Tourism operators cry for assist as lockdowns hit on two fronts

“These are the things that people in Perth generally don’t pay for.

“The Kimberley is very, very seasonal and a lot of companies can only get customers from the state … Losing this month of July after going through the last 18 months is just devastating.”

Mr. Hall said “hundreds of thousands” of visitors would typically flee to the regions from Perth during the school holidays as well.

“Most of these people start their trips a day or two early [than this Friday] and I can tell you that they are already canceling as they are afraid of losing their money, ”he said.

“We urge people to change their vacation because a lot of these businesses in the area – from your mini golf in Margaret River to camel rides in Broome – have prepared, re-staffed, bought supplies, and now it’s all suddenly wiped out. ”

The Tourism Council wants the WA government to provide support packages well in excess of the $ 2,000 that businesses could access during the April lockdown and the “small fortune” in government fees for recreational, parking and vehicle permits , Do without booking approvals and insurance.

“It has to match the losses these companies are suffering,” Hall said, citing NSW’s recent aid package of up to $ 10,000 for affected companies.

Sean Blocksidge’s tour operator is consistently rated number one on Tripadvisor for Margaret River tour experiences.

“And it cannot be limited to the companies in the restricted area; these losses struck across WA.

“The real cost of this lockdown is actually being paid by very few people … these tourism and other small businesses lose their income at peak times and it’s grossly unfair to put the cost on a very small group of people.”

Sean Blocksidge, owner of Margaret River Discovery Company, had canceled all of his tours this week but offered full refunds and was still receiving bookings for later that month.

“A few weeks ago I was fully booked with tours for this week, but as of Tuesday afternoon, every single tour was canceled due to lockdown restrictions,” he said.

“Unfortunately, that’s not an income. It will be the same for many hospitality, tourism, and entertainment companies across the country. This time there is no safety net. “

Mr Blocksidge has not taken any cancellation fees since COVID-19 began, and said bad news this week included the good news that six people booked tours for July.

“I think it’s important that people have the confidence to book and plan vacations and know that if plans change outside of their control, they won’t get out of their pockets,” he said.

Seashells Broome had a number of cancellations from NSW when the state first closed, but was able to rebook much of them with Perth folks for the WA school vacation.

General manager Deb Williams said the company is doing everything in its power to assist customers with rebooking or full refunds to those unable to travel or change dates.

“Most of the cancellations we received in Broome from the NSW lockdown were filled with people who were already in town or with us and wanted to extend their stay to avoid the lockdown,” she said.

“We were able to extend our current guests and take additional bookings for the closure of Perth, with an occupancy loss of around 30 percent this week for Seashells Broome.”

Ms. Williams said July 3 bookings would be held for the time being and she was hoping Perth and Peel would get out of lockdown on Friday.

Tourism WA acting executive director Derryn Belford said he will engage regional organizations to encourage locals to vacation and spend their money in WA once the lockdown ends.

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“I know there are many cancellations, refunds and postponements to deal with, all of which pose many physical and emotional challenges,” he said.

“We are in the market with other states and territories as well as New Zealand. So when people are ready to book a vacation again, WA will be at the top of their list. “

A report from the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development released on Wednesday said the slump in tourism from COVID-19-19 costs the world economy more than $ 5.3 trillion for 2020 and 2021 as an uneven introduction of vaccinations has crushed countries dependent on international visitors.