鈥榃orld鈥檚 whitest beach鈥 deserted as Australia burns
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On any other January week, tourists would be jostling for space on the bright white sands of Australia鈥檚 Hyams Beach.
Not this week. Raging bushfires across southeastern Australia are taking a big toll on tourism, reducing some resorts to ghost towns in New South Wales.
Authorities blocked access to Hyams Beach at the weekend amid severe drought, record high temperatures and winds fanning fires as close as 15 kilometers away. Yesterday, there was only a trickle of the usual throngs on the sand, with streets eerily empty.
鈥淲e come every year, we鈥檝e never seen it like this before. It鈥檚 normally mayhem,鈥 said Jemima Albrecht, 31, a teacher from Bendigo in Victoria state, adding that fires were blocking her roads home. 鈥淚t was safer for us to stay here.鈥
Hyams Beach boasts stunning turquoise waters and what locals say is the world鈥檚 whitest sand, making it a haven for selfie-seekers and an Instagram favorite.
The tiny town鈥檚 narrow roads were deserted yesterday but for residents鈥 parked vehicles.
One retired couple read books on deckchairs on the near-empty beach as a man and his children hunted for crabs in rock pools. A group of young women bathed in the strong afternoon sun, posing for pictures between dips.
Fires have killed 25 people this summer season and torn through more than 8.6 million hectares, an area nearly the size of Austria, razing thousands of buildings and cutting off power and communications.
Though there is no national data yet, there is bound to be a major negative impact for tourism which accounts for 3.1 % of Gross Domestic Product. Last summer, Australia attracted 2.71 million holidaymakers, many fleeing the northern hemisphere winter.
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