‘Their confidence is shot’: NT hotels devastated as Covid border closures force mass cancellations

Hospitality NT boss Alex Bruce says some hotels have seen a whopping 40 per cent hit to bookings for Darwin’s Supercars weekend since the whole state of Victoria was declared a hot spot.

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Hospitality NT boss Alex Bruce says some hotels have seen a whopping 40 per cent hit to bookings for Darwin’s Supercars weekend since the whole state of Victoria was declared a hot spot.

Victorian would-be visitors have been cancelling their bookings in Darwin on mass since the entire state was declared a Covid-19 hot spot by the NT on Thursday.

Mr Bruce said it was “disappointing” to see regional Victoria excluded from the Territory with major NT events including the Finke Desert Race (June 11-14) and Darwin Supercars (June 18-20) coming up.

“We are getting booking cancellations,” he said.

“Hotels are getting calls from Victorians with books two, three four weeks away.

“Their confidence is shot.

“Victoria is approximately 30 per cent of our domestic market so if this continues we will see that level of impact, albeit with some backfill from other jurisdictions.

Hospitality NT chief executive Alex Bruce. Picture: Che Chorley

“Some smaller accommodation providers are reporting 40 per cent cancellations and are now trying to backfill with bookings.”

Mr Bruce said the Finke Desert Race would likely see a big hit to numbers next weekend as well because “a huge chunk” of their interstate visitors normally travelled in from Victoria.

It comes as Victoria records four news Covid-19 cases overnight, bringing the current outbreak to 64 infections.

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