Open for business: Janine Melia and Richard Blackley welcome guests to The Sands.
ERIN PEARSON
SURF Coast tourism businesses can withstand the latest blow to trade from Tiger Airways pulling out of the skies this week, according to industry operators.
Civil Aviation Safety Authority of Australia suspended the carrier’s domestic services until at least this weekend over safety concerns.
The Sands general manager Nicole Hill said the Torquay resort remained competitive despite bad weather and transport woes.
“We still have a lot of corporate people flying in and coming down to The Sands for conferences despite all the airline troubles. It’s all about service,” Ms Hill said.
“The average stay of guests has increased from one night to two since we opened four years ago but to remain competitive we’ve got to offer more than one thing. Our leisure guests, for example, drop-off over winter but our conference business has boosted.
“You’ve got to look into every market segment and change your businesses as the seasons change.”
Monica Coleman, who operates Airey’s Inlet business Auswalk Walking Tours, said the high Australian dollar was also hurting.
“Anyone in domestic tourism is lying if they say we haven’t all been hit but our bookings are stable and interstate and overseas tourists are still flying in.”
Geelong Otway Tourism’s Roger Grant said Tiger tarnished its reputation with “unreliable” service but hoped the budget carrier could regroup.
“I hope this is a boot in the backside and not a death knell,” he said.
“A low-cost model isn’t an excuse and it’s disappointing it’s ended up like this.”
Avalon Airport general manager Justin Giddings said other carriers could take Tiger’s place if it stopped flying.
“There would be a big gap in the market,” he said.
