Tourists frustrated as bushfire smoke shrouds Australia's iconic 'Three Sisters' rock formation

Record ID: 1450465

  • Title: Tourists frustrated as bushfire smoke shrouds Australia's iconic 'Three Sisters' rock formation
  • Date: 27th December 2019
  • Summary: BLUE MOUNTAINS, AUSTRALIA (DECEMBER 27, 2019) (REUTERS) THREE SISTERS ROCK FORMATION SHROUDED IN HAZE / ENGLISH TOURISTS LEWIS CASEY AND OLIVIA GIACON LOOKING ON PEOPLE WALKING ON WALKWAY BETWEEN ROCK FORMATIONS THREE SISTERS ROCK FORMATION AND VALLEY SHROUDED IN HAZE VARIOUS KOREAN TOURISTS TAKING A PHOTO NEXT TO POSTER OF THE BLUE MOUNTAINS AND THREE SISTERS CASEY AND GIACON LOOKING AT VALLEY SHROUDED IN HAZE (SOUNDBITE) (English) ENGLISH TOURIST, LEWIS CASEY, SAYING: "It's unbelievable. Yes, it's really disappointing. We were really looking forward to seeing the view and I've always wanted to see the Blue Mountains. So, such a shame that when we came, it looks like this." BUSHLAND AND VALLEY SHROUDED IN HAZE (SOUNDBITE) (English) ENGLISH TOURIST, OLIVIA GIACON, SAYING: "I've been to Australia before. I've lived here. I've been to the Blue Mountains, and definitely, the one thing I always praised about Sydney was the fact that it had very, very blue skies and this looks worse than the U.K. So, obviously for a different reason, but the smoke has actually made the sky." LEWIS CASEY: "Such a shame. We were just talking about all the volunteer firefighters as well. Like so much respect for the people that are volunteering to help out. It's unbelievable." PEOPLE LOOKING AT SMOKEY VALLEY AT LOOKOUT POINT (SOUNDBITE) (English) ENGLISH TOURISTS, OLIVIA GIACON, SAYING: "Actually, the smells, it's all the other stuff that you don't see through images, through reading the news stories, that's even more shocking as well. Like, walking around, it really smells bad." PICTURE SHOWING VIEW OF THE VALLEY/ TOURISTS GATHERED AT LOOKOUT POINT (SOUNDBITE) (English) ENGLISH TOURIST, MATTHEW OWEN, SAYING: "A bit disappointed. We came into Sydney, in the first couple of days, there was a lot of smoke and smoke haze. Made us cough a little bit, especially at night. And it was a bit cooler than we expected. But yeah, we've come here to the Blue Mountains and bit disappointed we haven't got much of a view." VARIOUS OF PEOPLE AT LOOKOUT POINT WEARING MASKS POSTAL DELIVERY EMPLOYEE ON MOTORBIKE WEARING MASK AND DRIVING OFF / PEOPLE CROSSING STREET AMID TRAFFIC CARS DRIVING THROUGH STREET VARIOUS OF OWNER OF RETAIL BUSINESS, LYNNE CURAN, SITTING AT COUNTER INSIDE HER SHOP, LOOKING ON SIGN READING (English): "OMNIA A LITTLE BIT OF EVERYWHERE"/ CURAN STANDING AT SHOP DOORWAY (SOUNDBITE) (English) SMALL BUSINESS OWNER, LYNNE CURAN, SAYING: "We're all affected by the lack of tourists. I mean look at the air. A lot of the bushwalks are closed. So, people aren't going to come up here because they can't go on a lot of the bushwalks. It's too dangerous anyway, they should be closed. The views are gone, you can't see the views. So, yeah, tourism is way down. Probably, normally across the road here, you would have people queued up for the buses to go down to Echo Point, Scenic World. Hardly a queue in sight, hardly a person in sight." CURAN STANDING AT SHOP DOORWAY (SOUNDBITE) (English) SMALL BUSINESS OWNER, LYNNE CURAN, SAYING: "I have to say for the Christmas shopping, a lot of locals came out and supported our small businesses and that was fantastic. But trade is way, way down. About, you know, I am doing about a third of what I would normally do at this time of year. And I think that's the same for everyone. No matter whether it's retail, hotel, Air B and B, whatever, we're all way down. Everyone's cancelled, no one's coming up here and yeah, everyone's suffering." TOURISTS TAKING PHOTO IN FRONT OF POSTER OF THREE SISTERS AT LOOKOUT POINT THREE SISTERS AND VALLEY SHROUDED IN HAZE
  • Embargoed: 10th January 2020 05:52
  • Keywords: Australia Blue Mountains The Three Sisters bushfires smoke tourism tourists
  • Location: BLUE MOUNTAINS, AUSTRALIA
  • City: BLUE MOUNTAINS, AUSTRALIA
  • Country: Australia
  • Topics: Disaster/Accidents,Wildfires/Forest Fires
  • Reuters ID: LVA001BBR1UMF
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Tourists visiting a world heritage site in mountains west of Sydney were forced to take photos of a billboard showing "The Three Sisters" rock formation on Friday (December 27) as smoke from bushfires blanketed the attraction.
    "The Three Sisters" in the Blue Mountains represent three sisters who, according to Aboriginal legend, were turned to stone.
    "It's unbelievable. Yes, it's really disappointing. We were really looking forward to seeing the view and I've always wanted to see the Blue Mountains. So, such a shame that when we came, it looks like this," English tourist Lewis Casey told Reuters.
    The Blue Mountains bushfires, which have been burning for weeks, have led to a sharp drop in tourist numbers which is hurting local businesses.
    "We're all affected by the lack of tourists," said small business owner Lynne Curan in the Blue Mountains.
    Deadly bushfires have destroyed more than 4 million hectares (9.9 million acres) in five states since September, dwarfing the terrain burnt by fierce fires in California during 2019.
    Firefighters fighting more than 100 bushfires are bracing for more "extreme heatwave conditions" early next week.
    (Production: Jill Gralow)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2019. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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