An Albury business that relies gets the bulk of its income through snow season rentals says it's "disappointing" NSW border bubble residents are excluded from Victoria's alpine resorts.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Albury's Auski shop manager Emma Harrison said the ski conditions on the mountains looked great, after more snowfall was recorded on Tuesday night.
"[It's] definitely disappointing," she said.
"Our rental department has definitely slowed down due to the restrictions of not being able to go the Victorian snowfields, so super sad.
"Obviously we can go to the NSW snowfields, but they are just that little bit further away."
Ms Harrison said the bulk of the businesses income came from snow equipment rentals during winter, but since the restrictions were introduced rentals had significantly declined.
"Snowboards, boots, bindings, skis, ski boots, poles, helmets, toboggans, clothing, outerwear for kids and adults, we've got a massive market there for rental," she said.
"But at the moment we're really only doing chains and things like that, but not necessarily the full kit.
"People just can't get up there, even when when we could go and we had to have COVID tests, it was people that were already decked out to go to the snow, it was the keen snowboarders, it wasn't the family wanting to go up there and have a good time."
IN OTHER NEWS:
Ms Harrison said foot traffic had been less, too.
"We're a lot quieter than what we were," she said.
"Today we probably have had 15 customers for the entire day, comparing to a normal year, we'd have three or four times that many."
Overall, Ms Harrison wasn't sure whether she thought the exclusion of NSW border bubble residents was fair or not.
"It's hard to say," she said.
"Business-wise I think it really sucks.
"Border people should be able to go, but then also a lot of Melbourne people are going, so it is making it a little more safe for the border community with them not being able to go."
Ms Harrison said some NSW residents were still using the season's great snow.
"The NSW snowfields are obviously getting some customers, because we are hiring out to people who are going that way, but it's just a lot further to travel," she said.
Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content:
- Bookmark https://www.bordermail.com.au/
- Make sure you are signed up for our breaking and regular headlines newsletters
- Follow us on Twitter: @bordermail
- Follow us on Instagram @bordermail
- Follow us on Google News.