By Leonie Wood
The best tonic for businesses in fire-hit regions is cash flow.
RESTAURATEUR Gary Cooper surveys his dining room at Bella Vedere Cucina overlooking the Yarra Valley. It is lunchtime, and instead of the usual 60 customers sipping wine and gazing across vineyards, he has two.
Ross Greenaway, manager of the Yarra Valley's Balgownie Estate, is trying new measures to attract tourists.Credit: Wayne Taylor
Today, instead of the usual weekend tally of 100 lunchtime diners, he is likely to have 30.
"In four weeks' time, if we cannot build numbers and pick up the business for at least one good week, then we will be in dire straits," Mr Cooper says.
Seven kilometres west, just north of Yarra Glen and only a few hundred metres from the charred gullies of Steels Creek, Ross Greenaway, the manager of the Balgownie Estate winery and conference centre, has a similar tale.
"People have cancelled well into March, by not wanting to be seen to be rubber-necking out of respect for the people up the road in Kinglake," he says. "We appreciate that, but we had to start standing down staff on a day-to-day basis last week."
Beyond the areas damaged by the fires of February 7, there has been extraordinary and unexpected economic damage. Sandwich boards are on the highways, saying "Open for business", but bookings for miles around have been cancelled because tourists have heeded emergency fire warnings, or stayed away from fire-hit regions because they want to give local residents time and space to heal.
Tourism operators as far away as the Gippsland Lakes have reported a crash in bookings because travellers fear venturing into what they believe are potential fire zones. There are widespread layoffs of tourism staff.
"It's really been quite stressful and disturbing, the loss of business," says Joanne Tate of Yarra Valley Winery Tours, who is on the Healesville Chamber of Commerce.
"It's the third week and people are saying unless we get tourists in here soon there are going to be many job losses. Business is down 90 to 95 per cent because a lot of reports out there say the whole Yarra Valley is under threat. It's not."
Many think it's too early to go to the Yarra Valley. But that is precisely what local businesses are urging you to do.
Ask Bob and Dianne Curtis of Yileena Park winery in Steels Creek.
"Nobody that I know wants protecting," Mr Curtis says. "Come back. We need you." Yarra Valley business people appreciate the cash hand-outs, the extraordinary assistance from banks and complete strangers, the random acts of generosity. But more than anything they need cash flow.
Without exception, all the Yarra Valley operators The Age approached this week said business had been fabulous in 2008, defying the global downturn. Corporate bookings were down, but domestic tourists filled the gaps. Some businesses had record takings last month.
But since February 7, across the Yarra Valley and as far afield as Mt Buller and Gippsland, business people say their incomes have been wiped out.
"The economic impact is severe, and it's right across Gippsland," Terry Robinson, the head of Destination Gippsland, says, adding that 200 businesses in the Mt Baw Baw and West Gippsland districts had reported almost no revenue for three weeks.
"East Gippsland bed-and-breakfasts are saying it's 70 per cent down," he said. "Visitations have dropped significantly so revenue (and) cash flows are struggling, bookings have been cancelled.
"Some of the visiting public think all of Gippsland is on fire, which is obviously incorrect. Some think there's a fire threat, some think it's inappropriate. Our message is, we want visitors."
Vast areas of the Yarra Valley were not directly affected by the fires, and have been fully open for business all month.
The Maroondah Highway between Coldstream and Healesville, fringed with boutique wineries such as Domaine Chandon, Badger's Brook, Dominique Portet and St Hubert's, is open. Rochford Wineries next weekend hosts Opera Under the Stars. Tomorrow, the Yarra Glen community comes out in force for its monthly craft market at the racecourse.
Next weekend Healesville will host a race meeting at its racecourse.
Understandably, tourists are confused. Those who head out do not want to be considered disaster tourists, for whom the Sunday drive is a way of gazing at others' misery.
Towns such as Kinglake, Marysville and Flowerdale remain out of bounds while coronial and arson investigations continue. And while many main roads are open, there is a real need to balance the privacy of residents with the economic demands of business. Some visitors have been seen taking photos on mobile phones as they drive through damaged hamlets.
"We are not seeing a lot of people coming out from Melbourne at this stage and just gawking," Ms Tate says. "But — this is the split side of things — the answer to how you deal with that is, we have no choice. The people who are living here, they are really not going to have any work (if tourists don't return) and already people are losing their jobs."
Business owners say almost everything is open, but ask that tourists stick to main roads where and be respectful of residential areas. If in doubt, ask.
Fire licked at Balgownie Estate at Dixon's Creek but, as the white banner pinned to the winery's fence attests, it is certainly open for business. Mr Greenaway has asked staff to rotate their rosters voluntarily. On average, six employees a day are stood down. Some days it's more.
"We have lost two-thirds of our February (trade) and one-third of our March," Mr Greenaway says. "We have days next week where we have no rooms sold."
Compounding the emotional and financial ruin is the prospect that swathes of the Yarra Valley vintage, which was about to be harvested, will be lost to smoke taint. The growers suffered frost and hail in October, unusually dry weather in December and January, then four days of blistering heat in early February, just before the fires hit.
Winemakers are now sampling the fruit on the vines and sending it for smoke testing. The initial view is not optimistic and several winemakers anticipate harvesting only to dump their fruit for stockfeed.
Amid the awfulness, there are pockets of joy. Last night, the celebrated De Bortoli winery and restaurant, on Pinnacle Lane near Steels Creek, won the Australian Tourism award for best tourist winery.
John and Lynne Derwin, who lost vineyards and almost their lives at their Roundstone winery when fire roared up Steels Creek, have hopes of getting the brand restarted.
The Derwins, who are still grappling with what happened on February 7, will be selling Roundstone wines at Federation Square on Wednesday and Thursday, when at least 15 winemakers from fire-damaged regions come to Melbourne to promote their wares.
"The only way we can survive (in business) is for tourism to continue," Mrs Derwin says. "As soon as people are comfortable coming back, we would really, really like them to come and buy our wine.
"If people are afraid to come back, then buy the Yarra Valley wines in the shops where you see them. That would help the people who are struggling."
Tourism Victoria says public safety remains a priority. It urges potential travellers to check emergency services and Country Fire Authority websites for bushfire updates.