We need you to come back to the Blue Mountains!

Dear Students, Family of Students, Education Industry Colleagues and Agents,

The last couple of months have seen unprecedented bushfires in Australia, basically all the way from Queensland down to Victoria. You would have seen the images on the news of the lost houses, a land mass over the size of Belgium which was burned out and the huge number of animals which have been lost. These scenes would have disappeared from your nightly news broadcast however the recovery doesn't magically happen.

I am a resident of the Blue Mountains in New South Wales. We are a regional area (not for migration purposes) situated beyond the western edge of the Sydney Metro area. The Blue Mountains are a city surrounded by a World Heritage Listed National Park, it is also one of the most fire prone locations anywhere on the planet. Our locality was heavily impacted by fires in 2013 and again in 2020. The remaining fires are now under control and have been awesomely managed by our guardian angels at the rural fire service.

The physical impacts of these fires are quite obvious and should not be discounted however the economic impacts are ongoing and will be for some time. I went up to Katoomba which is one of the major tourist towns in the mountains about a week ago and sadly it was like a ghost town. Restaurants and shops had barely any customers whatsoever, local or tourist. This was right in what should have been the major tourist season. The economy up here is reliant on tourism and we need you to come back!

• we need you to come and enjoy our great coffee
• we need you to come and enjoy our awesome and diverse range of restaurants
• we need you to come and check out our memorable waterfalls, escarpments and vistas
• we need you to come and buy a couple of souvenirs to take back to your family
• we need you to come and experience our community then tell your friends and family about the outstanding experience you had
• we need you to come and let everyone know that the area is safe to visit
• most importantly, we need you to come and then let everyone know that our region is open for business and ready to welcome you for an experience of a lifetime

The Blue Mountains, like other impacted communities, need you to be our brand ambassadors and to assist us to rebuild our economy.

Please come back to our beautiful region!

Regards,

Stefan Hofmann - Blue Mountains Resident

I am the International Regional Manager (Subcontinent) at Education Centre of Australia. The views expressed in my articles are my own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the organisation