Stockman’s Hall of Fame doors shut for six-weeks this summer
LONGREACH Mayor Joe Owens says businesses and towns across western Queensland will be hit hard now that the Stockman's Hall of Fame has closed over the summer.
Southern media reported the Hall of Fame shut its doors in a bid to save cash and reduce its $250,000 deficit.
All eyes were on the tourist destination in November when Prince Charles and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, visited the hall in near 40C heat - but weeks later the facility was closed because of financial struggles.
The six-week shutdown over Christmas angered tourists who drove to the outback town, but the hall's chief executive Ben Maguire said the museum was in desperate need of financial assistance.
Cr Owens said the Hall of Fame was a big attraction for tourists and now they would likely reconsider visiting the region.
"This will affect tourism across all of western Queensland," he said.
Meanwhile, Queensland paleontologists have discovered stampeding dinosaurs in central-western Queensland, near Winton, were most likely swimming rather than running.
The 95-98 million-year-old tracks in the Lark Quarry Conservation Park show claw scratches and "tippy-toe" grooves mark the world's only recorded dinosaur stampede.
Winton Shire Council tourism officer Vicki Jones said this would not affect tourists visiting the area.
