How much of this will be spent on domestic travel and how soon WEB will recover from its lows....

We've saved $38b in overseas travel – but can we spend it?

Matthew Cranston and Edmund Tadros

Jul 13, 2020 – 5.46pm

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International border closures may not affect overall economic growth this year as much as first expected because Australia will have a spare $38 billion in its pocket that would have otherwise been spent on overseas travel.

CBA analysis released on Monday showed as much as $38 billion that would have been spent in offshore tourism would no longer leave Australia. Balancing that with the usual surplus of travel expenditure, Australia is $20 billion better off because of the COVID-19 restrictions.

"The question is then around what proportion of that $38 billion gets spent domestically," CBA economist Gareth Aird said.

"A back-of-the envelope calculation means that if about half of that money is spent on domestic goods and services, then the overall impact on GDP from border closures is minimal in 2020.

"There will certainly be businesses that are negatively impacted and we do not wish to gloss over that fact. But from a pure level of expenditure in the economy, if Australians can spend half of what they would have spent overseas in 2019 domestically then the gap is plugged."........


https://www.copyright link/policy/economy/38b-saved-from-travel-but-can-we-spend-it-20200713-p55biw