“This isn’t just a tourism issue. This is a broader issue that’s affecting agriculture, retail and of course tourism, so I think there’s going to be consideration for a broader approach on how we look at recovery and what those needs will be.”
Mr Sleeman asked all the region’s residents to invite family and friends to the Grampians and Wimmera-Mallee for a weekend away or holiday.
“We know that 30 per cent of all our visitors into the Grampians region are visiting friends and relatives – and right now the community can play a really big role in those early stages of recovery,” he said.
“Every local community member resident can be a host with the most and play a proactive role in visiting, and inviting friends and relatives back into the region.”
Mr Sleeman said the stop-start approach to marketing was a challenge.
“Putting a pause on and then restarting again is causing us concerns just around building momentum for supporting businesses,” he said.
The Grampians region is now in day 51 of the recovery since the Yarram Gap fire broke out on December 17 – but for many businesses in Pomonal and Halls Gap, they were still feeling the effects of last year’s February fire.
Mr Sleeman said he compared the impact to COVID lockdowns – when the region suffered heavily due to a downturn in visitors.
“ The impacts on businesses within 100 kilometres of the national park is like COVID locking us all down again, which is really challenging moving forward,” he said.
“ There was a small uptick of visitation for the Australia Day long weekend, which was great for operators across the region who had prepared for that weekend, but it certainly hasn’t been enough to repair any of the damage that closure of the peak holiday period has caused for businesses.”
Mr Sleeman said GWMTourism was advocating for immediate destination marketing support, small business support for businesses directly impacted, and for future major events in the region.
He said the GWMTourism board would meet this week to discuss a long-term approach.
“We are continuing to advocate very loudly to all of our State Government partners and ensuring that all of our State Government is aware of the impacts – and they are clearly aware –we have articulated the concerns we have about the economic impacts on businesses across the region,” he said.
“We continue to work with our local government partners in advocating for not just short-term but ongoing support.
“This is going to be a marathon recovery for our region and we will stand shoulder-to-shoulder with our businesses and our industry partners to make sure that their concerns are heard and that we’re representing our partners to all parties.”
Mr Sleeman said it was not just Grampians businesses affected by bushfires, with the Little Desert fire impacting businesses in Dimboola and across Hindmarsh Shire.
“This is a Grampians and Wimmera Mallee recovery and the State Government is fully aware of the impacts that the fires had on Dimboola and other small towns in Hindmarsh particularly,” he said.
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