Australia fires deter Chinese tourists ahead of Lunar New Year holiday

Tourism operators are reporting cancellations as visitors are put off by images of raging fires and smoke shrouding cities like Sydney and Melbourne

This comes as heavy rain fell in eastern Australia on Friday, providing welcome relief and even causing flooding in places

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The Sydney Opera House is seen through smoke haze from bush fires in New South Wales. Images of the fires have deterred tourists from visiting Australia, especially over Lunar New Year. Photo: DPA

Published: 3:06pm, 17 Jan 2020Updated: 8:57pm, 17 Jan 2020

Australia’s largest tourism market is turning away as the smoke shrouding Sydney and Melbourne and images of fire-ravaged beach resorts deter Chinese tourists over Lunar New Year, in a further blow to the economy.

This comes as heavy rain fell in eastern Australia for a second straight day on Friday, offering further relief from a months-long crisis. Some areas saw their heaviest rainfalls in nearly a decade, but despite this, 30 fires were still out of control in New South Wales and dozens of others were still burning in Victoria on Friday, fire services reported.

Visitors from mainland China spend an estimated US$8.3 billion annually Down Under, with trips in January and February accounting for almost a quarter of annual arrivals. Tourism operators say images of the fires broadcast worldwide could have a lasting impact on international arrivals, the nation’s third-largest export earner.

Haze from bush fires hangs over Melbourne’s central business district. Photo: Reuters

“The media coverage made Australia look like a Third World country with thousands of refugee fleeing and village after village burnt to the ground,” said Cheryl Zhong of Equity Travel in Sydney, having experienced a wave of cancellations over the past 10 days. “People even asked if most of the koalas were killed in the fire and there’s no marsupials left to see.”

She is concerned about the outlook from March, warning that if the perception that the whole of Australia is ablaze isn’t reversed, bookings could fall by more than 30 per cent.