Murray Regional Tourism has estimated the closure will cost the local economy $178 million in expenditure, “and that equates to about 1800 to 2000 jobs”.Chief executive Mark Francis has been lobbying the Andrews Government to implement a permit system to allow Victorians to enter the border bubble.“That makes up over 90 per cent of the visitors to the NSW side and it would mean all those businesses would then come back to life.”He said visitors spent a “vast majority on the Victorian side” so the permit system would have obvious benefits to the state.
“A lot of the suppliers are on the Victorian side, a lot of the jobs are (filled) by people who live in Echuca,” he said.“A lot of that business impact is felt on the Victorian side.”Rohan Burgess, the managing director of Murray River Paddle Steamers, only has two of his three vessels operating, one falling victim to the border closure that has robbed the town of crucial trade.He said passenger numbers had halved and more than $10,000 worth of bookings were lost, with the border closure directly sidelining the ship that primarily runs to a winery on the NSW side of the river.“It’s a kick in the guts — it’s not as bad as the first (wave) or the second one, but COVID has meant these boats have less numbers on them,” Mr Burgess said. “(It’s) the first week and second week of January, it should be nuts. It’s not nuts.”“Absolutely, it’s the border (closure). That boat should be moving, but there is just not the volume for it.”Mr Burgess said uncertainty about restrictions had kept Victorian visitors away.“If you organise your holiday for you and your partner and the kids and then all of a sudden it changes and you lose your dollars … A lot of people have told us ‘look we just can’t play for this now’.”
“Money is tight and if you have to watch your budget, it can be tough.”Mr Burgess said he wanted Victorians to know “the river is open”.“You can come up, you can boat, you can fish, the pubs and everything are open on this side,” he said.Warwick Newman, of the American Hotel in Echuca, said while locals were able to move across the border bubble, it was “a problem” when Victorians from further afield were not permitted to go to Moama when the two towns virtually operated as one. “That’s where a lot of our beds are, so it’s a bit of a struggle,” he said.“We need it (tourism spending). The town needs it.”The owner of popular boutique Candle Scents expects the store’s January takings to be down, despite the support of locals.
“It was unbelievable to see all that traffic heading out of town. It was devastating for the whole community,” Barb Loader said, adding that the closure of the border impacted the whole town.“Echuca Moama operates as one town. It is one community, so it was pretty unbelievable.”She expected figures at the end of the month would be down – in what is supposed to be their top month.“A lot of our bigger caravan parks are over the other side, so that does take numbers out of the town, that’s for sure.”The closure was “not what we needed at all, but there is no easy answer to it all.”Ms Loader said she was reviewing the store’s opening hours day by day.“This part of town is busy, there is no doubt about that, but it is not as busy as it normally is.”
Melbourne’s new high-risk locations
‘WORST CASE SCENARIO’ AUSTRALIAN OPEN NOT OFF CARDSVictorian health authorities are reviewing all major events and the Australian Open might still be played without spectators.Deputy Chief Health Officer Allan Cheng on Wednesday said authorities would watch for any rise in cases ahead of the February 8 tournament start date. “We’ll be going back through all of the major events that are planned in the next couple of weeks and just start looking at some of those again,” he said. Australian Open boss Craig Tiley on Wednesday said the tennis could still be played to empty stands. “We would follow the advice of the government at that time and if they decide that the community spread is significant and (we need) to run the event with zero fans, we’ll run the event as such,” he told 3AW.SCALED-BACK CHINESE NEW YEAR CELEBRATIONS LIKELY Chinese New Year celebrations in the CBD are likely to be scaled down this year amid coronavirus fears.Organisers had initially hoped that the February events could be safely held with crowds, but the latest virus outbreak has dampened expectations.Melbourne Dai Loong Association president Eng Lim wants a meeting with City of Melbourne officers this week to discuss options.“We have started to get a bit worried, we have got to be cautious,” she said.Ms Lim said that the key attraction, the “dragon” awakening ceremony, would not go ahead.“When the dragon comes out we are not talking tens or hundreds, we are talking tens of thousands of people out there,” she said.
“Although everybody loves it I don’t think we should have that sort of a crowd.”Options include staging a much smaller ceremony in a Chinatown square with invited guests seated and the area cordoned off.A City of Melbourne spokeswoman said the council will liaise with organisers and health authorities to ensure that the latest health advice is taken into consideration as preparations continue for the event.“These discussions will be ongoing while the recent COVID cluster is being managed by the Victorian Government,” she said.
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