Warrnambool's Peter Collins, who has a property that can accommodate up to 10 people, said there had been two cancellations in two days.

He said the groups had expressed fears they may not be able to return home because they had been advised the towns they live in may be put into lock-down due to the Coronavirus outbreak.

Mr Collins said he was concerned the tourism industry could suffer greatly, as it was a peak time of year for Chinese tourists to visit the region. "It's usually the boom month for Chinese tourism," he said.

Operators who rely on tourism dollars hope the coronavirus doesn't prevent Chinese visitors coming to Australia.

Best Western Great Ocean Road Motor Inn owner/manager Liz McKenzie said she had not had any cancellations due to the virus yet, but was concerned she might.

Ms McKenzie said she hoped there wouldn't be a flurry of visitors cancelling their travel plans because she had already experienced a quieter January than last year.

In addition to that, she has had a number of people cancel their plans to visit the south-west due to fires burning in other parts of Australia.

"I do have a lot of Chinese visitors stay with us and the bookings for February are only at about 25 per cent," Ms McKenzie said.

She said last year she had about 75 per cent of her available accommodation booked for February prior to the start of the month.

"I've had quite a few people who have cancelled their whole trip (due to the fires)," she said.

Between March 2018 and March 2019, almost 680,000 Chinese tourists spent time along the Great Ocean Road, spending $2.3 billion.

South West Healthcare (SWH) chief executive officer Craig Fraser said staff had been briefed on the symptoms associated with the virus.

"SWH has a number of beds for isolation for any consumers exhibiting signs or symptoms similar to coronavirus," Mr Fraser said.

The virus is believed to be contained to people who travelled to Wuhan City in China 14 days before the onset of the illness or had contact with someone who had.

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