A South Coast tourism operator said the 'abrupt' regional travel delay until November 1 has been unfair on businesses, with many ordering stock and preparing staff according to the original roadmap out of lockdown.
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With 80 per cent of Bangalay Luxury Villas clientele from Greater Sydney and Canberra, the sudden change in the roadmap was difficult to swallow.
"If we had of known back in September that these roadmaps were all pending x y and z, then we would have planned really differently," said Michelle Bishop, the owner of Bangalay Luxury Villas.
"Operators up and down the coast are all in a situation now where they're fully booked and now are constantly having to reschedule.
"We had all our rosters based on us being full and ordered stock based on being full and now we've just had to backpedal. It's been a tough hit."
Related:
Under the roadmap out of lockdown, those from Greater Sydney were to have been allowed to travel to the regions once the state reached its 80 per cent vaccination target.
But the day before the target was reached, regional travel was delayed until November 1.
NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet made the announcement on Friday, October 15, and said the move was made due to concerns that communities, particularly tourism spots, have low vaccination rates.
In another swift move, fully vaccinated Canberrans can now visit parts of the South Coast, announced by ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr on Saturday, October 16.
However, the Shoalhaven, Kiama and Wollongong are excluded.
Read more:
Michelle said while she knows health experts and the government made the decisions to "protect people's health", it's the timeframe which the decisions are made that hits business the hardest.
"The one thing that tourism operators have been disappointed by is the way the roadmap and changes are being communicated, particularly to regional businesses," she said.
"I feel like they left it to the 11th hour to make the change to regional travel and there was so much rhetoric from the premier saying they're trying to instill confidence in business.
"I feel like they were doing everything but that."
Despite the challenges, South Coast tourism operators are confident people will flock to the South Coast once permitted.
"The one thing we are sure of is people definitely want to come to the South Coast given the amount of inquiry we're getting," said Michelle.
Owner of Silos Estate Berry, Rajarshi Ray, said the travel delay caused a lot of rescheduling but their forward bookings are still "pretty full".
"We do rely on Shellharbour, Wollongong, Sydney and Canberra for visitors," said Rajarshi.
"And we did have a lot of cancellations and we did have a lot of rescheduling and refunds.
"But it's only two weeks. It'll be great for the region when things do get back up and running again."
'Just not good enough'
Kiama MP Gareth Ward objects the government's "roadmap U-turn" and said the move to delay regional travel is causing "enormous hardship" for South Coast families and businesses.
Mr Ward asked the state government to make the corresponding health advice for the regional travel extension public in a Notice of Motion he raised in parliament on Tuesday.
"I have been inundated with letters and emails from residents and businesses that are furious with this change given that we were promised travel across NSW from 80 per cent," he said.
"Business in particular was recruiting and re-hiring staff and buying stock in anticipation for re-opening.
"I'm not going to cop it and I've moved a Notice of Motion making it very clear what I think of the Government's U-Turn. I've also called on the NSW Government to release its health advice backing up yet another change.
"It's just not good enough," Mr Ward concluded.
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