BUSINESS is picking up for travel agents now that residents have the opportunity to enjoy interstate holidays again.
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The border between Queensland and NSW opened to all NSW residents on Monday, following on from the NSW-Victoria border reopening on November 23.
Western Australia will also open its borders to residents of NSW and Victoria from next Tuesday.
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As a result of the recent and upcoming changes, Bathurst residents are reaching out to travel agents to plan their next holiday.
Panorama Cruise and Travel director Caroline Sage said her agency had definitely seen an increase in inquiry, with a number of destinations in high demand.
"We're doing a lot of bookings for the Northern Territory, Queensland, Norfolk [Island], Lord Howe [Island], NSW as well as Tasmania at the moment, and South Australia," she said, adding that there is excitement around travel.
"They're keen to organise a holiday and have a goal to look forward to."
People are interested in making bookings for this month, but some are booking their plans for as far away as June and July.
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Ms Sage said this is the busiest her agency has been since the start of the pandemic, which has hit the tourism and travel industries harder than most.
"This is the busiest we have been so far; we constantly have been booking small hotels in small destinations, but now it's actual holiday destinations, which is great," she said.
"It's been a tough year and we're looking forward to moving on."
Other travel agencies have spoken about how different the coronavirus pandemic is compared to other challenges the tourism and travel industries have faced.
In April, owner of Bathurst's italktravel, Lisa Hall, said she'd never seen anything like it in her 30-year career.
"I've been through it all, SARS, Bird Flu, September 11, the collapse of Ansett airlines, the collapse of Compass, but this is by far the worst," she said.
At the time, she said shopping locally would be more important then ever when the recovery phase from the pandemic begins.