Ravaged Qld fire regions bank on tourists
Fire and drought-ravaged towns in Queensland's Granite Belt are hoping tourists will still come and visit once the main fire emergency has passed.
Crews were on Monday still battling blazes across the state's south, but some evacuated residents were being allowed to return to their homes.
"I do expect we'll get a sympathy vote, maybe even starting as soon as next weekend," said Peter O'Reilly, the head of the University of Southern Queensland's college of wine tourism at Stanthorpe.
On Friday night, Mr O'Reilly watched the fires bear down on the college and much of the town, where at least three homes were destroyed.
"We very much dodged a bullet," he said of the relatively small losses.
Fire crews are pushing to strengthen the containment lines to ensure that six fires in the area stay under control.
The Bureau of Meteorology has warned southwesterly winds will increase to 50km/h on Monday morning.
Beyond the fire emergency, Mr O'Reilly is confident visitors will do their bit to support the region by visiting the wineries and other attractions in the area.
"There's been an interesting phenomenon where ... we've seen people coming up here and visiting us and saying, 'you've been doing it tough, why not come up there for the weekend, buy a carton of wine from you and a carton of wine from someone else'," he said.
"It's been great to see that sort of philanthropic motivation."
Mr O'Reilly's family runs O'Reilly's Rainforest Retreat in Lamington National Park, just a few kilometres from the Binna Burra Lodge which was badly damaged by fire.
