The council has made an early call to postpone caravan park bookings until 2021 due to the uncertainty around the coronavirus pandemic.

The city's Surfside and Shipwreck Bay holiday parks typically yield around 3500 campers each summer, including many Warrnambool residents.

Keen patrons booked in for sites and cabins this summer have been told by the council bookings and deposits have been transferred to the equivalent dates in 2021 to 2022 and full refunds are also available.

The council has said if the state government allows camping, they will likely offer sites through a ballot system.

Warrnambool resident James Dwyer's family has been camping at Surfside for more than 40 years.

He thinks the council should look after locals first.

"I think they should look after people in Warrnambool because we don't know about this virus, they can't be bringing in people from anywhere else - it's dangerous," he said.

"The priority should be given to locals to look after their own area, say if every area around Victoria can all camp in their own caravan parks, then next year can go back to how it used to be.

"Keep everyone to one area this summer, it's silly to be bringing people in from outside."

He said he was "disappointed" long-time campers were not being considered.

"It's really unfair on the people who have been going there for five years or more, they've been dedicated to going down there they definitely shouldn't miss out," he said.

"I remember when I was eight or nine years old mum would sunbake and dad would have the esky out with beers around the tent while us kids would play at the beach.

"They're great memories and it's been a hard year, people have missed out on overseas trips and the footy, they've lost all that so it would be good just to go camping at the end of the year."

Laang resident Lisette Mill was looking forward to spending her fourth consecutive summer at Surfside Caravan Park, but was still optimistic.

"We can still go to the beach that won't change, we just can't camp at the camping ground and be right there," she said.

"It's not that far and it's not like we're locked out of the beaches, the point is that we've all got to try to do what we can to keep the community safe.

"Council has taken that step and made the call now so people have time to adjust.

"We can all get over it for a year, it's not like it's a death sentence."

She said her family planned to still make day trips to the beach, kayak at the Hopkins River and go fishing off the Breakwater as per their summer tradition.

"The summer just gone our two grandchildren came over from New Zealand and we took them camping in Warrnambool and they absolutely adored it," Ms Mills said.

"They wanted to come back again this summer and hang out with their grandparents but sadly that can't happen.

"But the beach will still be here another year, you've got to find some optimism, we've just got to do what we have to do.

"I feel so grateful to be working and living in regional Victoria, I can't imagine what it's been like for people in Melbourne under stage four.

"I can still go out and see beautiful things."

Ms Mills said they'd "fake" their summer camping experience by setting up their tent on their property.

"I love camping, there's something about it that's really part of summer.

"Memories are made of this and this year there's going to be a change to that for a lot of people.

"We just have to adjust so all the things we like can still happen down the track."

Warrnambool mayor Tony Herbert said council had received many inquiries about the upcoming summer period.

"We're announcing this advice now now to give people a heads-up that it is extremely likely to be a different kind of summer at Surfside over 2020-2021," he said.

"We need to anticipate that we will probably be operating under pandemic restrictions that will mean we won't be able to accommodate the usual number of campers.

"It's only fair that we flag this with people now, so that it provides an opportunity for people to make other arrangements if they wish to.

"It's a difficult call to make. Depending on the restrictions, for some families this may mean a break from a long-standing summer tradition of staying at Surfside.

"But it's important to note that we're optimistic that we'll be open at some level this summer.

"We're waiting on advice from the Victorian government and if we can offer campsites safely, we will.

"Whatever restrictions might be in place our priority will be to implement the best measures to safely protect our visitors and staff.

"We will try to accommodate the groups and individuals who have already made bookings and we'll consider options for a fair allocation of sites.

"It may be that by summer we are in a position to open as per normal - but it's important that we are prepared for a different kind of summer and to keep people informed about the choices available.

"We'd like to thank the campers - they've been very understanding."

Tourism is a significant economic generator for Warrnambool, with visitors estimated to inject about $350 million annually into the local economy.

During a normal summer period in Warrnambool, tourism usually supports an estimated 1306 jobs, which is 7.8 per cent of total employment. The largest sub-sector in Warrnambool is accommodation and food services with 719 jobs usually supported by tourists' expenditure.

Domestic day visitors to Warrnambool are estimated to spend an average of $138 per trip.

For those domestic visitors who stay overnight, the average spend per night is estimated at $371, and for international visitors it is $548.

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