UPDATE: Ballarat's major tourist attractions are monitoring the unfolding situation in Melbourne, with refunds and rescheduling of dates for many tourists who had planned to visit them in coming weeks.
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It comes after Sovereign Hill announced it would not be allowing residents from the 10 'hot spot' postcodes to enter the attraction in the short term.
At Kryal Castle, the attraction has been contacting, and contacted, by a number of pre-purchased ticket holders that are living in the 10 postcode regions that have been locked down.
A spokesperson said it was offering refunds and alternate days to customers who were now unable to make their pre-booked date.
They said the attraction would continue to monitor the situation going forward.
The Ballarat Wildlife Park is in a different situation to Sovereign Hill and Kryal Castle in that it does not pre-sell tickets.
Owner Greg Parker said the attraction was continuing to operate as usual, but meetings would be held later today to discuss further options going forward such as postcode checks and temperature checks.
He said the park was about to receive temperature check devices from the City of Ballarat which has been given to councils across the state to assist major tourist operators.
"We're fortunate in that the majority of our attractions are outdoors, which is somewhat different to what you see at Sovereign Hill which has a lot of indoors," he said.
"At the moment, we are not at capacity. We aren't able to run any of our animal experiences and we are losing out in someway with limits in our souvenir shop and cafe by the amount of people you can have inside at any one time.
"We'll do some things we're updating our signage around the park. At the end of the day, this is going to be with us for a long time yet."
Mr Parker said he did not anticipate new lockdown restrictions on Melbourne suburbs would have a huge affect on the park going forward, saying the loss of large tourist bus groups and cruise groups, carrying up to 65 people at a time, was the biggest issue facing the park right now.
Mr Parker said he had been overwhelmed by the support of the Ballarat community in recent weeks since the park reopened, which he said had moved all staff at the park.
EARLIER: Sovereign Hill says people who live in one of the 10 postcodes that are going back into COVID-19 lockdown will not be allowed entry into the tourist attraction.
In a bid to keep the coronavirus out of Ballarat, all visitors to the outdoor museum will also need to prove they do not live in one of the suburbs in which residents are not allowed to leave.
Premier Daniel Andrews announced on Tuesday that more than 30 suburbs will return to stage three lockdown as of 11.59pm on Wednesday.
More than 200 visitors from the outbreak areas have already had their tickets cancelled and refunded from Sovereign Hill.
The following postcodes will be sent into lockdown until at least July 29:
- 3012 - Brooklyn, Kingsville, Maidstone, Tottenham, West Footscray
- 3021 - Albanvale, Kealba, Kings Park, St Albans
- 3032 - Ascot Vale, Highpoint City, Maribyrnong, Travancore
- 3038 - Keilor Downs, Keilor Lodge, Taylors Lakes, Watergardens
- 3042 - Airport West, Keilor Park, Niddrie
- 3046 - Glenroy, Hadfield, Oak Park
- 3047 - Broadmeadows, Dallas, Jacana
- 3055 - Brunswick South, Brunswick West, Moonee Vale, Moreland West
- 3060 - Fawkner
- 3064 - Craigieburn, Donnybrook, Mickelham, Roxburgh Park, Kalkallo
Sovereign Hill said blacklisting those suburbs was a necessary measure to keep Ballarat safe.
"Sovereign Hill will continue to gradually re-open ensuring strict adherence to the Victorian Government guidelines," it said in a statement.
"The safety and wellbeing of staff, friends, families and the local community is Sovereign Hill's number one priority."
IN OTHER NEWS
The capacity of Sovereign Hill is down 20% to ensure social distancing is also possible.
There is also video monitoring in place to ensure this occurs.
Sovereign Hill is now a cashless operation and accepts bookings online only.
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