South-west tourism operators find no relief after first week of school holidays amid coronavirus

Parks Victoria recorded 4288 visitors to the Twelve Apostles over the past weekend after iconic tourism closed in March as coronavirus restricted public gatherings.

But Best Western Great Ocean Road Motor Inn owner Liz McKenzie said her occupancy rates remained low.

"For the school holidays, I haven't had bookings for families, but believe there's been a lot of day trippers, Monday was very busy with lots of cars in the street," she said.

"I have three bookings for Saturday, but I haven't had many forward-bookings.

"I think the shutdown of Melbourne has halted a lot of people.

"I can't predict what the trend will be but I hope we will get more last-minute bookings."

Port Fairy's Gum Tree Caravan Park owner Peter McCallum painted a similar picture at his business.

"It's not been very good and quite disappointing compared to last year," he said.

"We were hoping for a better school holidays than we're having and we haven't had a lot of forward bookings; only a few cabins booked for next week.

"There seems to be some people around but on the whole I think people are locking down. It's hard because it'd be great to have people come here but with the virus out there and looking like a second wave, we don't want to see that coming here."

As restrictions eases in time for the school holidays, Parks Victoria saw people return to camping grounds.

Over the June 26-28 weekend Johanna Beach Campground's occupancy was at 53 per cent. Low Glenelg National Park at 35 per cent and Budj Bim was nearly a quarter full.

The government agency ensured travellers were aware of coronavirus restrictions still in place.

"Visitors to parks and campgrounds need to ensure they keep a distance from others, maintain good hygiene, and stay home if unwell," a Parks Victoria spokesperson said.

"Victorians are being asked to be considered and use common sense when it comes their activities."

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