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Across the country tourism is in turmoil, some towns are finally starting to see a lift as borders open up, but for others it's a time-warp with lockdowns coming back and biting hard.
Regional tourism leaders in Victoria's south-west fear the worst for the industry, predicting it will take years to return to pre-COVID-19 standards of normal.
Great Ocean Road Regional Tourism chairman Wayne Kayler-Thomson said "just when operators were starting to get an income again, it's been cut short" and they were back to where they were before.
Mr Kayler-Thomson predicts the affects of Victoria's second lockdown won't see the domestic tourism market fully recover until 2021/22. But it's even worse for the international market, which he says could take until 2023/24 to bounce back.
Similarly, just as things began to return to some sense of normal in Daylesford, metropolitan Victoria's return to lockdown came around to hit businesses hard.
The tourist town enjoyed what may be its last day of busy trading last Tuesday before Premier Daniel Andrews' decision to return Melbourne to stage three COVID-19 restrictions came into place.
The effects of the lockdown in Melbourne and the consequential border closure between Victoria and New South Wales has far reaching affects on regions in the surrounding areas - but it also has flow-on effects to tourism as far away as Dubbo, in NSW's Orana region, which is expected to take a hit.
Dubbo Chamber of Commerce president Matt Wright says Dubbo's tourism, hospitality and accommodation sectors are going to take a hit as a result of the closure.
As Dubbo's a halfway point for Melbourne and Brisbane, a lot of people travelling the Newell Highway north and south will use Dubbo as a stopover. Despite it being "disappointing" situation, the city hopes to encourage travellers from within NSW to still visit Dubbo.
Still in NSW and on the Central Tablelands the revival of the old drive-in cinema has proven a hit with the local community of Bathurst.
The cinema was launched on July 4, kick starting this year's Bathurst Winter Festival and by Friday afternoon, 1200 tickets had been sold.
Meanwhile, parts of Queensland are preparing for tourists descending again.
Businesses in Mount Isa are 'good to go' and ready to welcome back tourists, as interstate borders reopened on July 10.
Visitor numbers at Outback at Isa have been growing steadily over the past few weeks and are expected to grow even more once interstate travel resumes.
Exploring your own backyard is an idea that has been bandied about during the pandemic and some of the 'bucket list' places driving tourism crazes are hidden gems closer to home than we realised.
- In case you are interested in filtering your pandemic coverage down to just twice a day, why not sign up for The Informer newsletter?
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