Fuel surcharges part of life says Tourism body
Central Australian Tourism says it is reasonable for Great Southern Railway to pass its rising fuel costs on to passengers.
The company, which operates the Ghan Railway from Adelaide to Darwin, says tickets booked from next month will attract a $10 to $15 surcharge per sector.
Central Australian Tourism spokesman Craig Catchlove says escalating fuel prices are making it difficult for all tourism operators to set their charges.
“I certainly have seen a couple of operators with fuel levies, and that’s tourism operators, for that exact reason that with the fact that the prices are set so far in advance, if you do get a mammoth increase as we have seen over the last six months, you just have to do something extraordinary to cover that cost,” he said.
Mr Catchlove says he does not believe the increased cost of rail tickets will deter travellers.
He says people are generally accepting of the fuel surcharges being imposed across the industry.
“The fares we are talking about for those kind of rail travel are such that $10 to $15 would not be that large an increase percentage-wise,” he said.
“Especially when people are purchasing the experience, they’re not looking for the cheapest way to get from A to B.”
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