EDITORIAL: Territory is still Covid-free, but interstate lockdowns hitting hard

Tourism and hospitality operators have seen their Dry go from boom to bust, with 12 million potential visitors locked out due to Covid-19 lockdowns.

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OVER half of Australia’s population are locked out of the Northern Territory, which is the most since the early days of the pandemic.

Amid the scramble to control the spread of the Delta variant of Covid-19, lockdowns are back in vogue among state and territory leaders.

But the fallout from stay-at-home orders are far from just being felt within the confines of Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide.

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Here in the Territory, tourism operators and hospitality venues have been gearing up for the biggest events on the calendar, including the Darwin Cup Carnival and the Darwin Festival.

Just weeks ago, it was near-to-impossible to find a hotel room in town.

Streets around Darwin have been quieter. Picture: Che Chorley

Now Hospitality NT says occupancy rates have crashed to 30 per cent, which is apparently worse than what was seen in pre-Covid times.

In the midst of all this, it’s important to realise the lockdowns have impacts far that reach across state borders.

We’re hoping both the Territory and Federal governments can do more to help operators, who’ve seen their bumper Dry evaporate rapidly.

A return of JobKeeper has been ruled out apparently, but there’s still hope for some assistance.

The federal government could launch new half-price flights to the NT for Queensland and WA, while there’s still money set aside for the return of the NT’s tourism vouchers.

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