00:02From the city, to the beach. It may look like a bumper Easter long weekend, but it's been a bumpy
00:12road for the tourism sector.
00:14Easter was definitely down in trade, I'd say about 50% of what we usually do.
00:19Just weeks out from the whale migration season, operating costs have spiked as visitor numbers take a dive, with fuel
00:26prices biting.
00:27Probably 60 to 70% drop in bookings, yeah.
00:30In the far north, Daintree businesses are among the worst hit.
00:34We've seen caravan parks recording over 200 cancellations, upwards of $52,000 in terms of economic impact and loss.
00:42In contrast in Brisbane, the ongoing crisis had little impact on holiday plans.
00:48We've had to shell out a lot more money to buy diesel to get down here, but no, we still
00:52came down.
00:53And the Gold Coast was packed out in a last minute rush.
00:56It's very, very impulsive, and people are counting the pennies, saying we've got enough, we can go.
01:02So we believe that that trend will continue for a while.
01:05With no telling how long the situation will drag on, the industry says it needs help now.
01:11They're calling for a raft of cost relief measures to keep businesses afloat.
01:16Far north Queensland is again staring down the barrel of a cyclone.
01:20We're not expecting that to be as strong as tropical cyclone Narelle.
01:24Some comfort for businesses and tourists alike.
01:28We're very confident that we're not getting hit by a cyclone this time around, just like with Narelle.
01:33The biggest challenge we face is the miscommunication or misunderstanding of how big or small Queensland is.
01:41It'll be the third cyclone of the season, tracking toward the coast.
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