AFTER a successful #BookThemOut campaign in the wake of the recent bushfires, Kangaroo Island's tourism association hopes a renewed campaign due to COVID-19 will have the same impact.
KI Tourism, Food, Wine and Beverage Association chairman Pierre Gregor said the tourism sector was "non-existent" since restrictions were placed on visitors to the island because of the coronavirus.
"The sector has collapsed, rightfully so in the immediate term, but businesses are struggling," he said.
Mr Gregor said KI had the largest reliance on tourism in SA and the international market would take some time to "turn back on".
Mr Gregor said the success of the #BookThemOut campaign was short lived.
So the association has a renewed focus to keep the island front of mind with domestic tourists and would potentially launch a #KIFromHome social media campaign in the coming months.
KI mayor Michael Pengilly supported the domestic tourism idea.
"International tourists will not return to the island for at least 12 months - so we need to get tourists travelling across Australia to the island again," he said.
Mr Pengilly said the bushfire-affected parts of the island continued to rebuild, but tourism opportunities were "dead in the water".
On a more positive note, hardware and stock feed businesses were booming.
"We will have to work particularly hard to get the entire island's business sector up and going again once we get through this crisis," he said.
RELATED READING: #BookThemOut campaign to boost tourism
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