With the further easing of travel and venue restrictions across Australia, this week marks a significant milestone in the recovery of the regional tourism industry following the coronavirus pandemic.Australian Regional Tourism (ART) welcomes the news and action from State and Territory Governments across the country. For some this includes increased regional travel and greater capacity at pubs, clubs, cafes and restaurants, while for others it is reopening of camping grounds and attractions such as museums and art galleries.
This pandemic has shown us many things and for countless regions it has highlighted the absolute importance of tourism to their local economies. Increasingly the term ‘visitor economy’ will be more accepted as a true measure of the impact of tourism, as it is not just the cafes, restaurants and motels benefiting from the tourist dollar, but also the cleaners, tradies and other suppliers getting a boost.
For all of these regional businesses the changes are a welcomed step in the recovery journey, but for some the announcements have come as a surprise. This is particularly the case for those in Queensland who were otherwise preparing for a June 12 deadline and have been caught out as the easing of restrictions commenced on Monday, almost two weeks earlier than expected.
ART is urging everyone to be kind to one another, many regional businesses have been closed and others have been trading very differently to how they are used to for a couple of months now, staff have been out of work and the supply chain is frantic trying to keep up with the demand at such short notice.
“All of the cafes are wanting their orders for coffee filled and accommodation providers need their linen freshly laundered, and the coffee roasters and laundry service companies will be under enormous pressure to keep up with all of their orders, ART Deputy Chair, Donna Foster said.
“Frontline staff will really appreciate your patience, they are ‘people’ people and they’ve missed your cheerful smile as you walk through the door,” she said.
“Aussies love to support Aussies and we do encourage everyone to get out and support regional areas, we just ask you be a little compassionate and perhaps more generous than usual as our businesses get back on their feet after perhaps the most challenging time of their lives.”
ART continues to echo comments it made last week and maintains the national priority needs to be the reopening of all State and Territory borders to ensure the survival of the regional visitor economy.
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