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KI bounces back after fires

30 December 2008

Tourism on Kangaroo Island has bounced back following the bushfires that burnt 20% of the Island just one year ago.

Regional Tourism Manager for Kangaroo Island, Tania O'Neil, says businesses have worked hard over the year to recuperate from the fires.

"The true test of strength of a tourism destination is its ability to bounce back after a set-back like the December 07 bushfires," she says.

"While tourism was dealt an initial blow, it didn't take long for tourists to start returning to the Island.

"The regeneration that has occurred over the past 12-months has provided quite a spectacle."

The fires were ignited by lightning on 6 December 2007 and forced the closure of many national parks and tourist attractions throughout Kangaroo Island.

It took emergency services from throughout Australia eight days to contain the fires, which claimed one life and the loss of 75,000 hectares of national parks.

Flinders Chase National Park bore the brunt of the fires, yet tourism operators from the region say regrowth in the area has been outstanding.

"We've been told that growth has occurred much faster than in other regions affected by bushfires," Ryan Bubner of Kangaroo Island Wilderness Retreat says.

"For us, the number of tourists has definitely increased in the past 12-month period.

"International visitors in particular knew about the fire and were interested in it."

Perhaps the biggest success story of Kangaroo Island in the past 12 months has been Southern Ocean Lodge - since opening in March this year it has won international acclaim as one of the world's premier luxury accommodation lodges.

General Manager Mat Daniel says workers were determined to open on schedule, despite having to evacuate as fires came within two kilometres of the site.

"Instead of disappointing our waiting guests, we worked double time, day and night to open on schedule.

"Today, the fires have been more of a talking point for our tours though Flinders Chase, and have really enhanced the experience.

"It's really going as well as we could have hoped."

To book your summer holiday on Kangaroo Island, visit the South Australian Visitor and Travel Centre at 18 King William Street Adelaide, or visit www.southaustralia.com