Cape Otway Light Station manager Matt Bowker said the state government was unwilling to offer it a lease of more than 12 months.

He said that meant he was unlikely to be able to weather the storm in the aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic.

Mr Bowker said interstate and international visitors made up 70 per cent of the attraction's trade.

He employees 26 staff members but said it was unlikely he would be able to retain them when JobKeeper ceased in March.

"Unfortunately with the expected downturn in visitation numbers, the Cape Otway Light Station is unlikely to be viable for some time, as a significant number of visitors are international and interstate travellers," Mr Bowker said.

"The 26 permanent staff have been told of the situation and are obviously very distressed by the news. After 24 years of maintaining, improving and providing fantastic visitor experiences we regret that we are being forced into this shutdown."

Mr Bowker said if he was able to negotiate a longer lease, he would be able to borrow funds to keep the business operational until trade returned to normal.

The only other hope he has of keeping it open is if the JobKeeper program is extended.

Mr Bowker's lease finishes in 2022 and he has been unsuccessful in securing a longer lease than 12 months.

"The government has made it clear it will be content to allow the highly popular visitor site to mothball, rather than allow the highly successful business employing up to 40 people in peak times to continue with a viable lease," he said.

"The closure of the Cape Otway Light Station will leave a huge hole in the visitor experience along the Great Ocean Road.

"A lease will cost taxpayers nothing, but will provide jobs and opportunities for our hard hit region along the Great Ocean Road.

"Many businesses and people rely on the visitors to the light station for their income, it won't only be our business that will suffer."

Member for Polwarth Richard Riordan said a number of tourism operators along the Great Ocean Road had found themselves in contractual disputes with the state government.

He said long-term operators had been abandoned and the state government refused to give a reason why they would not renew leases that would allow the businesses to continue with certainty.

"The tourism businesses on crown leases need security of tenure if they are to come out of the COVID pandemic with any sort of confidence," Mr Riordan said.

"No business can seek finance and make the investments they need to on short-term leases.

"The state government should know this, it is basic business practice

"The tourism industry recovery will be long and hard, having important businesses left abandoned along our coast will cost jobs and risk jeopardising the region's reputation."

A government spokesman said businesses were being offered a range of support options to help them through the coronavirus pandemic.

"We know that coronavirus has created major challenges for regional tourism operators and we are providing support to give businesses like Cape Otway Light Station the chance to get through to the other side of the pandemic," he said.

"This includes business grants in addition to rent relief provided through Parks Victoria, which continues to work with the business on options for managing the site."

Listen to the latest episode of our weekly episode The Booletin and Beyond:

Have you signed up to The Standard's daily newsletter and breaking news emails? You can register below and make sure you are up to date with everything that's happening in the south-west.