The tourism operators of Australia are now counting the cost of floods

Published on : Wednesday, March 31, 2021

The manager of the Marina Holiday Park, Carol Curry, 330 kms north of Sydney, the Easter long weekend and school holidays were to be a major conclusion of the tourist season experiencing a year-long battered sector by COVID-19 restrictions.

Curry rather sloshing through mud to reach the cabins which got flood damaged after experiencing heavy rains battered the east coast of Australia in the early part of March and trying to contact guests to cancel bookings.
“The park went under and so did all our reservation books and computers and things like that, so it’s been a bit of a challenge,” Curry told Reuters at the waterfront park she has taken care of for five years.

“We actually had guests turn up last night to check in, so unfortunately they had to go elsewhere.”
To the Australian economy, tourism is a key contributor. In 2018/19, it generated about A$61 billion ($47 billion) and employing about 5% of the workforce of the country, according to Tourism Australia.

This industry got majorly impacted when Australia early last year efficiently closed its international borders to safeguard against COVID-19, as a series of internal border closures to stop outbreaks added to the pain.

With easy internal restrictions in the earlier 2021, operators were preparing for a bumper holiday before the slower winter months when the destructive east coast floods washed away all their expectations.

At the Stoney Aqua Park, offering camping and water skiing around at present damaged obstacle course, co-owner Anissa Manton, said she was facing significant financial losses.

“We were solidly booked out,” she said. “We were looking forward to a huge season.”