VISITOR information centres across the Riverland have started to reopen over the last two weeks as visitors return to the region and the local tourism and hospitality sectors begin to recover from the impacts of COVID-19 restrictions.
The Renmark Paringa, Berri, Barmera, Loxton, Waikerie and Morgan visitor information centres (VICs) are all open with limited hours and increased hygiene and safety measures being implemented to protect staff and customers.
Barmera Central co-ordinator Kelsey Hogan said the new hygiene practices included limiting the number of visitors in the building, installing screens at the counters and providing hand sanitiser.
“We’re following the recommended guidelines, but we’re trying to get back to normal by offering the same services that we were before,” she said.
Berri VIC co-ordinator and community engagement officer Rebecca Kennedy said her staff had found an innovative way to continue promoting local products before reopening the VIC earlier this week.
“During the lockdown we have continued to run a window service, allowing customers to buy locally produced food, jewellery, art and books while maintaining social distance,” she said.
“We have also still been monitoring our phones and emails.”
Ms Kennedy said the Berri VIC had noticed an increase in visitors “pretty much from when those first restrictions were eased and intrastate travel was allowed”.
“We also noticed we were getting phone calls from people who were really keen to book national parks and to come for camping weekends and holidays,” she said.
“The people who weren’t able to come here and camp over Easter I would guess are the people now taking the opportunity to come up and camp now.”
Morgan visitor information officer Jen Verrall said she had seen “quite a few” visitors return, mainly caravanners from other regional towns and Adelaide.
“It’s been nice to see people coming from out of the region,” she said.
“There’s a few people down on the river front and in the picnic areas, and there’s definitely more cars on the road, as well as caravans and boats around the place.”
Karen Rubarth, the library information manager for the Loxton and Waikerie libraries and visitor centres, said there were “definitely a lot more caravans and camper vans travelling around” and accommodations were taking a large number of bookings for the June long weekend.
“The Waikerie caravan park is almost full for the June long weekend and the Loxton caravan park has also had very good numbers, so I think there will be quite a few visitors around,” she said.
Despite the reopening of VICs around the region and the return of tourists, many tourism businesses remain closed or only partially open due to COVID-19 restrictions.
Ms Rubarth said the hardest part for VICs was knowing what operators were open and what they were offering.
“The messaging is telling people to travel around regional South Australia, but it’s hard for us to then direct people as to what they can and can’t do,” she said.
Renmark Paringa tourism co-ordinator Sue Whitbourne said as visitors return, they had to be aware that local businesses were “still working towards operating to their normal capacity”.
“We are asking visitors to plan before they arrive and find out what they can see, do and experience, so that when they arrive they have a clearer picture of the lay of the land,” she said.
“We’re helping people plan for their future trips but, like all regional areas, we are still getting to whatever the new normal looks like.”