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‘Fortress Australia’ Has a New Message: Come Back

For nearly two years, the country projected a harsh message of rigidity and “rules are rules.” Will long-haul travelers bet on the easygoing, inviting image it is sending out now?

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By Tacey Rychter and Isabella Kwai

Moments after the Australian government announced that it would reopen the country’s borders to international travelers later this month, Emily Barrett locked in a fare for a flight to Sydney. The 32-year-old nanny from Palo Alto, Calif., spent three days researching and talking to Australian friends before she decided to book her trip to the island continent, which for two years had some of the world’s strictest border controls and longest lockdowns aimed at controlling the spread of the coronavirus.

“They all said, ‘if we go back into a lockdown now, people will go into the streets,’” she said. Her two-week trip is scheduled to start a few days after the border opens on Feb. 21.

Potential travelers and tourism operators alike are cautiously optimistic about the reopening of “Fortress Australia,” but many wonder if the isolated nation’s ongoing Covid restrictions — such as vaccine and testing requirements, as well as mask mandates — will make the return of international travel more of a trickle than a splash. Australia’s reputation for rigidity and reclusiveness during the pandemic — at odds with the inviting, easygoing nature portrayed by the country’s tourism boards — may also be a hurdle to overcome.

“There is no doubt that a full recovery will take time, but we are confident that the demand for Australia is strong,” said Phillipa Harrison, the managing director of Tourism Australia, the country’s tourism board.

Tourism was one of the fastest growing sectors in Australia’s economy before the pandemic, contributing 45 billion Australian dollars in 2019, or $32 billion.

Australia is among the world’s most immunized countries for Covid-19, with 94 percent of people over 16 fully vaccinated. Through 2020 and 2021, the country pursued a tough “zero Covid” strategy that closed national and state borders; restricted Australians from returning home and even leaving; enforced monthslong lockdowns and required its few visitors to undergo expensive hotel quarantines . Surging cases of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus in January, which persist, but have since declined , tipped most of the country into a new ‘living with the virus’ phase .

“It’s about coming back so the virus is under our control, whereas we felt that the virus was controlling us,” said Catherine Bennett, an epidemiologist at Deakin University in Melbourne, adding that opening the borders represented a turning point. “This is saying: We’re ready for this.”

Australia’s walls come down

Australia’s grand reopening comes with a few ground rules. Travelers entering the country must be fully vaccinated to avoid a costly hotel quarantine, and must test before arrival — somewhat common requirements for travel now.

But it will take a little more time for Australia’s welcome mat to roll out all the way. The entire state of Western Australia — a third of Australia’s vast land mass, but home to just 10 percent of the population — has essentially been closed to both international travelers and even vaccinated Australian citizens for most of the pandemic. It plans to reopen to vaccinated travelers on March 3, with testing rules on arrival. The state, which has reported about 2,900 total cases and 10 deaths since the pandemic began, is home to Perth — one of the world’s most remote major cities — more than 7,000 miles of coastline, the Kimberley region’s dramatic sandstone gorges and wine destinations like Margaret River. While the federal government can open the nation’s borders, the states can still set their own Covid restrictions, including entry rules.

“We desperately want people to come back,” said Graeme Skeggs, a general manager at Adam’s Pinnacle Tours , one of Western Australia’s larger tour companies, which, until the pandemic, operated luxury tours of the state’s renowned coastlines and landscapes. Much of their business evaporated after Covid struck, and some smaller operators the company worked with have closed. “Two years is a lot longer than any of us thought,” Mr. Skeggs said.

While many operators who rely on foreign tourists are hopeful, it’s clear that there is no simple return to prepandemic times.

China overtook New Zealand as Australia’s largest foreign tourist market for the first time in 2017, and 1.3 million visitors from mainland China spent more than $12 billion Australian dollars , or nearly $9 billion, in 2019, about 27 percent of the year’s international visitor spend.

With China still severely limiting outbound travel, that leaves a gaping hole in Australia’s tourism economy.

Michelle Chen opened the Apollo Surfcoast Chinese Restaurant in 2012 along Victoria’s Great Ocean Road — one of the state’s major scenic attractions, about a 2.5-hour drive from Melbourne — to cater to the hundreds of Chinese day-trippers who would stream off buses each day on their way to view the Twelve Apostles, a limestone rock formation farther down the coast.

When Australia closed to Chinese travelers on Feb. 1, 2020, she lost “nearly a hundred percent” of her business. In another stroke of misfortune, the restaurant burned down in April of last year. She reopened in December a few doors down. But Ms. Chen is not expecting her core customers to return for a long time.

She’s even revamped her menu, which used to feature dishes like Sichuan chile chicken that appealed to mainland Chinese visitors. Now the menu is “80 percent Australian-Chinese,” Ms. Chen said, with milder offerings like Mongolian beef. “I find I can’t sell the Chinese-Chinese dishes.”

Another thing desperately she’s looking forward to with the return of international travel: more workers. “Everywhere is shortage of labor,” she said.

The Djokovic drama

In January, the Australian Open — one of the country’s biggest sporting events, which draws hundreds of millions of viewers annually — became a media circus when Novak Djokovic, the world’s number one men’s tennis player, who is not vaccinated, was detained and finally deported from Melbourne because of his risk for “civil unrest.” The drama, which stretched on for 10 days, triggered protests in Australia from groups who believed the battle was the latest example of Covid-related mandates trampling public freedoms.

“Strong borders are fundamental to the Australian way of life,” the country’s prime minister, Scott Morrison, said after the decision to cancel the tennis star’s visa.

Australia’s fixation with border security is highly contentious within the country, particularly its harsh treatment of asylum seekers , but ultimately plays well with voters. But how would Mr. Djokovic’s unceremonious booting fit into Australia’s new “come on in” narrative?

“From our view, it really highlights the strength of Australia’s border policies,” said Chris Allison, Tourism Australia’s acting manager of the Americas. While Mr. Djokovic’s treatment was divisive, he said, it showed that “Australia has zero tolerance in terms of requiring vaccinations to come into the country,” and affirms the message of “how we’re trying to reopen our borders safely and protect the health of the nation.”

But time — and bookings — will tell if long-haul travelers are willing to bet on Australia’s reopening.

Some prefer to wait and see. Australia was where “everyone wanted to go” before the pandemic, said Samantha Carranza, a manager at Sky Tours , a travel agency in downtown Los Angeles. But “there isn’t much demand right now,” she said, adding that Australia’s protectiveness has made her clients cautious to travel there. “No one’s sure if it’s really open or not. Will it close again, will they get stuck there?”

The data shows that interest in travel to Australia is already on the rise: Flight bookings were up 200 percent following the border-opening announcement compared to the week before, according to Forward Keys, a travel analytics company.

“While the immediate jump in bookings is encouraging, the overall booking volume compared to the equivalent week in 2019 is modest,” said Olivier Ponti, the firm’s vice president of insights.

“I imagine there will be more and more confidence over the course of the year,” said Christie Hudson, a senior public relations manager at Expedia, the major online travel agency. “People are really ready to start thinking about these bucket-list trips again. I think for a lot of Americans, Australia is a bucket-list-type trip.”

Opening Aboriginal Australia to the world, cautiously

Cultural experiences led by Australia’s diverse Indigenous groups will be a focus of marketing to overseas travelers, according to Tourism Australia. But in the Northern Territory, the region with the highest proportion of Indigenous people, many remote communities are barred to outsiders until at least March 3 in an effort to protect the residents there from infection.

International visitors are key for the region’s Indigenous tourism sector: Before the pandemic, nearly 70 percent of overseas visitors to the Northern Territory engaged in Aboriginal tourism activities, compared to 16 percent of Australian tourists.

Victor Cooper, who owns and operates Ayal Aboriginal Tours in Kakadu National Park, said he used to welcome visitors from Europe and the United States to his “grandmother’s country,” where he taught them about bush tucker (native foods) and told traditional stories of the land.

“I had a really, really good thing in the overseas market, it took a long time to get that,” Mr. Cooper said. He has not had any overseas bookings since the reopening announcement, and worries things may be “complicated” for a while yet. “I don’t think I’m going to get the clients I used to have back in 2019.”

Other tourism operators are already seeing signs of recovery, which gives them hope for a better year ahead.

“It’s good to see people again,” said Dave Gordon, an employee at Wake Up Bondi , a hostel on Sydney’s famous beach, of the limited number of travelers who have been filtering back in recent months. “It’s exciting.”

Since the news of the border reopening, booking numbers for later in the year have risen, he said.

The first year of the pandemic was “quite a struggle,” he said. To survive, the hostel, which is on Bondi Beach’s main thoroughfare, slashed its rates and accepted longer-term lodgers, and even closed for a period.

But the border opening removes a major hurdle for him and other operators across the country, who want to convey a clear message for would-be tourists thinking of Australia: “Come!” he said. “This is the time to travel.”

Follow New York Times Travel on Instagram , Twitter and Facebook . And sign up for our weekly Travel Dispatch newsletter to receive expert tips on traveling smarter and inspiration for your next vacation. Dreaming up a future getaway or just armchair traveling? Check out our 52 Places for a Changed World for 2022.

Tacey Rychter is the social editor for the Travel section. More about Tacey Rychter

Isabella Kwai is a breaking news reporter in the London bureau. She joined The Times in 2017 as part of the Australia bureau. More about Isabella Kwai

As Australia reopens, crippled tourism sector feels cautious hope

International tourists are allowed to visit Australia from Monday for the first time in nearly two years.

Sydney, Australia – Sydney tour guide Justin Steele remembers the exact date of his last tour with international visitors two years ago.

“It was Sunday, 15 March, and I had three international guests, one from China, one from Korea and one from America,” Steele, the 32-year-old founder of Local Sauce Tours, told Al Jazeera.

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Just days later, on March 19, 2020, Australia announced the closure of its borders to keep out COVID-19, putting his business in the deep freeze.

As Australia reopens to international tourists on Monday , Steele is excited to meet his customers again, but has no doubt his company will take time to recover.

“I expect it’ll probably still take several months before we start seeing significant numbers of bookings,” said Steele, who leads small tours of Sydney’s iconic bars, restaurants and laneways.

Before the pandemic, Australia welcomed 9.3 million visitors, with tourist spending hitting 44.6 billion Australia dollars ($32b) in 2018-19, according to Tourism Australia. Between March 2020 and March 2021, international tourists dropped to practically zero, inflicting losses of 40.7 billion Australia dollars ($29.2b) on the sector. The return of tourists, who can enter Australia quarantine-free so long as they are double-vaccinated, comes after the government lifted restrictions on skilled migrants and international students in November.

Tour operators outside major cities like Sydney and Melbourne say they have been hit especially hard, due to their particular reliance on international visitors.

Jason Cronshaw, who operates Blue Mountains Explorer Bus in regional New South Wales, told Al Jazeera he is considering suspending his business at the very moment Australia is reopening to the world.

Before the pandemic, Cronshaw ran two hop-on explorer buses every day, serving around 60,000 tourists a year. But lately, he has only had enough customers to run one bus on Saturdays.

“We’re thinking of just hibernating everything until tourists are back,” Cronshaw told Al Jazeera, predicting Australia would not see an immediate flood of tourists due to restrictive travel policies in many prospective tourists’ home countries.

China, Australia’s biggest tourism market, remains sealed off from the world under a strict “zero COVID” policy that makes travel in or out of the country difficult.

“China’s probably not going to get their residents out in a hurry,” Cronshaw said. “So it’s still going to be a long way away to get any sort of people back.”

Elaine Chiao Ling Yang, senior lecturer of tourism at Griffith University in Brisbane, told Al Jazeera the revival of Australia’s tourism industry would depend on China.

“I think the interest [among Chinese tourists] is there, but it depends on China’s ‘zero COVID’ policy and quarantine policy for returning travellers,” she said.

Staff shortages

For tourism operators in Western Australia, where authorities have yet to reopen the state border with the rest of the country, the return of international tourists will be a longer wait.

After scrapping earlier reopening plans in January, Western Australia Premier Mark McGowan on Friday announced March 3 as the date for lifting interstate travel restrictions.

Tim Stone, the operator of Best of Perth Tour, told Al Jazeera he expects tourism to recover much faster in eastern states like Victoria and New South Wales than in Western Australia.

“It’s exciting to see international tourists back,” said Stone, who has had to cut back operations to one or two days a week due to a lack of customers.

Besides uncertainty about customers, the sector is also facing a labour shortage due to a plunge in temporary visa holders and international students during the pandemic.

Even before the pandemic, the sector was expected to have a staff shortage of nearly 30,000 workers by 2020, according to a 2015 report by the Australian Trade and Investment Commission

“While the reopening of international borders will bring more tourists and migrant workers back to Australia, it will take time for businesses to recruit and train new workers to meet the demand,” said Yang, the Griffith University professor, adding that the issue of labour shortages in regional destinations “will remain a persistent issue for years to come”.

Dean Long, the CEO of Australian Federation of Travel Agents, also said the staff shortage would affect quality of tourism services and travellers’ experiences.

“Australia is a high-price destination,” Long said, predicting Australia’s remote location might also contribute to a slower recovery than its peers. “When they come here, the price point that we charge will deliver to the value that’s expected for that price point.”

He predicted the industry would not be back to pre-pandemic levels until early 2024, assuming new major outbreaks or variants did not get in the way.

But Long is still optimistic about the future of the sector.

“It’s never too late [to reopen the international border],” said Long. “The important part for us, as we told the government, is they can’t close it again.”

Despite the frustration and uncertainty, tourism business owners like Steele are determined to stick it out.

Steele said he understood people might be reluctant to travel during the pandemic, but he wanted to encourage people to come and experience Australia.

“Australia is gonna be one of the safest places you can visit, and just the variety of experiences that you can have,” he said. “If you’re looking to travel, Australia really should be at the top of people’s lists.”

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The return of foreign visitors to Australia after a two-year absence cannot come soon enough for Craig Wachholz, who runs a surf school on Sydney’s Bondi beach.

“You don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone,” said Wachholz, known as Wacca to fellow surfers. Overseas tourists were a large proportion of the 10,000 to 20,000 people that took lessons with his company each year but that flow dried up as the borders shut.

“We’ve been on Bondi beach for 27 years and up until Covid hit we were having the best year we’d ever had. But then the beaches were shut and we fell off a cliff,” he said.

The strict border lockdown under the “Fortress Australia” policy had a catastrophic impact on the tourism industry of a country that welcomed 9mn visitors a year before the pandemic.

Shane Jolly, general manager of the five-star Langham Hotel in Sydney’s historic Rocks district, spoke of the “devastating” visitor ban. “There’s been a very heavy toll,” he said.

On Bondi, businesses have had to make do, gradually picking up customers as Covid-19 restrictions eased. First, locals looking for safer outdoor activities returned to the surf, followed by domestic tourists and backpackers who entered on work visas and headed straight to Sydney’s most famous sands.

Wachholz said that within days of a travel bubble to Singapore opening last year, he had wannabe surfers from the city-state on the beach looking for lessons. “We are right at the front of it,” he said of the recovery.

The big wave of visitors strikes next week with the full return of tourism. When Scott Morrison, prime minister and a former Tourism Australia chief, announced last month that double-vaccinated overseas visitors would be welcomed back for the first time since early 2020, the effect was instantaneous.

Flight bookings to Australia doubled the following day, with the strongest demand from the US and UK, but also South Africa, Canada and India, said Andrew David, chief executive of domestic and international operations for airline Qantas. “This shows how much people want to come to Australia,” he said.

The Cruise Bar overlooking Sydney’s Opera House is one of those poised to cater for the new arrivals. Lindsay Potts, its marketing manager, said: “Like any hospitality business during this time we’ve struggled so we’re super excited to welcome back international tourists. It’s a huge market for us.”

The end of a ban on dancing and singing in public in Sydney also meant the venue could resume putting on shows for its guests. “We’re definitely going to throw some sort of party,” she said.

Tourism chiefs have jumped on the reopening. A new A$40mn (US$29mn) advertising campaign with the “Don’t Go Small, Go Australia” tagline has launched across Europe and the US, with a sun-drenched kangaroo appearing on a billboard overlooking London’s Piccadilly Circus in recent days.

International visitors were worth A$61bn to the Australian economy before coronavirus struck, according to Tourism Australia, and the industry employs more than twice the number of people than the important mining industry.

And while Sydney is the hub of the tourist industry, businesses in more remote areas of Australia are also counting on a recovery.

Matt Cameron-Smith, chief executive of Voyages Indigenous Tourism Australia, which relies on foreign visitors to Uluru in the Northern Territory for half its revenues, said the reopening felt like a long time coming after so many false starts.

“You go from watching the news with one eye closed to saying ‘is this real?’,” he said of next week’s reopening.

Yet the industry still faces a huge battle to return to its pre-Covid pomp. The workforce withered during the pandemic, with some leaving for steadier work in retail and healthcare and about 100,000 workers returned to their home countries.

The government has sought to address the issue by refunding the cost of working visas to visiting backpackers but John Hart, executive director of Restaurant and Catering Australia, doubted this would be sufficient.

“We’re not going to get them back,” he said of the lost workers, adding that a shortage of skilled staff such as chefs was a real concern.

Another looming problem is political tension with China, which provided the largest number of annual international tourists, 1.4mn, before relations became strained.

“Some Chinese will return but nowhere near the numbers we had. We need to target well-heeled markets,” said Hart, who wants to attract high-spending tourists from countries such as Japan and India to fill the gap.

Langham Hotel’s Jolly said there had been a pick-up in international bookings since the border announcement, but he expected it to take until next summer for wealthy customers to return in high numbers because of fears that the borders could shut again.

“Planes are not lining up to drop in five-star luxury guests,” he said. “Business people will travel if they have to but luxury leisure travellers can’t afford to get stuck.”

Hart rued the furore last month over the deportation of the tennis star Novak Djokovic , which he said painted Australia’s border security policies in a harsh light.

“It wasn’t a good look,” he said, arguing that they needed to make the visitor experience as easy as possible now to restore its image.

For Wachholz, the pause in mass tourism did provide one benefit: a reminder of the “vibe” that Bondi had when he first began surfing there decades ago, something he hoped would remain after the crowds returned.

“Maybe people will enjoy the beauty of Bondi beach a bit more now,” he said.

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Follow our news, recent searches, extreme weather events due to climate change threaten future of tourism in australia, advertisement.

Global warming is raising big questions for the future of tourism and how to handle extreme weather conditions.

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Louisa Tang

SYDNEY: Four years ago, a small wildlife sanctuary on the southern coast of New South Wales was almost destroyed by bushfires.

Mudgeroo Emu Farm and Animal Refuge, which survives largely on voluntary donations from visitors, is among the thousands of tourist sites across Australia that are constantly exposed to the devastating effects of climate change.

“We had fires approaching on two sides. The other side was the ocean, so we were essentially in the middle if the fire was not going to be controlled,” said co-owner Belinda Donovan, who runs the farm with her husband Phil.

While the sanctuary – and the emus – managed to escape unscathed, other sites have not been so lucky.

Global warming is raising big questions for the future of tourism and how to handle extreme weather conditions. The issue is particularly urgent in Australia where its natural environment attracts tourists by the droves.

A report by the Centre for Integrated Sustainability Analysis in Australia found that the so-called Black Summer of bushfires, which started in 2019, wiped US$1.8 billion from tourism supply chains.

One of the authors of the report, Ms Vivienne Reiner, noted that education-related travel combined with personal travel is worth more exports than natural gas in Australia.

“If people start to think it’s dangerous to come to (Australia), that could really impact us,” she added.

9.3 MILLION VISITORS EXPECTED IN 2024

Tourism is a major export earner and employer, with one in eight Australian businesses related to the industry.

The country is expected to welcome 9.3 million international visitors this year, reaching 98 per cent of pre-pandemic levels, according to Tourism Research Australia’s latest forecasts released late last year. 

Australia also expects to surpass pre-pandemic levels next year and set a new record, with about 10.2 million international visitors predicted to travel there.

Ms Phillipa Harrison, managing director of government agency Tourism Australia, said that carbon emissions from travel are increasingly being discussed as the world reels from one natural disaster to another.

“Here, there (were) black summer bush fires, there (were) floods, there were cyclones,” she said during the agency’s annual Destination Australia conference held in March.

“There's also widespread bleaching on the (Great Barrier) Reef which is again happening right at the moment, and all of those have ensured that carbon and the impact of global warming is really poignant right now.”

Ms Harrison added that the country needs to ensure it is competitive in the right areas for economic growth, while protecting its potential for future generations of residents and visitors.

The fear is that news of fires and floods could have a negative impact on an industry that prides itself on selling its pristine environment to the world.

However, Australia’s Climate Council, which predicts many more intensive weather systems to come, believes it is not too late to counter the threat.

“We are a remarkable continent with amazing things that people experience, but protecting that industry, protecting the people and places we love – that is very much going to depend on the choices we make now and every ton of carbon pollution we leave in the ground,” said the council’s director of research Simon Bradshaw.

“That’s protecting tourism; it’s protecting everything we depend upon,” he added.

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The Tourism News

Independent Australian tourism industry news

Australian tourism in 2022.

What will the Australian tourism industry look like in 2022?

The Tourism News Editorial By Michael Holani, January 31, 2022

After being turned on its head, the Australian tourism industry is gearing up to return in 2022. TTN looks at what will be different.

Governments responded with lockdowns to restrict movements. The sight of vacant hotels and airport landing strips filled with parked planes became commonplace. These previously unthought-of images emerged and highlighted the impact of the pandemic on tourism.

Now, 20 months later, Australia steams along with its vaccination program and the promise of life getting back to normal is starting to be fulfilled. Public health orders and travel restrictions are winding back. International flights are back and a travel bubble with Singapore has opened.

Australians are itching for a holiday and with 2022 weeks away. TTN looks into the industry and what it will look like when it emerges in 2022.

sourced from Tourism Australia , date range 2020-2021

International borders.

To the joy of many, International borders are reopening without the requirement for quarantine.

Here is the quarantine status for some of Australias popular destinations:

• Bali, Australians can travel to Bali, however, Indonesia currently requires all international arrivals to quarantine for 10 days.
• Fiji, Fully vaccinated tourists and travellers from Australia may enter Fiji without prior approval or quarantine.
• Thailand, Fully vaccinated travellers from Australia are allowed to enter Thailand without quarantine.
• New Zealand, Quarantine-free travel from Australia to New Zealand is currently paused.
• Singapore, Australians can enter without quarantine.

Hopefully, the trend will continue allowing Aussies to travel quarantine free to more destinations, and this trend will develop confidence in the industry.

Covid & Omicron

Omicrons arrival in Australia has seen the realisation of being able to live with the virus as a vaccinated population. Where (majority) borders remain open, the daily case number being less relevant and the lockdowns being a thing of the past.

In continued positive news for the industry, Qantas and Jetstar have monitored demand and have “only made a very small number of schedule adjustments as a result of Omicron impacts”.

Luke Martin the head of the Tourism Industry Council said early January had been “a really mixed bag” but a clear pattern was emerging of people going to the regional areas.

In what could be the best news for the year, Dr Nick Coatsworth former deputy chief medical officer believes that i n 2022, “the COVID-19 pandemic will end. Driven by the inexorable, inevitable spread of the Omicron variant and the use of vaccines, the global population will generate immunity to this virus”.

Hopefully, now the Tourism industry, which has been battered and placed on life support in the last two years, will see growth and can rebound off the hard work of a highly vaccinated population and a population with high demand to embrace tourism following two years of restrictions.

The Tourism Industry through the eyes of educator and leader, Juliet Hudson

(Tourism leader and Industry educator Juliet Hudson. Source LinkedIn)

TTN spoke with Juliet Hudson, industry leader, educator and winner of the Event Management Trainer of the year for the 2021 Tourism Training Awards .

When asked how she believes Australian tourism will change in 2022, Juliet said “There is a move towards more experiential travel in smaller groups & less towards larger group movements. In a post lockdown world, nature-based and coastal aquatic-themed experiences will be in demand, as will walking-based tours”.

The effects of vaccinations on the industry are significant, as we’ve been told that they are the key to reopening. The Tourism News asked Juliet her thoughts if vaccinations would prevent borders from closing,

“I hope so – other diseases vaccinations have supported travel in destinations such as Yellow fever & Africa,” said Juliet.

When asked which segments of the Australian tourism industry are most likely to benefit in 2022, Juliet was resolute.

“Small business enterprises who can be agile in their offering, and flexible with staff-shortage issues.”

The Tourism Industry has a lot to look forward to in 2022. Borders are continually reopening, both domestically and internationally and with the majority of the Australian population being vaccinated, we can be optimistic of life getting back to normal in 2022.

Hopefully, confidence will grow with travellers whether it be from vaccinations or covid leaving the public psyche and the industry can fire again as it previously did.

Michael Holani

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Ayers Rock Resort celebrates 40th with native high tea and sunrise journeys in Uluru

A native high tea and a sunrise art show are how this Red Centre resort plans to celebrate its 40th birthday. Read on to find out how you can celebrate with them.

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An animated Indigenous art experience and an Australian native high tea is how one Red Centre resort plans to celebrate its 40th birthday.

Ayers Rock Resort is launching Sunrise Journeys to mark the occasion and they’ve gotten some prolific talent on board to help them with their celebrations.

Sunrise Journeys is collaboration between Anangu musician and composer Jeremy Whiskey and three Anangu artists Selina Kulitja (Maruku Arts), Denise Brady (Kaltukatjara Art) and Valerie Brumby (Walkatjara Art).

Mandylights — whose recent work includes city lighting for Vivid Sydney and Chayong International Light Festival in Beijing – is also providing their visual expertise for the experience.

With tickets for the show starting at $125 for adults and $75 for children, attendees will be seated on a “sustainably constructed, floating platform overlooking Uluru and Kata Tjuta” as well as the artwork – titled Ngura Nganampa Wiru Mulapa – Meaning “our Country is truly beautiful” in Pitjantjatjara, according to the resort.

Voyages Indigenous Tourism Australia chief executive Matt Cameron-Smith said he was deeply grateful for the partnership with the artists.

“Long before travelling with purpose was a trend, we’ve been focused on our purpose to promote responsible tourism,” he said.

“As we mark 40 years of delivering exceptional hospitality and innovative experiences, we’re thrilled to announce that we’re expanding our offering with two new cultural and Indigenous-inspired experiences at Ayers Rock Resort, Uluru.

“We’re deeply grateful for our partnership with these exceptional Anangu artists – Selina Kulitja, Denise Brady, Valerie Brumby and Jeremy Whiskey – and their trust in Voyages and Mandylights to help bring their vision to life through Sunrise Journeys.”

Sunrise Journey’s kicks off August 1 and will run for 2.5 hours. Tickets prices include return coach transfers, breakfast and hot drinks.

Attendees who are still hungry can then stick around for the Australian High Tea in the afternoon, which the resort said uses “native ingredients sourced from Central Australia and around the country.”

“Each afternoon, guests will have the opportunity to sample a selection of handmade sweet petits fours and savoury light bites together with fine tea, coffee and Australian sparkling wine, showcasing the unique culinary heritage of Australia,” the resort said.

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Money latest: Billie Eilish fans furious at 'outrageous' ticket prices

Billie Eilish fans are complaining about "outrageous" ticket prices for her Hit Me Hard and Soft tour. Read this and all the latest consumer and personal finance news below, plus leave a comment in the box.

Thursday 2 May 2024 20:01, UK

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Pint-sized bottles of wine will be allowed on UK shelves from autumn under new post-Brexit trade rules - although doubts have been raised over their demand.

Seven changes to pre-packaged wine sizes are due to come into force on 19 September.

The move to introduce the 568ml size of wine, to sit alongside 200ml and 500ml measures already available, was announced in December and hailed by ministers as a Brexit "freedom".

Pint bottles of Champagne were sold in the UK before Britain joined the European Common Market and were on shelves until 1973.

Read more here ...

JD Sports has told head office staff they must return to the office at least four days a week .

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Pubs could stay open late during the Euros this summer, according to The Sun .

Home Secretary James Cleverly hinted he was looking into extending pub opening hours for the tournament on The Sun show Never Mind The Ballots.

He said: "I will certainly look into it."

We've been bringing you news of plenty of bank switch deals offering free cash these past few months, but Virgin Money has a different kind of incentive for switchers - a 12% interest rate. 

People who switch to its M Account, M Plus Account or Club M Account will be able to get bonus interest rates of 10% gross/10.47% AER (fixed). 

This is on top of the 2% gross/2.02% AER (variable) interest rate already offered on current account balances up to £1,000 - meaning customers can get an interest rate of 12%. 

No other savings accounts offer interest rates this high, and the bonus applies for a year.

TikTok will restore millions of songs to its app after settling a royalty dispute with Universal Music Group. 

Users had been unable to make videos featuring songs from the likes of Billie Eilish and Ariana Grande due to a row over how much TikTok was paying. 

The fight had led to Universal withdrawing music from some of the world's most famous singers. 

The dispute appears to have been settled as the companies announced "improved remuneration" for artists.

More than 10,500 black cab drivers in London have launched a £250m legal case against Uber. 

They accuse the app of breaking the capital's taxi booking rules and deliberately misleading authorities to secure a licence. 

Transport for London (TfL) rules state drivers cannot take bookings directly from customers and must instead use a centralised system. 

The drivers, who are being advised by law firm Mishcon de Reya, argue they have faced unfair competition from Uber and that it knowingly broke these rules. 

Uber has denied these allegations and said the claims are unfounded.

The company has faced numerous challenges in London, including refusals from TfL to renew its licence which were later successfully appealed. 

Billie Eilish fans are complaining about "outrageous" ticket prices for her Hit Me Hard and Soft tour.

The 22-year-old singer unveiled an 81-date tour programme this week, sending fans rushing to secure tickets.

But some expressed disbelief on social media at the prices.

"I know I moan about this all the time, but look at the price of Billie Eilish tickets," one fan called Marianne wrote on X, sharing a screenshot of seated tickets priced at £398.50. 

"Something seriously needs to be done about ticket prices, it's f*****g outrageous!" 

Another complained they had paid less for Taylor Swift's Eras Tour, which was also criticised for high ticket prices.

A fan called Liv tagged Eilish, Live Nation and Ticketmaster, writing: "Are you ok? £145 for standing tickets is atrocious."

Thousands of people who receive government benefits, including Universal Credit, will be paid as early as tomorrow.

This is because there's a bank holiday coming up on 6 May which will affect benefits paid by both the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and HMRC (they don't pay benefits on bank holidays).

A statement on the government website reads: "If your payment date is on a weekend or a bank holiday you'll usually be paid on the working day before. This may be different for tax credits and child benefit."

Here are the 11 different government benefits that are expected to be paid early:

• Universal credit;
• State Pension;
• Pension Credit;
• Disability Living Allowance;
• Attendance Allowance;
• Carer's Allowance;
• Child Benefit;
• Income Support;
• Jobseekers Allowance;
• Personal Independence Payment;
• Tax credits (such as Working Tax Credit)

Will your benefit payment change?

No, you'll be paid the same amount you usually receive.

Benefits are usually paid straight into your bank, building society or credit account.

Goldman Sachs is removing a cap on bonuses for London-based staff, paving the way for it to resume making multimillion pound payouts to its best-performing traders and dealmakers.

Sky News can exclusively reveal the Wall Street banking giant notified its UK employees today that it had decided to abolish the existing pay ratio imposed under European Union rules and which the government recently decided to scrap.

In a video message to staff, Richard Gnodde, chief executive of Goldman Sachs International, which comprises its operations outside the US, said it had decided to bring its remuneration policy in Britain in line with its operations elsewhere in the world.

"We are a global firm and to the extent possible we adopt a consistent global approach across everything we do," Mr Gnodde said in the message, which has been relayed to Sky News.

"The bonus cap rules were an important factor preventing us from being consistent in the area of compensation."

Aldi's market share has fallen - as people seemingly head back to traditional supermarkets for their shopping.

Aldi's share of the grocery market slipped from 10.8% to 10.4% in the 12 weeks to 20 April.

NIQ data shows sales rose just 1.3% in the period - for Morrisons it was 4.4%, Tesco 5.8% and Sainsbury's 6.6%.

Asda was the laggard with sales falling 0.9%.

Ocado is the fastest growing retailer with sales up 12%.

Aldi's rival discounter, Lidl, saw sales surge 9.5%, bumping its market share up to 8.2%. Media campaigns highlighting new ranges helped, NIQ said.

A Santander online outage is affecting thousands of UK customers.

Over 2,000 reports have been made on Downdetector - indicting the issue is widespread.

Customers have been met with messages like this...

Santander wrote on X: "We are aware some customers are experiencing issues accessing online services, we apologise for any inconvenience this has caused.

"We're working hard to resolve this as soon as possible."

Following on from our previous post, and the OECD also says the UK will grow more slowly next year than any other major advanced economy.

It puts this down to stealth taxes and high interest rates squeezing the economy.

The organisation, which is based in Paris, downgraded its forecasts for GDP to 0.4% this year and 1% in 2025.

In February, the UK had been in the middle of the rankings with forecast growth of 0.7% this year and 1.2% next.

The OECD pointed to the fact "tax receipts keep rising towards historic highs" - with National Insurance cuts not offsetting the additional burden Britons are feeling due to tax thresholds not rising along with inflation due to a government freeze.

Some good news is expected for UK workers as the OECD said there will be "stronger" wage growth when inflation is factored in against pay.

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What do we know about Mexico's Baja California, where two Australians have gone missing?

Two brothers from Perth have gone missing during a surfing trip on the west coast of Mexico.

Jake and Callum Robinson , both aged in their 30s, failed to arrive at their holiday accommodation in the north-western city of Rosarito, south of Tijuana, after reportedly spending time at Punta San Jose, a popular surfing spot.

The pair's mother, Debra Robinson, has appealed for information on social media, asking anyone who has seen the brothers — who were travelling with American Jack Carter Rhoad , who is also missing — to please get in contact with her.

Here's what we know about the area where the trio have gone missing.

What draws tourists to the area? 

Rosarito and Punta San Jose are located south of Tijuana, in the very north-west corner of Mexico's Baja California state .

The region borders the United States, making its popular surf spots driveable locations for visitors from California.

A series of reefs along the Baja California coast produce a wide range of surf conditions, drawing surfers of all levels of experience to the area.

Travel guide Yeeew describes the surf in Punta San Jose as "a fun collection of reef breaks and a point that are mostly rights, serving up some rippable sections when the conditions line up".

The nearest major city to Punta San Jose is Ensenada, the state's third-largest city after Tijuana and Mexicali.

Lonely Planet describes Ensenada as "hedonistic Tijuana’s cosmopolitan sister" .

What are the local crime rates? 

According to Mexico's National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI), residents of Baja California reported 27,211 criminal incidents per 100,000 people in 2022, the most recent year for which statistics are available.

That's slightly lower than the nationwide rate of 28,701 incidents per 100,000 people in the same year.

However, to put that in perspective, Australia's comparable crime rate in 2022 was 2,118 reported incidents per 100,000 people.

Experts also believe about 92 per cent of crimes committed in Mexico in 2022 went unreported , meaning the real crime rate is potentially orders of magnitude higher than that of Australia.

Baja California is also among the worst states in Mexico when it comes to violent crime , with ongoing conflicts amongst drug cartels contributing to a spike in the local homicide rate.

Tijuana recorded 1,770 homicides in 2021, a rate of 95 homicides per 100,000 people — the highest rate recorded by any municipality in the country.

Vision of Humanity also ranked Baja California Mexico's least peaceful state in 2022 for the fourth year running.

According to INEGI, in 2023 68.5 per cent of adults living in Baja California perceived their state to be unsafe.

How risky is the area for tourists?

Local officials in recent years have been at pains to stress that tourists who stick to well-travelled areas of the country and don't interact with criminal gangs are unlikely to be the victims of serious violent crime .

That's because Mexico's drug cartels have traditionally focused on fighting each other, rather than targeting civilians.

It's not a hard and fast rule, though.

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador in 2022 acknowledged that recent violence in some northern cities was unusual in that cartel members had begun to attack members of the public .

"This is something that hadn't presented itself before and hopefully won't be repeated, because they attacked the civilian population, innocents, as a type of retaliation," Mr López Obrador said.

What is the Australian government's travel advice?

The government's Smartraveller website advises Australians visiting Mexico to exercise a high degree of caution due to the threat of violent crime in the country .

The site states violent crimes related to the drug trade are widespread in Mexico, and shoot-outs, grenade attacks and car bombings have occurred in public places.

Violent carjackings have also increased, Smartraveller says, especially along Mexico's northern borders and along the Pacific coast.

Australians are advised to avoid travelling at night outside major cities , including on major highways, as well as to monitor the media for new safety risks and avoid changing large amounts of money at the airport .

• X (formerly Twitter)

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