Territory caravan parks battle to stay afloat as bookings dry up

CARAVAN parks throughout the NT are doing their best to stay afloat amid the coronavirus crisis, which was seen bookings all but evaporate due to strict new lockdown rules.

Demi Forster of Winnellie’s Discovery caravan park. Picture: Glenn Campbell

CARAVAN parks throughout the NT are doing their best to stay afloat amid the coronavirus crisis which was seen bookings all but evaporate due to strict new lockdown rules.

With up to 90 per cent of their bookings now cancelled, Winnellie’s Discovery park acting manger Tina Powell said the business would stay open and try to keep as many staff working as possible.

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“Some people are holding on if their bookings are a little bit further down the track just to see what will happen between now and then but the majority of people have chosen to cancel and get refunds,” she said.

“We have reduced (staff) hours and we’re all doing our little bit, every little bit that one person does might help somebody else save their job so we’re all doing our best.

“We are still open and we will stay open, we have a few self-isolation cases in at the moment and long-term I know that I’m kind of on the chopping block to take a 50 per cent reduction in salary.”

Meanwhile, Katherine Holiday Park manger Tracy Bache said while that business would also remain open, its long-term future was uncertain.

Ms Bache said the park was also trying to retain as many staff as possible but the seasonal nature of the industry meant access to government stimulus payments was not clear cut.

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“We’ve got about half-a-dozen people in the park that are kind of stuck here and that’s about it, just cancellation after cancellation,” she said.

“We’re going to stay open because we’re on 44 acres so we need to keep the grounds going. “As far as weathering the storm, the owner can get grant money for my husband and I who are the managers but beyond that we’re not spending any money and he’s obviously got limited amounts coming in.

“We have had to let our two cleaners go because they’re internationals and he can’t get any funding for them because they haven’t worked for him for more than 12 months so we let those go yesterday, unfortunately.”