THE Riverland tourism industry is hoping for a rush of visitors from Victoria and New South Wales once borders with both states are eventually opened.
Destination Riverland general manager Caroline Phillips said it would be “interesting to see” when borders will reopen, and the safe return of interstate visitors from our nearest neighbours would be “good for the region”.
“I expect once all the borders are open that we’ll see an influx of visitors, which will be good for the region,” she said.
“Operators are now having to reassess the ways in which they deliver their business, which puts pressure on small businesses because of the extra resourcing, but I’m confident our operators are a resilient bunch.
“Everyone is doing their best to comply and make sure they have COVIDSafe plans in place.
“It’s just going to be a new way of delivering tourism as we move forward, so certainly the borders opening will be interesting in terms of how that all plays out.”
Ms Phillips said it was difficult to predict the volume of interstate tourists who may visit once border restrictions lift.
“Nobody has a crystal ball,” she said.
“I know there’s a lot of people waiting to touch base with family and friends, but I think people will still be a bit cautious.
“I expect we’ll still see more travel closer to home in the first instance, and certainly that opportunity will be one we look to leverage further as people get used to the new normal.”
The Riverland welcomed intrastate travellers back over the June long weekend, with thousands of South Australians flocking to the region.
“For those businesses that were operating, some of them reported bigger takings than Easter or Christmas time,” Ms Phillips said.
“We saw a really big boost over that weekend, but it had dropped off a little bit since then.
“We’re seeing a lot of weekend traffic, but midweek is definitely flat at the moment.
“Travel patterns are certainly changing, and we just need to continue to adapt our strategies to keep up with the changing environment.
“We’ve still got a huge opportunity for domestic travel with the school holidays…and we’re really well positioned as a region that attracts a lot of its visitors from the Adelaide metro market.
“I would expect the school holidays to be really significant for the region.”
Since the easing of restrictions on travel within South Australia, Destination Riverland has been running the “Return to the Riverland” campaign to attract visitors back to the region.
“We’ve been developing content to tap into that nostalgia and people’s family holiday memories for those that have come to the region for 50 years and keep coming back,” Ms Phillips added.