COVID-19 is starting to turn and the unity of COVID-19 were widely reported in the is splitting. The consumer sentiment to news in Australia. travel right now is very split with the need for flexibility to engage early commitment. The adapted pitch-focused media strategy Audiences who are more resilient and that the team has had in place since April ready to book should be targeted and continued in July with targeted pitches now is a great time for strategic planning. garnering coverage, including Colorado Carolyn also referenced Sabre Asia landscape images and a meatloaf recipe Pacific’s research, which indicated that 2/3 (!) to spark your travel lust. Caroline of consumers who used to book directly Davidson, PR Director, and Polly Simmons, will now consider booking through an PR Manager, continued to maintain agent due to their buying power and contact with media that are continuing added security. to run international destination coverage and attend webinars to keep abreast of There is still no official timeline on the quickly evolving media and consumer borders re-opening, however the landscape. Australian Travel and Trade Commission is still indicating that international borders Following the confirmation of FY21 should continue to work towards a budgets, the PR team progressed potential reopening in September/October campaigns from FY20 with activity still for many short-haul destinations, and a ongoing, which includes: late 2020/early 2021 proposed reopening for other long-haul markets (dependent on Dan Avila: Nat Geo/Behind the Scenes – their own COVID-19 status and control). Travel videography shoot with content to air across 2x 1-hour episodes on Qantas flights, as well as provision of assets to CTO and participating partners. July Update: Zora Avila requested & granted permission to provide Sensational Colorado video for consideration to run as interstitial material between presentations at Colorado Booth for The Council of State Governments West 2021 Annual Conference is set to take place July 2021 at the Cheyenne Mountain Resort in Colorado Springs. At the end of June it was announced that Qantas will let go of 6,000 staff, with CEO Alan Joyce being reported to believe international travel will not properly 3 LINKD TOURISM MONTHLY REPORT: JULY 2020 AU/NZ REPORT PREPARED FOR COLORADO TOURISM OFFICE JULY 2020 resume until mid-2021, with Dan and Zora Current Media Campaigns Avila being quick to confirm additional exposure while this delay impacts the There are two current media campaigns series being shown on board. Zora running in Australia: provided a full update on the status of series (series 1 = 8 episodes expected to Get Lost campaign be completed at end of 2020). Currently planning for release around Q1 2021 and exposure confirmed for Travel Shooters The planned Get Lost campaign which series as: initially incorporated a fam in late May / early June for coverage in the next issue has been delayed due to the current SBS Australia pandemic and will now re-start with a fam in September.