THE Riverland tourism industry has been heavily impacted by the coronavirus pandemic, but there are hopes there will be significant demand to visit the region once restrictions lift.
Tourism operators, including accommodation providers, wineries and breweries, and eateries, have been forced to close or considerably change the way they do business due to Federal and State Government restrictions.
Destination Riverland general manager Caroline Phillips said the outbreak had forced the organisation to shift its focus from marketing activities to industry support.
“What we’ve mainly been doing the last couple of weeks is touching base with industry and trying to assist them in finding their way through and keeping the information up,” she said.
“Our focus has been about information dissemination to the industry and also making operators aware of what stimulus packages are available to them.
“In the lead up to Easter we had to revisit our marketing strategy, and we focused on #delayyourstay.
“It’s been a huge challenge for the region and a really challenging time for us as key destination marketers.”
However, Ms Phillips was optimistic that the Riverland would be well placed to capitalise on a potential increase in intrastate travel once restrictions are lifted.
“Time frames are something that I couldn’t put a figure on, but we’re making sure we have a plan of attack ready so that we can try and leverage that intrastate travel, and the Riverland is quite well poised for that,” she said.
“Our bread and butter is South Australians travelling to the Riverland, so for us there is a great opportunity to leverage that.
“I think (demand) is going to be significant once everything lifts.
“Our operators are still getting inquiries at the moment… and that is such a heartbreaking scenario because our businesses are heeding Government advice.”
Several tourism operators have devised innovative solutions to help them survive the pandemic, such as food delivery, heat and eat options, virtual wine tastings and more.
Ms Phillips said regional tourism operators were leading the way in devising strategies to remain in business.
“Our guys have been quite resilient and looked at what they can do to deliver differently,” she said.
“I think some of these things have been really positive for businesses in terms of thinking outside of the square, particularly with the online side.
“Local operators have gone through high river, low river, and they’re still going through drought, so I’m really proud of how the industry has responded so far.
“It’s about sticking together to get through this and then coming out stronger on the other side.”
Ms Phillips encouraged tourism businesses to get in touch with Destination Riverland if they need support.
For more information on Destination Riverland’s COVID-19 response visit destinationriverland.org.au.