No coronavirus restriction relief for Victoria’s tourist ghost towns
Halls Gap is one of many Victorians tourist hot spots turned into a ghost town by coronavirus restrictions, and the pain is set to continue with camping and Airbnb rentals still off the table.
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Holidaying within Victoria is still banned but people can stay overnight at the homes of family and friends for special reasons such as babysitting.
Premier Daniel Andrews has continued his ultra-cautious approach to lifting restrictions by ruling out camping and stays at holiday parks and Airbnb rentals.
“There’s no overnight stay,” he said.
“We’ve never had limits on how far a person can travel (but) the fact though that people cannot stay overnight, I think will limit how far they travel.”
The decision is a blow to accommodation providers, while the broader state tourism industry is upset that social distancing rules are still too strict for struggling operators.
Big4 Holiday Parks chief executive Steven Wright said it was disappointing his industry could operate in Western Australia, South Australia and the Northern Territory, but not Victoria.
“We know that government has concerns about use of shared facilities, but with cabins and self-contained caravans that risk is mitigated,” he said.
Mr Wright said it would be good if authorities could indicate when people can stay to provide certainty for them and operators.
Airbnb Australia spokesman Derek Nolan said safety and public health continued to be the top priority for the company, and everyone must follow the rules.
“When the time is right, we look forward to working with the Victorian Government to help local communities and small businesses get back on their feet,” he said.
Pip and Gary Spooner, who took over the Halls Gap Motel during Easter, are looking forward to visitors returning, but they will have to wait longer.
“When we arrived it was an absolute ghost town, not a car in sight and nothing open except the supermarket,” Ms Spooner said.
While holidaying is still banned, the government is allowing overnight stays at the homes of family and friends if they need to provide care like baby sitting or support for vulnerable people.
Staying at your holiday home is permitted, as is booking accommodation for an essential need.
However, generally, Victorians are being urged to stay local, and “only go to places where you can drive there and back within one day”.
Victorian Tourism Industry Council chief executive Felicia Mariani said that lifting outdoor gathering numbers to a maximum 10 people still posed great challenges for many operators.
“We have a lot of outdoor attractions in regional Victoria who wanted some glimmer of hope for a pathway to recovery,” she said.
“Unfortunately we didn’t see that (in the Premier’s announcement) and our industry is still on hold until the end of May,” she said.
Ms Mariani said the industry was keen to co-operate with the government to provide an environment that protected the health and safety of Victorians.
“Many parts of the tourism industry were decimated dating back to January due to the bushfire crisis, and that’s been exacerbated by the Covid19 crisis,” she said.
“We will work cooperatively to get our industry back, we will do whatever it takes to comply.”
Pandemic shutdowns cost Victoria’s regional tourism economy an estimated $1 billion and thousands of jobs.
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