THE rain may have made some go away, but it doesn’t appear to have affected Griffith’s thriving tourism industry.
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Despite water creeping over many of the roads leading into Griffith and some major highways leading to the city closed in places, determined motorists have still made their way here against all odds.
“The girls here at the visitors centre have been flat out fielding questions, with people ringing and saying ‘I need to get to Griffith, how can I get there because roads are closed?’” marketing and promotion officer for Griffith City Council Paige Campbell said.
Ms Campbell said the surge of visitors was unsurprising considering the many activities the city was hosting during the school holidays and over the upcoming October long weekend.
On Monday the Football NSW 15 Boys State titles began, a week-long carnival to be held at Ted Scobie Oval, with the 2016 cycling Australia Masters National Road Championships, Yenda’s centenary celebrations and the return of the Griffith show all also scheduled, leaving little accommodation left in the city.
Tracey Lewis from Echo Lodge Griffith Motor Inn said they had been consistently busy over winter and were expecting a further jump over the holidays on top of an already full residency due to construction workers in the city.
“Then with the floods, there are people who are either stuck here or who had to change their plans,” she said.
“At the moment Griffith is just booming, there doesn’t seem to be enough accommodation, we are just busy every week.
Ms Campbell said the busy schedule was a great thing for the city.
“It is fantastic, this is a huge boost for our economy and it has a flow on effect for our restaurants and retailers,” she said.
She said council was always looking to support those wanting to hold an event in the city wherever they could and encouraged people to speak with council about getting some support.
However, sadly this is not the case for Barellan whose working Clydesdales ‘The Good Old Days’ weekend has had to be cancelled due to the weather.
“It will set the town back financially,” resident Jo Ohlsen said, saying the weekend had been predicted to bring 5000 people to the town. “That many people into this town is enormous, especially when we are losing a lot of money already,” she said.
