Byron’s accommodation based businesses have been impacted by Sydney’s school holiday lockdown, but it’s come off the back of a bumper year for tourism

The impacts have been extended with the extra week of lockdown in the city, but this downturn has come after an “insanely busy” 12 months for the tourism town.

Byron Bay has felt the impact of Sydney’s lockdown over the NSW school holidays, although it has experienced a bumper holiday season over the past year.
Picture: Pat Suraseang

News that Sydney will remain under lockdown conditions for an extra week was set to mean a further impact on North Coast businesses.

Stay at home orders will now remain in place in Greater Sydney and other affected local government areas until 11.59pm on Friday, July 16.

In regional New South Wales, masks remain mandatory in non-residential indoor settings and visitors to a home are limited to five people.

The Northern NSW Local Health District has no current cases; the Northern Rivers last had one case in Ballina at Easter.

David Jones from Destination Byron said the town’s overnight accommodation was expected to be at about 70 per cent occupancy for the first two weeks of July, before the lockdown.

“I would imagine it’s closer to 20 per cent at the moment,” Mr Jones said.

He said the decrease wasn’t only attributable to Sydneysiders who couldn’t travel: Southeast Queensland’s snap lockdown also played a part.

“Close to 70 or 80 per cent of our demand at them moment is coming from Sydney so it’s the lion’s share of that downturn,” Mr Jones said.

He said as July would typically be a quieter time for Byron so it was not the most damaging time for a lockdown to impact the region.

David Jones from Destination Byron.

The downturn has, however, followed a bumper summer season for the Byron Shire.

“It’s been a really big summer,” Mr Jones said.

He said they were “very optimistic” the region would experience big visitor numbers again from September this year.

While the prospect of state border slamming shut makes Byron even more enticing to visitors from Sydney and other parts of New South Wales, Mr Jones said he’s not convinced the “really robust demand” for trips to Byron among domestic visitors would end even when international borders open.

When it was possible to travel overseas, he said the cost, or difficulties with health insurance, could be prohibited for many.

Colin Hussey, CEO of holiday home management company A Perfect Stay, said this lockdown had a “Groundhog Day” feeling for tourism operators.

“Byron’s a destination where we’re getting people from most locations around Australia and, prior to Covid, internationally,” Mr Hussey said.

“We pretty much get hit regardless of where the outbreak is.”

Sydney residents are a key market for properties his company markets so having the city locked down for the entire school holidays has had an impact, he said.

A Perfect Stay CEO Colin Hussey.

Since the first impacts of the pandemic were felt locally in early 2020, Mr Hussey said businesses had been able to finesse their approach to these situations, including ensuring their policies have clear provision for lockdowns.

He said Sydney’s current lockdown was easier for them to handle because there was no ambiguity in the message from the state government as to who can, or cannot, travel.

“This one’s a bit easier for us because if you’re from Sydney you can’t come,” he said.

When Bluesfest was cancelled at Easter however, there was no explicit order against travelling; this put them in the “unenviable” position of explaining to guests they couldn’t get a refund.

“We have to adhere to our terms,” he said.

“At least with the lockdown it’s really concise and clear.”

Despite the current downturn, Mr Hussey said it had been a busy year for his company, too.

“We’ve been busy, like insanely busy since probably August last year,” he said.

“It’s either feast or famine. That’s a really hard environment: it’s hard on owners, it’s hard on my staff, it’s hard on guests.

“Our occupation has never been higher so we definitely had more visitors, more often in the last 12 months than we’ve ever had in our business.”

Residents have meanwhile have mixed views on whether the Northern Rivers should still be subjected to restrictions, when Sydney’s Covid-19 outbreak has not reached the region.

Dianne Rankin said the local restrictions should be lifted.

“I believe small businesses won’t survive,” she said.

“Restrictions should never have occurred in regional NSW.”

Chris Quinn said the regions had been “tarred with the same brush” as Sydney.

Kristel Morris said things weren’t flowing both ways.

“When the state government is handing out their budget Sydney gets all the money and the rest of the state gets forgotten but when Sydney is having Covid problems, the rest of NSW gets included,” she said.

Cheryl Siddon said it was “no big deal” to wear a mask.

Coral McFadyen said the problem was “people in areas in the lockdown don’t do what they are supposed to do and try to escape to regional areas no one can be trusted”.