15 Apr 2020
Words
Ben Hall Informer Issue 97
AFTER THE BUSHFIRES
It’s been labelled the “biggest challenge in living memory” for the accommodation industry and when Australia’s largest bushfire crisis finally ended in February, devastated communities turned their focus from survival to recovery.
The five month megafire followed two years of prolonged drought and, while damage estimates vary wildly because of the sheer scale of the disaster, figures like $100 billion have been used as a guide. Of course, there is no measure for loss of life or wildlife habitat.
The economic impact is perhaps a little more measurable with Moody’s Analytics reporting it will exceed the $4.4 billion set by 2009’s Black Saturday blaze.
Tourism operators will bear a significant chunk of that and, even as the fires were burning, grassroots campaigns began with the aim of helping those in the industry to get back on their feet.
Ordinary, everyday people found extraordinary ways to raise funds for the firefighters during the crisis and one campaign carried the banner for tourism operators.
The Empty Esky Campaign was set up with the aim of encouraging Australians to pledge to visit a bushfire affected town or community in 2020 with an empty esky and spend money to help the economic recovery.
Empty Esky was created on January 6th with the motto of “go on a road trip, visit the local businesses devastated by the fires, hear their stories and purchase their incredible products”.
With so many tourism operators relying on the usual summer influx of tourists, the November to February ‘wipeout’ has sent many of them under while a large percentage have their backs to the wall.
"Not only has there been a huge impact on our agriculture, the local economy has taken a severe hit, especially small businesses. This is the time of year that tourism businesses make their money to survive the quiet winter, and the bushfires have made it impossible for them to operate and generate a living," says Empty Esky co-founder Erin Boutros on their Instagram page.
Also created by Eleanor Baillieu and Elise Mason, the campaign launched with a few thousand followers on Instagram and within a short space of time hit the 50,000 mark.
On both Instagram and Facebook, Empty Esky showcases small businesses in need of support, helping concerned travellers locate safe bushfire impacted towns and invest in local products and produce, by filling up their empty eskies in the process.
Restaurant owners Kevin and Susan Plath from Bright in Victoria’s alpine region were facing bankruptcy after they, and their four year old daughter, were among the 35,000 people evacuated from the region because of ongoing fires near Mt Hotham.
The couple also own a side business called The Alpine Sauce Co and when they tagged Empty Esky in one of their photos, everything changed.
Empty Esky shared the post and asked for followers to buy 100 bottles of their BBQ sauce. They hit that number within an hour and it has since sold well in excess of 1,000 bottles.
“While our profit margin on the sauce is quite small, the volume that we have received in terms of orders has injected some much-needed cash flow into our lives,” Susan said.
Lindsay Tytherleigh, owner of Sinclairs Country Retreat at Conjola on the NSW south coast was at “ground zero” of one of the worst fires in the country. He and his family made national headlines when they were dramatically winched to safety by a navy helicopter in December as the blaze headed towards their property.
“We’re still in the recovery stage but it is absolutely crucial for people to get out and support the communities that have been impacted by the bushfires,” Tytherleigh said.
“And this is just not about accommodation operators like myself, it’s about supporting all the people that have been affected. This is the time they need you.
“Go and stay in the area. Go shopping while you’re there. Support the local businesses, the clubs and anywhere else that employs people.
“Not just here at Conjola and the Shoalhaven, but everywhere else. The whole south coast, East Gippsland, the Blue Mountains, northern NSW, Canberra, Kangaroo Island – we need to band together and support each other.”
It’s not often a government receives universal praise for an initiative, but this is what happened when the nation’s leaders unveiled a $76 million recovery package for the sector, designed to encourage visitors into Australia’s regional sector.
Australia’s leading tourism and accommodation advocacy bodies praised the recovery package which will be directed at regional hotels, restaurants, pubs, cafes and local attractions designed to help them get back on their feet economically and provide cashflow support while respective areas recover.
Federal Tourism Minister, Simon Birmingham, said the key message was that Australia was very much open for business and that it was important to get people back to visiting these areas as quickly as possible.
“These bushfires have dealt the biggest reputational blow to our tourism industry that it has ever faced internationally,” Birmingham said.
“Losses caused by cancellations and collapsing booking numbers stretch well beyond those communities directly affected by fire into the many Australian towns that rely on international visitors to sustain tourism jobs.
“We will break from the practice of Tourism Australia exclusively focusing on international visitors and urgently kick off a local campaign because Australians are best placed to immediately understand that most of our country remains as safe to visit as ever.”
And the final message for Australians from within the tourism industry from Lindsay Tytherleigh: “Get back out there! Plan a trip to areas affected by this and spread the word. Use social media. And thank you to those who have helped so far. You are changing lives.”
