While parts of New South Wales continue to be battered by heavy rains, some areas of Queensland which saw heavy flooding earlier this year are starting to see tourism pick up again.
It’s been a tough few months for many businesses in south-west of the state where endless floods hit hard.
The ABC reports that floodwaters swallowed hundreds of roads in the Balonne shire — more than 500 kilometres west of Brisbane — not once, but four times this year.
With major access routes cut, travellers were simply unable to get into the region. However, as the rain eased and holiday-makers gained confidence, south-west Queensland towns have reportedly noticed a slow but steady return of tourists.
Tourists are coming back to SW Queensland. PIC: Tourism Qld
Dirranbandi Caravan Park owner Nikki Pulfer said it had been a ‘challenging time but there was more optimism about now.
“We’ve seen a lot of caravans travelling in the last 10 days, that’s been fantastic,” she told the ABC. “People are in shock … once it [flooding] is out of the news and out of the front of everybody’s mind, they sort of forget that we’re still soaking wet out here … I’m absolutely praying that we get a bumper second half of the year.”
As well as the economic impact of having zero tourists for a long period of time, Ms Pulfer said it has also affected the mood of the town.
“It’s been really quite flat,” she said. “We thought the drought was bad, but with the lack of tourism, it’s really affecting the shops.”
Balonne Shire Mayor Samantha O’Toole told the ABC that messaging had to change to show the region was now very much open for business.
“There’s still a lot of insecurity … there’s still cancellation of forward bookings because people are concerned that it might only take a small amount of water to close those roads in the future,” she said.
But she stressed that the roads were now open and that it is safe to travel.
“There’s a lot of optimism about the back end of the season, that we might regain some of the numbers we’ve lost,” she told the ABC. “It’s going to have a bit of a lasting impact for us for the next little while.”
We have just spent 2 Weeks travelling between the Warrumbungle’s and Chinchilla in our Moho. All roads are open and in pretty good condition. Camping sites including caravan parks all good and doing a great job.
Not exactly SW QLD; but into the Western Downs where we did a tour of the Council’s $50m upgrades to their free or low cost camp sites around Condamine, Tara, Chinchilla and Lake Broadwater. I am reluctant to share these amazing sites; but the Council deserves full credit for some of what has to be some of Australia’s best free or low cost sites- power included!