QLD tourism operators stress they are ‘open for business’ after ex-cyclone Alfred

ABC NEWS (Australia)

The tourism industry is facing the major task of rebuilding infrastructure – after Cyclone Alfred left a trail of destruction across some of the east coast’s most popular holiday destinations. Hotels are reporting cancellations and tourism operators fear the financial toll will last for months.

Transcript

00:00Queensland's iconic beaches left in ruins, just ahead of the lucrative Easter holiday

00:09period.

00:11Ex-tropical cyclone Alfred stripping millions of cubic metres of sand from the Sunshine

00:16Coast to Coffs Harbour in New South Wales.

00:20Six-metre escarpments stand where beachfronts once stretched on the Gold Coast, leaving

00:25holiday hotspots unrecognisable.

00:28Gold Coast hotelier Marion Simon fears Easter bookings could take a hit.

00:33This is something most of us haven't seen anything like this in our lifetime, so I do

00:38think that there will always be a certain amount of fear and a certain amount of hesitancy.

00:42The D'Amazo family, visiting from Sydney, evacuated ahead of the storm.

00:47Because we're right on the beach, with the waves and everything, we got a bit scared,

00:52especially with the kids, so we decided to take off right before the storm hit.

00:57Now they're back, trying to save what's left of their holiday.

01:00Queensland is our favourite place, it really is, and it's still beautiful.

01:04It's sunny today, it's blue skies, we woke up this morning to beautiful weather.

01:08Some holidaymakers say the beach transformation is a shock.

01:12It's a bit sad because there's a lot of sand that's been washed away and there's a drop-off now.

01:17Australians spend around $25 billion a year on coastal getaways.

01:23Tourism experts say operators need to act quickly in order to rebuild confidence.

01:28It's really important that operators get online and on their socials and destination marketing

01:35authorities really make sure that they clarify with the tourism market exactly what's been

01:41affected and how they're going in the recovery process.

01:45Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate is confident beaches will be restored in time for the Easter school

01:50holidays next month.

01:52It's about putting the brand and the welcoming map and paint the picture the clear blue skies

01:58back and that's what we'll be doing the next three weeks.

02:02Tourism operators finding silver linings in the meantime.

02:05We do now have the cliffs of Broadbeach and the cliffs of Surfers, but hey, that's something

02:10else you can say that you've seen.

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