Tour companies in Queensland's Gulf Country fear they'll be staring down the barrel of financial ruin if the state's border doesn't fully reopen soon.

Indigenous-owned Yagurli Tours has had a bumper tourist season this year, but warns its pool of first-time customers will dry up without interstate arrivals.

"I literally had a phone call this morning from a lady from Victoria who wanted to book for 2022 already," operations manager Peter Ridley said.

"[When] they started announcing lockdowns in New South Wales and Victoria, the numbers started to decline and particularly the latter half of August dropped quite a bit."

Borders blocking demand

Yagurli Tours, based in Burketown, is owned and operated by the Gangalidda and Garawa Peoples and relies on first-time and once-only trips, rather than repeat customers, given its remote location.

So far during the COVID-19 pandemic, it's capitalised on the domestic tourism boom as Australians explore their home turf while the international border is shut.

"Adventurers, grey nomads, scientists — we're hoping for a catch-all [opportunity]," community leader Murandoo Yanner said.

Loading

The business saw a 100 per cent increase in customers in June 2021 and experienced an overall growth of 64 per cent during the peak tourism months of May, June, July and August.

But sales have since plummeted.

"August, which is usually our biggest month, this time was our third biggest month," Mr Ridley said.

Tourism businesses in the Gulf needed a constant flow of new visitors, many of whom travelled from interstate, he said.

"On social media, we're definitely getting a lot more recognition from people experiencing and sharing it.

"It helps us grow the markets in New South Wales and Victoria, if we can get more and more people coming, it has a snowball effect."

Incomparable cultural experiences

Yagurli, meaning "fish" in the local Gangalidda language, was established in 2017 by community leader Murrandoo Yanner.

The company employs four local Indigenous men, who are current or ex-rangers, to operate its tours and experiences on land, water and in the air.

Mr Ridley said the men valued sharing their cultural knowledge with visitors.

"They have tremendous knowledge of flora, fauna, geography, geology and they know a lot about the history of the local area," he said.

"[We] create a really unique experience that can cater for as many as possible whether they are honeymooners, tourists, or people doing scientific weather work," Mr Yanner said.