MOUNT Gambier holiday parks have recorded their busiest weekend since coronavirus restrictions were swept in.
While hundreds of intrastate visitors flooded into the Blue Lake city over the Queen’s Birthday long weekend, for some operators it was far from an economic boom.
This is despite a statewide campaign being launched to “Welcome back” visitors to regional areas to revive the tourism sector.
While Limestone Coast Police stepped up their border controls to restrict non-essential interstate travellers, there were no incidents at the border.
However, police conducted random inspections of number plates at accommodation facilities over the weekend given the upswing in visitors in the city.
Kalganyi Holiday Park owner/ operator Gavin Fraser said his accommodation park – nestled on the city’s northern gateway – only had 25 people stay at the sprawling facility over the weekend.
In a worrying trend, Mr Fraser has only seen one caravan come into his park since COVID-19 restrictions decimated the region’s tourism industry overnight.
Speaking to The Border Watch, he said it had been an incredibly difficult period and there was little optimism on the horizon until the summer months arrived.
He said his business was being kept afloat by government grants, JobKeeper, permanent residents at the park and a sprinkling of visitors.
Mr Fraser said some of these bookings during weekdays were people coming into the city to work on infrastructure-related projects, such as Coles development.
“It was the busiest weekend since the border shutdown, but it was far from a sell-out,” Mr Fraser said.
He said there were around 25 holidaymakers in the park over the weekend.
Mr Fraser said Queen’s Birthday long weekend was traditionally busy due to events.
“People at the park mainly came from northern areas of the state,” he said.
Mr Fraser said it had been a extremely tough period at the park and there were minimal forward bookings.
“ T h e workman c o m i n g through helps us tick over at the moment,” the operator said.
Mr Fraser said accommodation facilities had been hit with major setbacks such as the ban on Easter travel and the cancellation of Generations in Jazz.
“Bookings are unlikely to pick up now until the warmer weather arrives.”
Mr Fraser said the border closures had seen the end of a constant stream of grey nomads towing caravans.
“We were looking at a very good year and then COVID-19 hit and it knocked it right back. We had a lot of bookings from people who were getting away from the fires,” he said.
Limestone Coast Police operations manager Inspector Campbell Hill said police patrolled numerous border points over the long weekend.
“The borders were very quiet – it was business as usual,” Inspector Hill said.
He said it appeared people were adhering to the messaging about the border restrictions.
“Police patrols went all over the place. We were out and about,” he said.
