Financial Impact of Harmful Algal Bloom on South Australian Tourism Businesses

TiCSA is working hard to advocate for support of South Australian tourism businesses impacted by the Harmful Algal Bloom.

In just 36 hours we received 97 responses to our survey on the current (as of 22 July) and future financial impact of the algal bloom.

The range of business types that responded underscores the far reaching financial toll of the algal bloom. The top three responding business types: accommodation, tours/transport, and retail.

Tourism regions represented:

• 40% Yorke Peninsula
• 21% Fleurieu Peninsula
• 13% Eyre Peninsula
• Kangaroo Island and Adelaide metro also had strong response rates.

Current business conditions:

• 99% of responding businesses have lost income.
• The average downturn in business conditions is 40% on the same period last year.
• The average financial loss is $52,000 and with 14% of responding businesses experiencing losses of more than $100,000.

Future business conditions:

• All businesses reported cancellations or anticipate continuing a downturn in business for the next 3 months. Some have already closed operations or cancelled all tours, or forecast they will.
• More than half of all respondents are experiencing booking cancellations for the upcoming summer, with 45% of businesses reporting cancellations into 2026, including Easter.

Town impacts:

• The downturn in visitation is impacting local business communities beyond direct tourism operations.
• 30 towns were pick up in the survey, with an average of 30 businesses per town reported to be heavily impacted.