Industry News
Australian ski resorts and businesses are struggling to stay afloat as Sydney’s covid lockdown gets extended another seven days. This will add up to a total of three weeks of lockdown in New South Wales, Australia. Another week of lockdown means ski businesses are dishing out thousands of dollars in refunds alone.
Two of those businesses are Alpine Sports and Reryde Secondhand Snow Gear located in Jindabyne, Australia, also known as the Alpine skiing region of New South Wales, Australia.
In a conversation with SmartCompany, Cameron Barton who owns both Ski Shops says regarding refund losses in the past two weeks.
“We have already refunded more than $20,000 in rental bookings.”
He also says regarding sales that:
“We would have lost $250,000 in the three weeks of lockdown.”
With the lockdowns continuing, very little traffic is getting through to small ski towns like Jindabyne which is causing local shops to rely on Government Funded Business packages which consist of grants up to $10,000.
Two ski resorts surround Jindabyne and are a major driving force of the economy in the area. Perisher Ski Resort boasts the biggest ski resort in Australia and the small but fun Charlotte Pass Snow Resort.
With everyone wanting to get out of their cramped homes and get some fresh turns out on the mountain this was predicted to be a great comeback year for skiing in Australia. Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic thought otherwise.
