00:02It's one of WA's biggest tourist regions, known for its coastline and world-class wineries.
00:09But businesses in Margaret River are already noticing a downturn.
00:13On a normal day you're getting 5-10 emails and enquiries for the future, and then all
00:20of a sudden now it's two emails a day.
00:22The uncertainty just kind of kills you and brings on a lot of stress.
00:27After nearly a decade running wine tours, Jake Adams' fuel costs have doubled, paired
00:33with an unusually quiet Easter weekend.
00:36Normally I'm doing 25 tours in April, it's one of my busiest months of the year because
00:42of the school holidays, the long weekends and I'm looking at 50% downturn.
00:49While the WA Tourism Council is confident cancellations are being offset by last minute bookings, on
00:55the ground some operators are telling a different story.
00:59Pilbara Tours, which showcases the resources sector, predicting what it says will be a devastating
01:05season.
01:06We're very concerned about this season and how we're going to go in terms of actually
01:14having a tourist market this year.
01:16Along with higher prices, supply continues to be a concern for business.
01:20Across the country, 274 petrol stations are without diesel, including 19 in WA where there
01:28are also 29 stations without unleaded.
01:31We're now a bit into April and we have secured, contracted, legally binding supply well into May
01:38now.
01:39The concern for small operators, what happens next?
01:42I can hold on for as long as I can but I think two, three months is probably tops.
01:48I've actually been looking around for other jobs because I don't think I can continue on doing it this way.
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