Coronavirus: Grey nomads ‘lining up’ in the nick of time
Lifting of travel restrictions is a welcome relief that could save tourism-reliant businesses across the Kimberley and East Pilbara region.
In any other year, the row of prime waterfront campsites overlooking Broome’s spectacular Roebuck Bay would be packed out by now with grey nomads looking to ride out the winter months.
Right now, however, Discovery Parks Broome manager Rob Lush has just one pair of guests — a father and son who have had the whole campground to themselves for the past few days.
Mr Lush expects they will soon have far more competition for the camp’s showers and toilets, when the first wave of caravans begin to arrive. Federal government-imposed biosecurity measures that had shut the Kimberley were formally lifted at midnight, meaning caravaners should start flooding in from the early hours of Friday.
For Mr Lush, the lifting of the restrictions is a welcome relief that will save tourism-reliant businesses across the region. The winter months, when the Kimberley enjoys perfect weather, is the peak tourism period and the reopening of the regional border will allow tourism operators to salvage the bulk of the season.
“The faces of everyone here have just lifted today, it’s amazing,” he told The Australian.
“If it was left another month, there would have been businesses that just wouldn’t have been able to cope. Now there are businesses that will at least be able to get something back from the season.”
Western Australia was quick to carve up the state into 13 distinct regions in an attempt to limit movement and stop the spread of coronavirus. Regional WA, in particular the remote indigenous communities and regional centres popular with retirees, was seen as particularly vulnerable to the virus.
With the outbreak largely under control in WA for weeks now, the bulk of the intrastate restrictions were lifted in time for the June 1 WA Day public holiday. But the Kimberley and parts of the East Pilbara were forced to wait a little bit longer, with federal Health Minister Greg Hunt required to sign off on the lifting of the biosecurity restrictions.
Shire of Broome president Harold Tracey said he hoped the ongoing bans on international travel would help inspire a rush of domestic tourists to town.
He said he had been amazed at the willingness of the town’s tourism businesses to accept the coronavirus restrictions. “I’ve got to give credit to the tourism industry and the operators, they were the first ones on board when COVID-19 raised its head, saying ‘we know that we have to lock this region down’,” Mr Tracey said.
“They appreciated that if that didn’t happen, the impact could have been far worse.
“Overnight, life for their businesses and their finances ended as they knew it but they were the first to say ‘we are with this’.”
Mr Lush, meanwhile, said he and his team were itching to start welcoming guests.
He said he has heard stories of lines of caravans along the WA coast heading for the Kimberley.
“People are champing at the bit to get here,” Mr Lush said.
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