Warwick motels empty as parts of Queensland prepare to enter lockdown

Stay-at-home orders have disrupted business in Warwick, just as the Southern Downs gears up for two of its biggest tourist drawcards of the year.

Nina Bloom City View motel owner

While Warwick has avoided the three-day lockdown mandated for southeast Queensland, its effects are still being felt in the Rose City.

City View Motel owner Nina Bloom said after Sydney's outbreak last weekend, people had cancelled their travel plans.

“The phone has been ringing non-stop,” she said.

Mrs Bloom said if she was to lose her weekend trade, she would be looking at a loss of about $3000.

Drawcard events like races at Morgan Park Raceway had got her through the challenging times, Mrs Bloom said.

“We’ve been booked out for weeks, even a couple of months,” she said.

Ian Welsh from the Historic Car Racing Club confirm that the snap lockdown meant the weekend’s Historic Queensland Race Meeting would be cancelled.

He said the committee was scrambling to find a suitable new date.

“There’s a shortage of racetracks in southeast Queensland and Morgan Park is very busy,” Mr Welsh said.

“There is an event on almost every weekend.”

Mr Welsh said with a new date yet to be decided, he was now trying to pull down billboard advertising in Toowoomba.

“There’s an awful lot of work that goes into these meetings and a lot of volunteer work,” Mr Welsh said.

The postponement will also see the car enthusiast group take another finial blow, with tickets now needing to be refunded.

Mr Welsh said the event at Morgan Park would have drawn money to the town.

“It’s accommodation, too – we had the Warwick Golf Club booked for a meet and greet,” he said.

While the lockdown was anticipated to ease at 6pm Friday, Mrs Bloom said she felt uncertain bookings would pick up.

“We really look forward to events like this, and we when we get these bookings we really thought things were turning around,” she said.