Caravan parks are turning away Victorian tourists, some of whom are still attempting to travel to Wagga despite a statewide lockdown.
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Horseshoe Tourist Park owner Richard Griffith said some Victorians were flouting the rules deliberately, while others were blissfully unaware of the situation unfolding in their own state.
One pair of grey nomads tried to book a room at his park, saying that they were planning to embark on their trip around Australia.
"I said to them: 'You're not coming here because you're not allowed to move'. They argued, but then they rang me back to say 'wow, you were right'," Mr Griffith said.
"When we first went into lockdown we also had a couple of people in Victoria who didn't want to stay there because it was too cold."
Mr Griffith said that in a typical year he would see an influx of Victorians travelling to Queensland during the chillier months of winter.
He has also heard of people from regional NSW heading to Queensland, even in cases where it would be classified as non-essential travel.
"It doesn't matter where you're from - some people are doing the right thing and some people are doing the wrong thing," he said.
Mr Griffith said that the July-August period was typically a quiet period for the Wagga caravan industry, but that it was even quieter following the recent border closures.
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The same is true for Big4 Holiday Park owner Martin Cotterell, who said the park was even emptier now than in the early stages of lockdown in April.
Mr Cotterell said that he too has had to turn away Victorians who had been trying to stay the night in Wagga.
"We've had quite a few Victorians trying to make bookings from those affected areas," Mr Cotterell said.
"Three weeks ago we turned away quite a lot - about 15 to 20 of them."
However, Mr Cotterell said he has not received any further calls from across the border, now that Victoria is sealed off from NSW.
Mr Cotterell said these days there were very few tourists from out of town, and that the few guests he did have tended to be workers.
The border shutdown was a blow to The Townhouse general manager Andrew Buik, who said several groups of Victorians cancelled their bookings in response to the closures.
"We have had plenty of cancellations from people that were intending to travel and now aren't able to," Mr Buik said.
"Things have taken a quieter turn. We were recovering from the previous lockdown and it's certainly taken a dip back down."
Travel is banned between NSW and Victoria, apart from certain essential workers who must carry a permit to cross the border.
Kenji Sato
Kenji Sato is a handsome journalist at The Daily Advertiser who enjoys writing flattering bios about himself in the third person. He can be contacted by email at kenji.sato@dailyadvertiser.com.au or by mobile on 0448 927 612.
Kenji Sato is a handsome journalist at The Daily Advertiser who enjoys writing flattering bios about himself in the third person. He can be contacted by email at kenji.sato@dailyadvertiser.com.au or by mobile on 0448 927 612.
