Outback traders in South Australia's remote north are experiencing a bumper season of trade as tourists hit the road after an easing of COVID restrictions. 

Despite continuous rain soaking roads across the region, cars are waiting bumper to bumper to fill their tanks at William Creek near Lake Eyre.

"The amount of tourists coming through is up dramatically," hotel owner Trevor Wright said.

"It's erratic because people are worried about roads because of rain, so I think we need to have people become a bit more confident when [the roads] are open and also [have] a better system of dissemination of information as far as the condition for these roads."

Fuel shortage as demand surges

Garry Anesbury has been running the Maree Hotel while the owners are away and has been dealing with a visitor influx.

"Marree ran out of fuel on Tuesday but the petrol tanker was here the next day and it's all go again," Gerry said.

"I think it was only the second time in 15 years that the servo actually ran out of fuel.

"There's a lot of camping here, it's busy in the bar and restaurant and defying the trend."

High trading in hub towns

Terry Brennan-Kuss from the Coober Pedy Retail, Business & Tourism Association said although high fuel prices may have affected tourists' spending power, business was still booming.

"It was a bit slow starting after the lockdowns but since April it's been going gangbusters," he said.

Mr Brennan-Kuss, who runs a kangaroo orphanage in the town said many Coober Pedy businesses benefited from owning their own properties.

"Most of our businesses in town are well established so they've been able to ride the storm," he said. 

"I think that's the strength of Coober Pedy whereas other places have such high rents, they couldn't keep trading.

"We're very happy, we just hope it continues."

Hawker Motors and Visitors Information Centre manager John Teague started working in the shop with his father in 1961 and said travel through the town had been consistently busy.

"There have been a lot of people and I don't know that the petrol prices have actually affected them that much," Mr Teague said.

"It's been busy in this area around Hawker, Rawnsley Park Station has been booked out and even up to Leigh Creek and Arkaroola have been busy."

Further up the road at Wilpena Pound, resort manager Mitchell Gawthorn said expected drops in visitor numbers from fuel prices and weather conditions had not materialised.

"Over the Easter long weekend, we were at full capacity," Mr Gawthorne said. 

"Since then we're still tracking very well. We expected some downturn but that has not been evident throughout the business."

Construction on a joint $3 million upgrade to the resort's facilities between the state government and Indigenous Business Australia began this week.

"Everything we are doing is building on the World Heritage Listing for the Flinders Ranges bid and getting it up to that level."

Resilience pays off

Jo Fort owns and operates the Innamincka Hotel at the end of the Strzelecki Track and said resilience was part of the success being experienced by outback businesses.

"I think that old-fashioned hospitality is really our point of difference," Ms Fort said.

"After the last two years, I think we can handle anything.

"I've lived and worked in the outback for 40-odd years and I know that what worries me today, I'm not even going to remember it next year."

Ms Fort said the busy season was in part due to tourists embracing a sense of rediscovery after the pandemic.

"People are looking to reconnect with the land and I think it has made us understand a little bit more about ourselves," she said.

"I'm hearing that a lot now and I'm excited about the future of Indigenous tourism and excited to become more involved in the stories they might want to share in the future."