Caravanners and campers free to hit the open SA road from Monday
Within minutes of intrastate travel restrictions easing the phones were ringing and SA’s tourism operators were already opening their arms to sorely missed guests.
SA Business
Don't miss out on the headlines from SA Business. Followed categories will be added to My News.
- Zero cases today as leaders outline the road back for SA
- Prizes, discounts, freebies: Check out the latest subscriber rewards
Within half an hour of Premier Steven Marshall’s announcement that regions would be open to tourists from Monday, Wallaroo Holiday Park manager Michael Byrne took a booking for the next week.
“A lady called saying she was disappointed she couldn’t come at Easter, but she booked three nights in a cabin for next week,” he said.
And the phone kept ringing for the rest of the afternoon – music to his ears after weeks of COVID-19 restrictions.
“This region will absolutely be welcoming tourists back with open arms,” said Mr Byrne, who planned to keep every second site empty to comply with social distancing.
His holiday park is one of scores of regional businesses and tourism operators preparing to welcome back visitors with open arms from Monday.
Premier Steven Marshall said SA was the only jurisdiction in the nation to open up caravan and camp operations again from next week.
“We’re going to be pushing ahead with changing our strong advice against regional travel – we’re not only saying it’s possible but in fact we’re encouraging it,” he said.
“We want people to get out and explore our beautiful backyard and spend money in regional SA and help those economies move forward and create jobs.”
Local and regional travel is part of the first phase of the Federal Government’s three-step framework to reopen Australia’s economy by July.
Step one involves intrastate travel starting again. The next step would see the consideration of interstate recreational travel, depending on each state and territory’s situation.
The third phase allows for all interstate travel to open up.
With overseas travel off limits for the foreseeable future, Lisa Hawson, owner of Wallaroo’s popular North Beach Kitchen, hopes tourists will instead opt to spend their travel dollars in their home state.
“We rely so heavily on tourism in this area and usually the trade at Easter sets us up to get through winter,” she said. “(When interstate travel opens up) it will be amazing if people can continue to look locally before they look interstate.”
MORE NEWS:
COVID-19 restrictions lifted: What it means for you
Power boss bullish on club's future with China
Aussie shares up as RBA forecasts recession
Manager of caravan and camping store Adventure Life at Wallaroo Shane Absolom said opening up to tourists would have a great flow-on effect to the wider regional economy. “This is not just going to help us, it’s going to help the local petrol stations and supermarkets,” he said.
SA Tourism Commission chief executive, Rodney Harrex said before the coronavirus crisis struck, the state’s visitor economy was at an highest – reaching a record $8.1 billion in visitor expenditure.
He urged South Australians to take the opportunity to travel in their own backyards.
“Let’s redirect some of the $3.3 billion that South Australians spend on overseas holidays back into our state and into the pockets of our 18,000 tourism operators,” he said.