A Myrtleford bus company has been left stranded with virtually no work in its peak season.
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Alpine Spirit Coaches is now running less than three per cent of snow tours, than it would normally, due to the impact of COVID-19.
Managing director Chris Bonacci described himself as "flat out managing nothing" with his workplace in peril after the initial setback of the bushfires lumped with the coronavirus crisis.
"We were impacted by the fires in North East Victoria and whatever work we had left was in Canberra," he said.
"We were 60 per cent down on domestic sales before COVID-19 and when it came along we're now 97.3 per cent down on all our snow sales.
"It's that bad it's beyond crying. It's laughable.
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"Normally now our buses would be in Darwin and Alice Springs doing tours for schools groups.
"They would be all coming back and going to Adelaide and Sydney to pick up groups to take to the snow."
Alpine Spirit Coaches has a fleet of 18 buses, all of which are off the road.
"We brought a brand new coach that's top of the range in November and there's not much change out of $700,000," Mr Bonacci said.
"We're hoping and praying we can park everything up, shut the doors and in six to eight months, whoever survives this will come out very busy at the other end."
Mr Bonacci will go back to driving trucks from next week to ensure the business can weather the storm.
He is extremely worried about the mental health of his staff as a result of the pandemic.
"I'm actually going away to work to make money to buy parts for the business so I can keep the guys busy," he said.
"Half of my income will go into the business to buy paint, parts for the buses, polish and cleaner, otherwise they're on JobKeeper sitting here going silly.
"Mental health has been a big problem, so I want to keep our guys actively involved in something.
"Even if they're cleaning a bus or fixing curtains or panels, as an employer I've got an obligation to my staff.
"The business has changed a lot, so if I can manage their mental health, I'll help them out by thinking of projects instead of sitting at home.
"We're designing a plan for the next six months for the guys to complete little projects so they've got their mind focused on staying mentally healthy."
Mr Bonacci added the health and safety of everyone in the region is paramount.
"We've knocked back a bit of work because we didn't want to bring people from hotspots to the area," he said.
"Even though we're desperate for work and desperate for money, our ethics and morals override that."