His dream to provide more accommodation opportunities in his hometown of Port Campbell has been in the making for a long time.

RELATED: Bid to develop more visitor accommodation in Port Campbell

On Tuesday night, Corangamite Shire Council gave it the tick of approval, but with all aspects of normal life completely upended by the coronavirus pandemic, Mr Younis is scratching his head: What to do next?

"What I'm going to do now is a good question because my restaurant is closed, it's not making any money, and tourism has been impacted so heavily they say it could last another 12 months, possibly two years," he said.

"Here on the farm we've got livestock that have lost a hell of a lot of value because the restaurant trade and export market has been severely impacted.

"Everything's got a serious question mark over it."

The farmer, surf lifesaver and restaurant owner said a big investment might be too much of a risk to take.

"The plan is for three units for shorter-term stays. In an ideal world you'd want people not just staying overnight but for two to five days if possible," he said.

"With the situation looking like it is, hopefully more people will be looking for holidays in the country because they won't be able to fly anywhere else, places like Port Campbell which at the moment are devoid of people.

"I'm also looking at the possibility of investing a lot of money that I might not see a return on for possibly two years. The bank won't lend me the money for something that's not going to get a certain return.

"It's all good getting the planning permit but where to go from here? Everything's uncertain, that's the situation everyone is in."

Federal minister for tourism Simon Birmingham has urged people to travel domestically when regulations soften amid the coronavirus pandemic.

"My message is now is the time when you can dream and plan but not execute those plans," he said to ABC News Breakfast

"You should really be thinking about the type of trips you might take in Australia when restrictions on travel are lifted on travel in Australia, however many months away that may be."

South-west tourism operators welcomed the advice for people to start planning their domestic travels.

Warrnambool Tours operator Fiona Van Kempen suggested once regulations were lifted, businesses should work together.

"We can't plan anything until people start moving," she said.

"Most likely people will be driving which has some problems for us but we're hoping to entice people to tour locally.

"Businesses need to support each other for people to have an experience within Warrnambool.

"We're planning to do packages with other businesses. Before the pandemic we were going to get our Wreck and Relax tour with Deep Blue Hot Springs up and running where people would tour the Shipwreck Coast and then go to Deep Blue to relax.

"There's other plans in the background."

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Despite having to temporarily close, Mrs Van Kempen hopes the south-west tourism industry can once again thrive post-pandemic.

"Warrnambool is the centre of everything," she said.

"I started up the business to get people to Warrnambool on the train; they could stay a couple of nights and a lot of businesses could benefit.

"There's so much in this area, Warrnambool is the base and we can take people up to the Grampians, down the Great Ocean Road and tour around the city."

Great Ocean Road general manager Liz Price said the pandemic had been difficult for many tourism businesses.

"When travel bans are lifted it is envisioned visitation, especially from Melbournians and regional Victorians, will bounce back quickly with an increased desire to get back out into the outdoors after being in home isolation," she said.

"The visitor economy is critical to our local communities and encouraging visitation will be essential to supporting local communities starting to rebuild and recover.

"Domestic visitors are the primary source of visitation to the Great Ocean Road, for the year ending December 2019 the region received 6.8 million domestic visitors. The vast majority of visitors are from Melbourne and regional Victoria with only about 12 per cent of domestic visitors from interstate."

There are still ways communities can support their tourism businesses, many which have had to temporarily close or reduce to skeleton operations.

"Whilst the travel bans remain in place we encourage locals to support, where they can, businesses trying to continue to trade and offering take away, delivery and online shopping," Ms Price said.

"We have been able to utilise our digital channels to promote some of these opportunities and also encourage locals to check on social channels what businesses in their towns are now offering.

"This is a challenging time for all sectors of our community and we need to continue to band together and support each other."

Treasury said on Wednesday the economic shock of coronavirus will cause unemployment to peak at 10 per cent and some businesses to go under.

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