With the Greater Sydney lockdown already having a devastating impact on the Shoalhaven tourism industry, the ACT imposing a two-week quarantine on anyone from the Shoalhaven City Council local government area comes as another blow.
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Owner of Bangalay Luxury Villas in Shoalhaven Heads, Michelle Bishop said the business is losing up to $120,000 per month and is receiving cancellations daily.
"Canberra was our last little bubble of hope and its been cut off. And also with the news of COVID-19 being detected in the Bomaderry sewerage has cemented things for us in terms of cancellatoins," she said.
"We actually had a cancellation from someone from Canberra who had booked yesterday, so that was within 24 hours of them booking they had to cancel."
There have been no recorded cases in the Illawarra and Shoalhaven region as of Friday, August 8, but there were COVID-19 fragments detected in wastewater at the Wollongong and Bomaderry sewage catchments on Thursday.
The Bomaderry sewage catchment serves 18,000 people in the suburbs of Bomaderry, Cambewarra, Cambewarra Village, Meroo Meadow and some parts of North Nowra.
Michelle said the uncertainty of lockdowns makes it difficult to forward plan as a business.
"We went from having in July a projected occupancy of 75 per cent. We ended up having a 19 per cent occupancy. August looks like it's going to be similar," she said.
"We are fairly book for September, October and November but we have no idea if these will be cancelled too.
"And it's hard because every time someone makes a reservation, we have to pay a merchant fee, which we have to pay when we pay out refunds from cancellations.
"This is the fifth time we've gone through merchant fees with the fires and COVID. This year alone we've lost $40,000 alone in merchant fees from having to do refunds.
"We're staying open and you just have to try manage your losses at the moment, it's a difficult situation to be in."
Shoalhaven City Council tourism manager Coralie Bell said while "health is the most important consideration", more unity is needed between the State's messages surrounding lockdowns.
"We're hearing is that people from Canberra are cancelling trips. And health is the most important consideration," she said.
"But the Shoalhaven is not even declared a hotspot yet so it would be really great if there was some unified direction from the States collectively saying one thing and another saying another thing."
Michelle said she thinks there are "major flaws" in the application process for NSW government's JobSaver and grant payments for businesses.
"I'm quite critical, not of the government's intentions when it comes to the financial assistance, but how they have designed the forms," she said.
"Most people are not have to use the alternate criteria to be eligible for the JobSaver payment. What that has meant is that everybody has to call the Service NSW number.
"And then you could be hold for two hours, then you wait for a callback, and most people I know have been waiting for over a week for the callback.
"It's taking too long to get these JobSaver and the grant payments out. It's creating too much uncertainty for so many businesses."
Coralie said her biggest concern for the local tourism industry is the "mental health of those running businesses" and who will stay open once lockdowns are over.
"People are exhausted after bushfires, then floods and the prolonged COVID border closures," she said.
"This latest round of lockdowns, we're hearing a lot of feedback from operators that there'll be many that don't reopen.
"They are just too exhausted to keep going. Our worry is the gap we'll see in the industry and who will be left standing when people are able to come back."
Despite the announcement from the ACT, Michelle extended her gratitude to the Shoalhaven community who continue to support local businesses.
"The local community has been incredible. They've been really making an effort to come out and support us," she said.
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Grace Crivellaro
Court reporter for the Illawarra Mercury.
Court reporter for the Illawarra Mercury.
