A Riverina business had to adapt fast when the pandemic hit and wreaked havoc on the travel industry.
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Tania Botha has owned Temora Travel for 10 years, but her ninth year was the toughest.
Before the pandemic swept through the globe in 2020, 80 per cent of Ms Botha's business came from international travel.
She was in Africa when Australia announced it would be closing its borders, and she managed to get home.
"I went straight into two weeks of home quarantine, and we shut down the office because travel completely folded," Ms Botha said.
"The girls all took time off, and we were working from home for a month.
"But we are such a great team here, and I have three staff that I adore, so we came into the office but just kept the doors closed."
For more than a year now, Ms Botha has been organising clients' refunds and travel credits.
But while there was a lot of work to be done, there was no money coming in.
"In those months, we were essentially working for free. We had no money coming in, and we were just managing bookings," Ms Botha said.
"It's been really tough in that sense because I have had to still pay rent, electricity and other costs to keep us going.
"However it's no one's fault, so you have to do what you have to."
Ms Botha said JobKeeper was an "absolute lifeline" as it meant she could keep her employees on.
"That dried up after March, but I wanted to keep my girls on," she said.
"So we have reduced the girls' hours, and that's how I am trying to manage it until we get busy again."
Ms Botha said now they have switched up their business and are heavily focused on offering domestic travel options.
And while there is a lot of focus on the Northern Territory and Western Australia, Ms Botha added there was a lot to be found in our backyard.
"There is so much to do here," she said.
"There are some really great places to go and stay.
"By all means go through a local agent, but even just book directly with the local business rather than Expedia or something like that. That means the money is going straight to them to support them."
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