In the Whitsundays region, where the world-class Great Barrier Reef experiences were a major drawcard for Chinese group travel, operators are looking to the skies with uncertainty.
"But, I think there'll be some headwinds with regards to realising the inbound capacity to support this initiative."The Gold Coast Airport is not expecting to see an immediate influx of Chinese travellers either. "Trying to manage that mix of customers, Chinese, other international visitors and then domestic tourism will be quite a challenge for the industry moving forward."
"For us it's really about driving yield along with the passengers rather than lots of volume at a lesser yield," he said.