Cape York’s tourism operators have been hit by a number of cancellations due to southern lockdowns, but have largely been able to fill the void with travellers already on the road.

Bramwell Tourist Park’s Ken Godfrey said he was surprised with the amount of people still in the Cape.

“A lot of them are in Queensland and not going home,” he told Cape York Weekly.

“They were in the Cape and staying longer, or they were over at Karumba and changed their plans to come here, rather than head back to NSW or Victoria.”

Wife Gail said it had been Bramwell’s busiest year.

“Most of the tourism in the north has been run off their feet,” she said.

“The supplies; we can’t keep up. We tripled our order on our trucks that come up weekly with our food and our alcohol.

“There are a lot of families on the road, a lot of young couples.”

Sally Eales, tourism manager at Cook Shire Council, said Cooktown was up 50 per cent on its normal tourist numbers of 20,000 to 30,000 a year, with Victorians (pre-lockdown) making up a large portion.

“They’re also staying a lot longer than they normally would, two-three weeks becomes four or five weeks. With the ever-changing COVID situation people want to stay in Queensland as long as they can.

“June, July and August are generally our busiest three months – (this year) it will extend right up until Christmas.”

This article appeared in Cape York Weekly, 27 July 2021.