As the daughter of migrants who came from Malaysia in the 1970s, I never thought there would be a day that I’d find myself agreeing with One Nation leader Pauline Hanson. But here we are.
It’s been a big week for news, as regional airline Rex plummeted into voluntary administration on Wednesday, leaving regional Australians with doubt over the future of important air links.
There’s been a lot of focus on the impact that Rex’s downfall will have on the aviation industry and the competitive landscape, but now, both Pauline and I are left wondering what’s next for regional Australian communities?
“I feel for people in these rural and regional areas. [Are] Virgin and Qantas going to take up the slack? I think they should,” Pauline said in an interview with Sky News.
“I think they have an obligation to the people in these rural and regional areas that they do provide a service at a cost that they can afford, otherwise people can’t travel.”
Today, I had a chat with Armidale’s Deputy Mayor, Todd Redwood, who pointed out that Armidale Airport doesn’t just service those within the town, but people in the entire region.
“For us, it’s important to have that connectivity. We have a very slow train to get to Sydney, so we were heavily reliant on flights. It’s about connectivity for the entire region, not just Armidale,” he said.
“Our population is 30,000, but we have a broader base of people in the region who rely on our airport and the services we provide to connect people to Sydney, Melbourne or Brisbane. They come from as far afield as Glen Innes, Inverell, Walcha.”
The impact goes far beyond people in the Big Smoke no longer having an easy three-day weekend in the country. Indeed, it will be as far-reaching as affecting how we do business with one another and even how medical services will be able to access the regional community.
While the impacts are often reported through the lens of leisure travel, it’s important to note that if Rex were to go under, so many important basic services would be under threat.
Speaking to Susi Tegen, Chief Executive of Australia’s peak body for rural, regional and remote health, the National Rural Health Alliance (NRHA), it’s clear how serious the development is for a large swathe of the community.
“Rural communities rely on road, rail and air infrastructure to deal with the tyranny of distance, to receive the health services they need and to deliver the many economic benefits for all if Australia to enjoy,” Tegen explains.
“The Rex voluntary administration demonstrates the fragility of how service stoppage can impact the more than seven million people, which make up Australia’s rural remote and regional populations.
“The prospect of having no or fewer flights to communities is a severe threat on people’s already stretched health and medical care access, economic and community wellbeing.
“There is a need for competition in Australia to keep ticket prices affordable. We have a duopoly, and government intervention and support is needed where market fails due to a lack of scale and areas of need. It is important for the health of the rural regions,” she concluded.
In other news, while the rest of us were bashing away at our keyboards on deadline this week, my colleague and Travel Daily Editor, Adam Bishop, had the pleasure of experiencing Voyages’ new Sunrise Journey experience at Uluru.
Renowned Anangu artists Selina Kulitja, Denise Brady, and Valerie Brumby were instrumental in the development of the tour, combining with Anangu composer Jeremy Whiskey and Mandylights to take Voyages’ growing portfolio of Indigenous experiences to a new level.
We all know that consumers are now hungry for authenticity and human connection to people and places. So, I cannot think of a better way for our industry to tap into this than working with First Nations communities and their leaders to bring these experiences to life.
After all, these are uniquely Australian stories that only we can share, but why are there not more Indigenous travel leaders within our industry? Surely this is a missed opportunity that we should explore and be proud to own.
Meanwhile, the slow travel trend is continuing, with new figures from Japan National Tourism Organisation revealing that Australians stayed longer in the country than in previous years.
Stays of over 14 days rose by 7.6% compared to 2019, while short stays of under a week dropped by 4.4%.
It seems that Australian travellers now want to take more time to see a country and visit its lesser-known destinations.
It makes me think of the wonderful rail adventures I heard about this week at the launch of Entire Journey’s 2024/2025 brochure at the QVB Tea Room in Sydney.
I was particularly taken by Belmond’s glamorous Eastern and Orient Express, which winds itself through the lush, everchanging landscapes of Southeast Asia.
In the hectic world that we live in right now, I love the idea of enjoying a leisurely train ride and watching a country slowly unfold itself in front of me. And what a bonus if you can relax in the luxurious Dior Spa at the same time, or even solve a murder mystery on board!
