General News
18 June, 2024
Image flouts safety rules at popular tourist hot spot
As the Grampians enjoyed a resurgence of visitors over summer, a respected news website flouted safety protocols by publishing a controversial image of the national park's most notorious beauty spot.
In an article designed to attract visitors from Melbourne, The New Daily featured an image of a person sitting on the rock ledge at Boroka Lookout - where two tourists have fallen to their deaths.
The writer of the story in The New Daily was a guest of Grampians Tourism. Most of the images used in the article were from Visit Victoria. The main image was the only one not credited.
The lookout, off Mt Difficult Road, provides one of the best views over Halls Gap, and was last year rated among the top 10 per cent of global attractions on the Tripadvisor travel site.
Arguably the most popular scenic spot in the Grampians, it gained notoriety as tourists ignored warnings to climb over railings and onto the ledge for daredevil selfie shots.
Thousands of Instagram posts have been tagged at Boroka Lookout, some from beyond the safety barrier, including a video in 2018 of a man performing a backflip on the ledge.
Two years later, in December 2020, a woman fell 30 metres to her death.
Rosy Loomba, 38, had climbed over the safety barrier with her husband to take some selfies.
The Deputy State Coroner said mother-of-two Ms Loomba turned to walk back when she lost her balance and fell.
“Mr Loomba jumped down to her and tried to pull her back up but was unable to reach her hand,” the coroner said.
“He held on to her legs and her clothing but was unable to grasp her. Mrs Loomba fell over the edge.”
The couple's two young children were at the nearby barrier, and a group of tourists also were waiting to have their photo taken at the time.
A 59-year-old British visitor also fell to her death at the lookout while holidaying with her husband and other relatives in January 1999.
The dangerous selfie craze is not helped either by some popular tourism websites.
One site, curated by “a family of adventurers, creators and thrill-seekers”, describes Boroka Lookout as “the best sunrise spot over the Grampians”.
While its review states, “Please be extremely careful at this location and don’t risk your life for a photo,” the accompanying image features a young couple perched precariously on the ledge - beyond the safety barrier.
It is not clear whether the image is genuine or has been modified.
Grampians Tourism CEO Marc Sleeman said he was dismayed a minority of visitors were ignoring warning signs to climb onto the dangerous overhanging rock ledge.
He said nature-based tourism was a key driver for visitors to the area but it was impossible to protect people who chose to do “silly things”.
“Clearly and historically, people are stepping outside the barriers,” he said.
“Information centres and all marketing, publicity and information encourages people not to act in a manner that can result in harm.”
He said people were always encouraged to respect their own safety and that of others by obeying the signs that were placed in areas of high visitation coupled with prospective danger.
“The Grampians attracts about 1.3 million visitors annually and 99.9 per cent of those do the right thing,” Mr Sleeman said.
“But, it’s impossible to protect everybody all of the time. We can’t put up barriers everywhere.”
Meanwhile, the Grampians continues to increase in popularity as a tourist destination, with a 59 per cent increase in visitor spend in the year ending September 2023.