Outdoor tourism businesses say they're struggling in the wilderness of a COVID-19 economy.
Outdoors NSW and ACT chief executive Lori Modde said while the sector was back in business the threat of border closures diminished consumer confidence.
"If we don't have a national approach to border closures none of our sector can really get back to where it needs to be," she said.
"A lot of my operators conduct outdoor adventures in other states around the country. So they might be based here in the ACT but operate in the whole country.
"People haven't got that faith. They are booking their opportunities and adventures but are they going to be allowed to visit?"
Mulga Bicycle Tours is a Canberra-based business operating multi-day cycling tours across Australia and day trips around the ACT.
Co-owner Mark Arundel the business was only able to run one multi-day tour and a few day trips last year. Before 2020 the business usually operated 10 multi-day tours and 50 day trips a year.
"Last year was going to be our year," he said.
"We were going to be earning a wage last year [now] I'm not sure when that will start."
Mr Arundel said he was cautiously hopeful for 2021.
"We've got a definite interest in tours and we've got customers booked on tours. We've got a couple of tours that are booked out in July but there's no certainty they'll run," he said.
Mr Arundel said sudden border closures were problematic for tours operating outside of phone reception.
"We could be away for two days in an area and suddenly the world could have changed," he said.
"[You could] find you're stuck in a state for 14 days."
Mrs Modde said the sector faced difficulties accessing support provided by the ACT government. She cited the ChooseCBR trial, which required businesses to have a shopfront in the the ACT, as an example.
"It's a strange criteria to have on a business. We don't need a shopfront to operate. We operate in the outdoors," she said.
The sentiment was echoed by Mr Arundel, who worked from home. He was ineligible for the ChooseCBR trial despite receiving JobKeeper.
ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr said the rationale behind the shopfront criteria was to ensure the program benefited businesses that operated in the territory.
Mr Barr said a shopfront was defined as a physical location where customers came to buy goods or services, including retail stores, warehouses, residential addresses and other physical locations. He said businesses that used online booking services were able to participate in the scheme.
"The key priority for the ACT government is keeping Canberrans employed and encouraging spend in local businesses," Mr Barr said.
"The Canberra region has much to offer and prior to the pandemic our visitor economy was strong, resilient and diverse. We will leverage these strengths in recovery."
Mrs Modde said adventurous Canberrans should give local outdoor tourism a go: "The safest place to be right now is outside; not only from a COVID sense but [for] building skills of resilience at a time that is very uncertain."
