The sales pitches to Canberran customers are coming thick and fast as the holidays approach.
From Batemans Bay to Brisbane, traders want the Canberra dollar.
Jetstar has just announced that it is starting flights to Brisbane from December 17.
Rex is resuming Canberra to Melbourne and Canberra to Sydney flights at $69 - and without the usual block on booking cheap flights on high-demand days.
Batemans Bay has started a big publicity push to persuade Canberrans to head there.
The billboard slogan is: "Welcome Back Canberra, We've Missed You".
"Canberrans love the coast," the president of Batemans Bay Business and Tourism Chamber David Maclachlan said.
"A lot of Canberrans own houses down here. Canberrans know their importance in backing mum-and-dad businesses down here. Tourism is our biggest industry and they understand what we've been through down here, and what Canberra's been through, too.
"We're welcoming Canberrans back to the coast."
But the south coast is competing with Gold Coast, south of Brisbane.
Jetstar's new flights between Canberra and Brisbane take off a week before Christmas when the Queensland border opens. It's the first time the airline has flown the route.
It reckons that the five return services a week will "provide a significant boost to tourism between the two cities".
The route was due to begin in September and then the lockdowns at both ends grounded it.
Tickets have gone on sale for seats on the A320 aircraft. They start at $109.
Jetstar says it expects to carry a hundred thousand people between the two cities a year.
When Rex introduced its ultra-low cost fares to Sydney and Melbourne before the last set of lockdowns, Qantas responded by adding new routes between smaller regional airports.
Rex, Link, Virgin, Qantas and Jetstar seemed to be in a dog-fight - which meant good news for customers. There may well be a resumption of that kind of price war.
Qantas also added Byron Bay to its destinations reached directly from Canberra. It said that it would offer two flights per week and assess demand.
There are already signs that Canberrans are looking further afield as the lockdown recedes.
Braidwood shop-keepers remarked on busier traffic through the pit-stop town.
It is not clear, however, how many money-spenders are likely to head towards Canberra rather than away from it.
Attractions are barely open so it may be too early to talk about publicity drives - and the (possible) heat of summer may be the wrong time.
The good news is that borders are coming down and people are clearly itching to travel. The cloud on the horizon is that international borders are also coming down. Demand may be so great that lots of places get the Canberra dollar - and Canberra gets some of theirs.
