The sudden closure of the NSW/Victorian border has come amid a flurry of Victorian tourists looking to head north while Wagga continues to rely on local tourism.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Big4 Holiday Park Wagga co-owner Martin Cotterell said about six people called to cancel bookings on Monday, but they only had about 12 bookings from Victoria set for the next few weeks.
Mr Cotterell said they had already been screening bookings to turn away a handful of would-be travellers from Melbourne's hot spots.
He said the uncertainty around the Victorian outbreak made it possibly more difficult than the original shutdown.
"It was virtually black and white but now there's so many grey areas, I don't know what the end result's going to be," he said.
Mr Cotterell said the park was currently running at about 60 per cent capacity, with some cabins out of action as they took the opportunity to refurbish them while numbers were down.
"Normally at this time of year we are usually quite busy, we're almost running 80 to 90 per cent capacity," he said.
With much of the current bookings coming from NSW, he said they would still have plenty of business despite the border closure.
"It's going to affect us, but probably only by 20 per cent," he said.
RELATED:
The border closure is likely to have a significant impact on traffic heading through Riverina towns on the way north.
Wendy Aves of the Ivanhoe Service Station and Caravan Park said there had been "heaps" of Victorian caravans passing through over the past week.
"Last Thursday, Friday, Saturday, they were just chaotic, one after the other," she said.
"I think a lot of them are trying to get to Queensland, we've been flat out with them," Ms Aves said.
Queensland's borders will open on July 10 to everyone but Victoria.
Ms Aves said while she expected the Victorian border closure would see business slow down, it was also a relief from concern over travellers bringing the virus to the town.
Ms Aves said Ivanhoe had an elderly population that needed to be protected and they were taking as many precautions as they could.
"it is scary but we're just spraying everything, sanitising everything," she said.
READ MORE:
Hay Mayor Bill Sheaffe said while there were no guarantees, he was confident local stores had been doing their part to minimise the risk from Victorian travellers, many of which had likely travelled from less risky areas of the state.
"The fuel stations have been vigilant in having hand sanitiser out and cleaning handles and stuff, they're certainly doing the best they can to minimise any risk in the area," Cr Sheaffe said.
He said while the town would likely miss out on business with the borders shut, the move was necessary.
"I suppose it's a sacrifice we've got to make to try and control this and get over the problem as quickly as we can so we can resume our normal lives," he said.