There's been a jump in the number of travellers asking about visits to Gunnedah, with many NSW residents enjoying trips to their own backyard in the wake of border closures.
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Motorbike riders, essential workers, grey nomads and even Tamworth residents coming over for a 'staycation' are just some of the visitors about town in recent weeks and months.
There have been more than 1460 enquiries to the Gunnedah Visitor Information Centre (VIC) in the past three months, according to new figures from Gunnedah Shire Council.
A council spokesperson said there had been a drop in physical visitor numbers "in line with COVID-19 travel restrictions", but in June alone, there were about 260 enquiries from "travellers heading north awaiting the opening of the Queensland border".
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"Following the relaxation of travel restrictions in June, website visitation, phone, email and in-person enquiries have all picked up, reflecting an increase in travellers who have had to change travel plans and opted to travel in regional NSW instead," the council spokesperson said.
"The VIC has also benefited from great support for campaigns such as #buyfromthebush which has seen a variety of local products sold from the centre's souvenir shop."
Billabong Motel co-owner Greg Wilks said he has had people coming over from Tamworth for 'staycations', and a lot of motorbike riders, too.
"We've been getting a lot of fellows on motorbikes coming through. They're doing tours around NSW because they can't go anywhere else," Mr Wilks said.
"We've got three rooms of motorbike blokes booked in on Saturday night.
"It's the third lot of motorbike blokes. Not the idiots, the good ones."
AgQuip would have seen the town bustling before it became victim of the pandemic. Now the Queensland border has closed again, the visitor numbers are starting to slide.
"For the month of July 2020 there were more than 800 visitor centre enquiries, comparative with figures for July 2019," the spokesperson said.
"To date in August, the VIC has received over 400 enquiries. August visitor numbers are expected to be lower than previous years with the cancellation of AgQuip."
Something being felt by local moteliers, too.
Gunnedah Comfort Inn Harvest Lodge manager Esslar Kelly said business had "dropped off quite a bit" this month.
"We haven't had tourists come in as such, even from interstate," Ms Kelly said.
"From the pattern I see it's since that border shutdown."
But she said July was a busy month for the Conadilly Street motel.
"We had a lot of people travelling for [school holidays] and still a lot of essential workers," she told the NVI.
The council spokesperson said council was encouraging any travellers to be COVID-safe if visiting the shire.
"The VIC encourages responsible travel and asks visitors to follow health advice and to refrain from travelling to the shire if they are unwell or have visited any known hotspot areas," they said.