Why We Should Support Australian Tourism Now
“I want you to do just one simple thing. When these fires have stopped, and the towns impacted are safe and trying to regain some sense of ‘normal’, I want you to plan a road trip. Go with empty eskies, empty cars and low fuel. Go and spend your money, stay in their hotels, buy from their shops, camp at their campgrounds, buy their gifts, buy their fuel, buy bread and milk. Beyond rebuilding, they need continued and long-term support to get back on their feet and your empty eskies make more of a difference than you could ever imagine.”
It’s a post by Tegan Weber that went viral. It captured the heart of the nation, and spread its grasp across the world. It sums it up perfectly.
Whilst it may not feel like the best time to be planning a holiday in Australia, it’s actually one of the most effective things you can do. For some of Australia’s fire-ravaged towns, economic activity is estimated to be at zero. Many of these towns rely heavily on tourism for the survival of their occupants and this constant influx of funds is what sustains them. Now, they need our help to grow and rebuild the communities that have been impacted most savagely by the fires.
Once the fires are over, and it is safe to roam, I urge you to plan a road trip. Go and explore, and help rebuild our towns. The fires will be over for us, but they won’t be over for the affected communities in the burnt-out areas. Pouring funding into the domestic economy, especially in the areas where jobs are needed most, is something that is well within our control. Purchasing snacks from their local grocer, eating dinner at their token Chinese restaurant, or filling our fuel at their petrol stations won’t make a difference to us, yet to those affected the impact cannot be underestimated.
Unless you have been living under a rock, you will have seen on social media that there are a bunch of public figures stepping up to take action as a result of the #gowithemptyeskies campaign to help rebuild the towns most impacted by the fires. One of these figures is Turia Pitt, herself a bushfire survivor, engineer and ultra-athlete. Turia has founded the page @spendwiththem, which highlights local businesses who have been hurt by the fires. Another page just like this is @emptyesky, a movement of foodies and adventurers supporting local business affected by the Australian bushfires. Both these pages are excellent resources to use when planning your Australian road trip. By supporting these local businesses, you are putting money directly in the pockets of the people and communities who need it the most, and who need it quickly.
So today, I urge you not to divert or rearrange your holidays. Support Australia and continue to visit. Our country is as unique as it is vast, and there are so many wonderful things to see. Our coastline boasts some of the whitest sand in the world. Here, you can swim with whale sharks, visit wineries or experience the red dirt of the outback. In times like this, it can be easy to forget everything that draws people towards our beautiful country. Yet today, I ask you to remember. Remember, and visit. Visit, with your empty esky and your low fuel tanks. Help us rebuild these communities, help them rebuild their homes.