MELBOURNE — Australia's peak tourism body estimated the country's bushfire crisis has so far cost the industry almost A$1 billion ($690 million) and called for urgent help from the government to lure back visitors. Industry bosses were due to meet with Tourism Minister Simon Birmingham later on Thursday as storms and heavy rain brought some respite from months of fierce bushfires across Australia's east coast. The fires, which have killed 29 people and razed bushland across an area the size of Bulgaria, have hit several coastal towns at the height of the profitable summer season. "People have basically stopped travel," Simon Westaway, executive director of Australian Tourism Industry Council (ATIC), told Reuters. "And that's absolutely understandable: human nature kicks in."

Source: International New York Times January 16, 2020 09:11 UTC