Historical Ooraminna Station Homestead starved for tourists during peak season

This historical tourism mecca has hosted the likes of Bachelor USA and Australian Idol, but on a sunny day in the middle of peak tourism season there is not a single cabin booked.

When Nicky Lorimer and her family took over Ooraminna Station Homestead five years ago it was a bustling mecca filled with international and interstate tourists.

Even throughout the Covid-19 pandemic the 600-acre station was busy during brief periods of borders opening and Mrs Lorimer had to place an emergency order for glamping tents at one stage to increase the capacity of the venue due to demand.

With the historical station boasting the film set of Ted Egan’s The Drover’s Boy and Warwick Thornton’s Sweet Country, alongside regularly hosting domestic and international television shows, it’s easy to see why.

But on a sunny and mild Wednesday in the middle of peak season school holidays, there is not a single cabin booked.

Ooraminna Station Homestead on a busy night, the venue usually hosts a wide range of tourists due to its destination on a station and historical filmset. Picture: supplied

For Mrs Lorimer it’s not entirely unexpected, alarm bells have been ringing for her since the start of the year.

“In about February usually I’d see in the booking system and the emails bookings coming in, because everyone’s gone back to work and they’re like “oh we better start planning our next holiday”, and I did not see a single booking coming in,” she said.

“And I thought ‘that’s weird’ and of course, the media down south and in the world had been publicising that there was anarchy on the streets of Alice Springs.”

A still from Sweet Country filmed at the Ooraminna Hotel. Picture: Supplied

She went on to meet with various tourism organisations and ministers to express her concerns, believing operators were going to “run into trouble” when peak season hit, and they have, with many operators reporting visitation less than 50 per cent on previous years.

Mrs Lorimer said four or five years ago during school holidays there would be “families everywhere”, but there was not a single cabin booked on Wednesday, with the Homestead’s two luxury honeymoon suits still available on Friday night – a rarity for the business pre Covid-19.

The venue boasts multiple luxury villas, glamping tents, a campground and several hands-on experiences - but has remained “extremely” quiet this peak season.

“The international gates are open, but I haven’t seen many international tourists here, and that’s going to be slow to come back, so we’re relying on the domestic market and that just never happened, so now we’re relying on a local market but none of us have got the money to be paying $400 for a room a night,” she said.

“All businesses have been affected.”

She has been a strong advocate for the introduction of Central Australian tourism vouchers, believing they would help locals whose businesses are also struggling be able to afford to get out and about and explore the area.

“I think the tourism vouchers would help us and save us because it’ll give all of us the opportunity to go and support other operators, and it worked for us in Covid-19,” she said.

Ooraminna Station Homestead owner Nicky Lorimer says tourism vouchers would significantly help tourism businesses like her own survive a troubling tourism season. Picture: Laura Hooper

The vouchers were pushed by CLP MLA’s Josh Burgoyne and Bill Yan in a press conference with Tourism Central Australia chief executive Danial Rochford on Wednesday.

Mr Burgoyne said Red Centre tourism organisations were facing an “emergency” similar to Covid-19, and called for $1m to go towards tourism vouchers with a dollar-for-dollar match up to $200.

The proposal was backed by Mr Rochford, who said the industry had been “begging” for more resources for some time.

Tourism Minister Nicole Manison said the government would remain agile in their policy and would look into tourism vouchers “if there is a need”.

The Ooraminah Station Homestead pool, usually “filled with families” on a sunny day at this time of year, sits empty. The government has insisted there are “tourists everywhere” in Central Australia. Picture: Laura Hooper

“We are backing in the tourism industry in Central Australia with an additional $35.5 million in budget for Territory Tourism,” she said.