Cobar has seen a huge influx of visitors over the past couple of weeks with many making a point of stopping to shop and support our local community.
With Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk announcing her state’s borders would be reopening on July 10, many caravanners and school holiday makers are headed north. (Some reportedly have been circling NSW for the past two weeks waiting to be able to cross the border.)
Staff at the Shell Auto Port estimate that business has been three times busier than normal over the past fortnight.
The Cobar Caravan Park has had close to 90 per cent occupancy over the past week (up from 78 per cent in June and 40 per cent in May). The local motels have also reported an increase in stays with their occupancy on average up 25 per cent over the past fortnight.
Local retailers have reported a big increase in foot traffic through their doors which has also transferred to an increase in sales.
Molly Negfeldt at BRilliams said they’ve had lots of visitors coming into the shop.
“Many have been making a point of supporting our little community, which is great.
“They’re even buying things like work boots which they obviously don’t need on holidays,” Molly said.
The staff at Gumnut Gifts and Homewares have been run off their feet with the line for coffee each morning snaking almost out the door with pubs, clubs and restaurants also benefiting in sales from the increase in visitors.
