Tourism Central Australia CEO Danial Rochford says operators are reporting cancellations and financial pressure worse than during COVID times.

He told Katie Woolf $1 million in bookings was lost in 1 week alone, with a major conference in May also scrapped.

Mr Rochford says if this tourist season is a failure, operators would be surviving on 1 good year out of the last 5, warning that no business can withstand that.

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