Australia’s battered tourism puts hope in China’s reopening

Australia's pandemic-hit tourism sector is eagerly anticipating the return of Chinese visitors [David Gray/Reuters]

Sydney, Australia – CBT Holidays, a Sydney-based tour company, hopes the reopening of China’s borders will revive Australia’s tourism sector after a year of “surviving”.

The tour company lost access to its biggest market in 2020 when Australia and China both slammed their borders shut in response to the emergence of COVID-19. For much of 2021, CBT Holidays, which focuses on package tours to China, ceased operations altogether due to a lack of customers.