Mount Gambier tourism operators continue to feel the brunt of the SA-Victoria border closure
Being the halfway point between Adelaide and Melbourne is normally Mount Gambier’s tourism draw card, but now the industry finds itself stuck in the middle of the border closure.
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The pandemic may have forced tourists to explore their own backyards but Mount Gambier has not reaped the rewards, according to local tourism operators.
A double whammy of COVID travel restriction and proximity to the closed SA-Victorian border are continuing to wreak havoc for the industry while other destinations enjoy an influx of intrastate visitors.
THE OLD MOUNT GAMBIER GAOL
After the 2020 instalment of Generations In Jazz was called off, cancellations began rolling in at The Old Mount Gambier Gaol.
Owners James and Melissa Stephenson decided to padlock the gates and have only recently reopened the unique accommodation experience, with the exception of a quiet June school holidays.
“We took it as a time to do a health check on our young family and a health check on our business so when things did open up again we were ready to go,” Mr Stephenson said.
Now, as people regain their confidence in travel, business is picking up at Australian’s only jail converted into full time boutique accommodation.
Unlike beachside towns, Mr Stephenson said Mount Gambier had not enjoyed the benefits of the opening of state borders and was out of reach as a weekend getaway destination from Adelaide.
“Because Mount Gambier is so close to the Victorian border yet so far away from Adelaide and the rest of the cities, it didn’t help as much in Mount Gambier,” he said.
“I know places like Robe and Beachport being seaside towns have probably their best winters they’ve ever had.”
Instead, as the halfway point between Melbourne and Adelaide, Mr Stephenson said the town’s tourism industry relied on road trip traffic which has been halted by the border closure.
“I think we can definitely promote ourselves a lot better as a town as that central hub,” he said.
“Mount Gambier ticks all the boxes for a self drive holiday, there are a lot of wineries, a lot of world heritage caves, volcanoes, natural wonders.
“It’s definitely a massive thing that Victoria will hopefully open by Christmas for everybody in Mount Gambier.”
HERTZ
Prior to the pandemic business had never been better for Shane and Tara Brook, now they are struggling to see the light at the end of the tunnel
The local car rental operator is hoping border and travel restrictions end sooner rather than later, to get vehicles back on the road.
Running three Hertz branches in Mount Gambier, Portland and Warrnambool Mr Brook said they felt the impact of border and travel restrictions overnight and are yet to get much relief.
“I remember it vividly,” Mr Brook said.
“On the Monday, when the announcements about restrictions started to filter through, forward bookings immediately began to decline. It was slightly worrying but OK. We’d still be breaking even.
“However, it was a different story by the afternoon – all future booking had vanished! It all happened so quickly.”
They immediately sold off 40 per cent of the fleet as a cost-saving measure to protect the business and nine staff.
Trickles of reservations are currently keeping the business operational, thanks mainly to a contract Hertz Australia holds with the Department of Defence, who are using their vehicles to patrol the SA-Victoria border.
Mr Brook said it was the lack of corporate business flying in from the Eastern Seaboard hurting the business.
“The corporate market pulling out of travel, which I had not braced for, was devastating. I am really hoping states will open borders soon, otherwise it is going to be incredibly difficult,” he said.
“We are also desperate for restrictions to ease because we need flexibility within my business.
“Given we only operate a small fleet, we need to move vehicles between locations. Normally we’d use ferry drivers, but given the border closure, we’re now reliant on truck transportation, which is slow and expensive. It is definitely restricting our ability to trade.”
ECHO FARM
Linda and Bruce Hay have seen more Adelaide visitors walk through the Echo Farm gates in the past few weeks than in their almost three years of business.
But it is the lack of Victorian guests that is impacting the farm experience.
“When COVID hit we completely shut down and it was our busiest time of the year so it was pretty hard to shut,” Mrs Hay said.
“Because we’ve been going just for a couple of years we had just started to build recognition among people, we were thinking we’ll be able to do a few new improvements.
“Then that happened and we lost all of our income from the farm, but we still had the costs of feeding the animals.”
Reopening for the June school holidays, Mrs Hay said they saw an increase in metro visitors but with a quarter of guests normally coming from Victoria the border closure was blow to business.
“We had heaps of people from Adelaide saying they never even thought about coming to Mount Gambier, that only came here because that couldn’t go anywhere else,” she said.
“We get lots of visitors travelling Adelaide to Melbourne, they are probably our main lot of visitors and they don’t exist.
“It is really hurting us.”
Along with missing out on an extra week of Victorian school holidays, Mrs Hay said locals had also dropped off and encouraged people to visit.
“It’d be really nice for the locals to support our local businesses,” she said.