Tourism operators experience an uptick in business
Posted on July 14th, 2020
Following months of waiting and gearing up to welcome visitors again, local tourism operators are relieved to be experiencing a positive flow of bookings throughout the school holiday period. With Queensland’s ‘Good to Go’ switch being hit, announcing all systems go for families looking to getaway over the June/July months, businesses across our Southern Great Barrier Reef destination are thrilled to be back on deck.
Adam Lever from Koorana Crocodile Farm is delighted to see large numbers of excited faces coming back through their doors, resulting in the need to increase their originally planned two tours per day to four.
“Throughout the COVID period, we continued to showcase our work through live Facebook feeds, sharing croc hatchings, feedings and meal preparation with the wider public,” Adam said. “At least 50% of customers in the past week have booked their tour after viewing the online feeds, and our adopt a croc program was extremely successful with over 30 breeding pairs adopted.”
Capricorn Caves Manager, Amanda Hinton is also reassured to see the tourism industry pumping again. “The Capricorn Caves has been overwhelmed with the support that we have received from our local market and from visitors within Queensland,” Amanda said. “During the shutdown, our team continued to make business improvements to facilities, operations and tours, in a bid to increase efficiency and abide by ongoing restrictions.”
“Though a combination of the changes we have implemented and the support of Capricorn Enterprise, we have experienced record-breaking numbers over the winter school holidays all while practising social distancing. Our staff are so excited to be able to host people again”, Amanda said.
While success is currently flowing for local operators, with Australians who would normally travel overseas for holidays finding a local alternative this year, Capricorn Enterprise CEO Mary Carroll is urging visitors to come and explore Central Queensland throughout the second half of the year and beyond.
“While the winter school holidays, which is normally our peak holiday season, has been extremely positive, we need to continue momentum to ensure a successful future for our entire tourism industry,” Mary said. “The past weeks have been an optimistic starting line to recovery however our local businesses still have a long journey to recovery following the pandemic’s blow.” With great holiday deals and packages on sale now for July, the August long weekend and September school holidays, families looking to holiday with confidence are encouraged to consider booking a short break or extended stay with our network of COVID safe businesses. Add www.visitcapricorn.com.au to your google favourites to stay up to date with current and upcoming holiday deals.
