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"Never ever would I fly to Australia"
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"I would love to see the kangaroos. But never ever would I fly to Australia", Peter said. I was visiting my friends in Switzerland recently, and Peter was glancing disapprovingly at his wife Martha. She had returned from Oz a few weeks ago, where she was on a holiday - without her husband.
Peter was not the only one during my recent trip to Europe who is giving plane travel the flick - for good. Within a fortnight three other friends told me that they would love to visit me and the wombats on my farm, but simply could not reconcile it with their conscience to fly half way around the world and being responsible for tons of deadly carbon emissions.
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"Flightshaming" has truly hit Europe. And Australia will be at the sharp end of it.
Before COVID, 8.7 million visitors arrived on our shores each year. While fewer in numbers than tourists coming from Asia, European travellers are some of our most valuable, high-yielding visitors. In contrast to Asians they usually stay for several weeks and spend their money not primarily in the cities but in the country, where it is most needed. In regions like ours they support small tourism businesses: wineries, mum-and-dad tour companies, the RSL.
Yes, the relief in Europe over being able to travel again after a two year long, COVID-induced drought, has led to a massive upsurge in flying. But this might well be a short-term phenomenon. Recent disasters such as the fires in Greece and the catastrophic melting of the Swiss glaciers contribute strongly to the escalating awareness of the high carbon footprint of air travel. Like Peter, a retired company director, it is not just Greenies saying No to planes, but the educated, usually well-travelled and cashed-up middle class. Governments are taking action too. France has declared short-range flights to be illegal. Rail operators are expanding their offerings. This all makes sense on a continent with very good rail services. But last time I checked I could not take the sleeper train from Zurich to Goulburn. Flying will for a long time be the only choice for any traveller wanting to come to our shores.
And you really need to want to come to Australia. We are a destination you don't just visit while on the way to somewhere else. As such, "Flightshaming" poses a particularly strong threat to our multi-billion-dollar tourism industry, to millions of jobs, and to those small tourism operators in the bush who depend on the European visitor. As Peter told me: "Travelling to Australia would cost me much more than a ticket. It is costing my children's future".
Swiss born Australian Urs Walterlin is a radio- and TV-journalist. He lives on a farm near Goulburn. In his spare time, he enjoys rescuing native animals as a Wires volunteer.
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