As the police continue their search through the ordinarily tranquil Victorian backcountry, the flow of tourist dollars is starting to wane, with visitors choosing to stay away.
“I think it’s almost feeling worse than the bushfires and COVID,” Bright and District Chamber of Commerce Marcus Warner told 9News.
“They were pretty obvious reactions to [an] emergency. This one, we never saw coming.”
The impact on tourism can also be seen in the Alpine regions in the state, with skifields unable to take advantage of record snowfalls.
Mt Hotham has seen its biggest snow base in years, but supply isn’t equalling demand.
“This time of year generally attracts last-minute bookings for the snow. That’s the rush we usually experience, and especially with the snow being incredible this season, the best we’ve seen in years, those bookings just aren’t materializing,” Emma Hinchliffe from Alpine Getaways Australia shared with 9News.
They say locals are still hitting the slopes, but visitors staying away is having a wider impact on the region.
Alpine Getaways say around 80 per cent of their properties are emptied as the hunt for Freeman continues.
There are no winners in this situation, according to Hinchliffe.
“I think we have an understanding of the way a bushfire works, the way a flood works, this is unknown,” she said.
Police have urged locals to leave the search to the experts, as Freeman is believed to be heavily armed.
Despite hundreds of tip-offs, there have been no confirmed sightings.
More than 450 officers will continue to search over 100 properties and acres of bushland this week.
Officers have previously stated that they believe some people might know his whereabouts or are potentially harbouring the alleged killer.
