Kangaroo Island tourism suffering
Kangaroo Island tourism suffering
4 January 2008
published by www.abc.net.au
Australia — The state MP representing Kangaroo Island says he is concerned tourists are avoiding the island because they think the recent bushfires have damaged key attractions.
Michael Pengilly says accommodation is normally booked out during the holiday period, but operators are reporting a big number of vacancies.
He says the island’s attractions have not been damaged.
“Well this time of the year, as with a lot of the south coast and the island, is a peak time for visitation and it really sets people up to get through the difficult times during the winter. So it is absolutely critical,” he said.
“Tourism is about half Kangaroo Island’s economy, so it’s really important that every effort be made to keep the numbers up.”
Mr Pengilly says he is concerned that people mistakenly believe tourist hotspots have been damaged by the recent bushfires.
“It’s just some scar damage, it hasn’t done any actual damage to some of those wonderful sites on Kangaroo Island,” he said.
“As I say you have to travel through some of the areas that were burnt to get to them. Flinders Chase obviously was burnt and Seal Bay is back and running so to all intents and purposes everything is back and running normally.”
