Victoria s snap COVID-19 lockdown ends, but regional businesses reel from five days of damage
WedWednesday 17
updated
WedWednesday 17
Nicole Smith says the latest lockdown has been the hardest.
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Regional Victorians are celebrating the end of the snap statewide lockdown, but businesses say they still need support.
Key points:
Regional businesses are glad it s over but say the lockdown has hurt them financially
Industry groups want more compensation to help businesses affected by the lockdown
Victoria Tourism Industry Council chief executive Felicia Mariani said tourism operators across the state would have breathed a collective sigh of relief at today s announcement.
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Tourism businesses hit by back-to-back visitor wipeouts during their peak summer seasons require financial assistance to survive with extraordinary run of bad luck of bushfires then coronavirus, according to businesses owners, industry and political representatives.
Many towns located within striking distance of the NSW-Victorian border were cleared of tourists by the Black Summer bushfires over the previous summer. And it happened again this summer when the Victorian government triggered an exodus of visitors to NSW as it announced a snap border lockdown with 24 hours notice.
The tourism industry says businesses in border communities like Echuca and Moama, on opposites sides of the Murray River, will need ongoing financial assistance in the wake of coronavirus.
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