The danger of December’s devastating Grampians bushfires has peaked, but tourism operators are still struggling after a wave of cancellations.

The blaze in western Victoria was contained earlier in January after scorching 76,000 hectares of land over three weeks and halting tourism in the region over its busiest period.

Parts of the national park have reopened but Halls Gap, the gateway to the Grampians, remains eerily quiet under the haze of remnant smoke.

“It’s still ghost town-ish,” Halls Gap Zoo manager Mark Treweek said.

“There are people that are coming to support every business they can, which is amazing … but yeah, she’s very, very quiet.”

 

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Treweek spent the Christmas break ferrying animals to safety before returning them to the zoo when conditions eased. He said fires had taken a huge toll on locals.

“I’d say we’re all a bit tired, to be honest,” he said.

“It’s been a long time. We’re all a bit stressed.”

The fires destroyed four homes in Moyston and Mafeking, along with 40 outbuildings in Moyston, Willaura, Willaura North, Mafeking, Pomonal, Glenthompson and Mirranatwa.

Cancelled bookings spanned into late January, a period when accommodation, tours and other activities would normally be fully booked.

State and federal MPs have been in regular contact with local businesses, but disaster relief payments have been limited to essentials and accommodation for people affected.

Without support for businesses, operators were relying on punters to stay afloat.

“If you can’t come, get a gift voucher or do a forward booking for accommodation and put a deposit down, just to keep people’s businesses turning over,” Treweek said.

“Just so they can keep going.”

Further south in Cape Otway along the Great Ocean Road, Bimbi Camp owner Frank Fotinas watched one in five of his bookings evaporate after an camper’s unextinguished fire grew out of control last week.

The fire has sparked a criminal investigation.

Fotinas evacuated his 100-site camping and glamping business as a precaution, but said lingering bushfire warnings in the area continued to scare away visitors despite the blaze being contained.

“There’s still a bushfire warning there, when there’s no bushfire there,” Fotinas said.

“I understand they’ve got to be cautious, but that does not help.”

The state Control Centre did not respond to requests, but noted Victoria had an integrated emergency warning system including the VicEmergency App, more than 60 emergency broadcasters and significant use of social media channels.

Multiple agencies and departments are responsible for issuing community warnings for specific hazards across the state.

Fotinas said the media had a lot to answer for when it came to precautionary cancellations, noting the urgency of reporting emergency warnings never matched coverage of a return to safety.

“No one’s going to talk about Cape Otway now, but why aren’t we on the front page saying, ‘Yep, everything’s fine, everything’s great’.”

“You know, doom and gloom sells.”

-AAP