South-west tourism operators hope Allansford Grand Annual Speedway Classic gets green light

Despite some coronavirus pandemic restrictions easing, the industry is on its knees and is relying on regional tourists to kickstart the recovery.

There is a cloud hanging over one of the region's biggest events, with organisers unsure if January's Grand Annual Sprintcar Classic will run in its usual format.

The iconic Port Fairy Folk Festival in March has already been cancelled.

Warrnambool Holiday Park and Motel owner Steve Moore said losing the speedway event would be a devastating blow.

"The majority of people I get here are dedicated speedway people," he said.

"I get teams from Queensland, spectators from Tasmania and campers from as far away as Murray Bridge.

Warrnambool Best Western Olde Maritime Motel Raj Patel agreed the cancellation of the speedway event would hurt a lot of sectors in the city.

"We saw how much the May Races cancellation hurt the town and it would be like that," he said.

"If they do cancel, at least people are still travelling throughout that long weekend.

"We might not have people staying for three or four nights, it would be more over-nighters or two nights."

The Port Fairy Folk Festival committee made the tough decision in August to cancel their international events.

While it was a devastating blow to the township, Port Fairy's Gum Tree Caravan Park owner Peter McCallum is staying positive.

"The Folk Festival for us is the same as May Races for Warrnambool," he said. "The town gets a boost of 30,000 people for a weekend.

"It's a long weekend and we're hoping people will still be travelling.

"It's hard to start implementing plans for what might happen instead of the festival as we're still so unsure of restrictions but we'll wait and see how we're tracking.

"I've got to be positive after the last few months."

Mr Patel said 12 of his 43 rooms were currently occupied, which was an increase from the one or two rooms which had been booked throughout the pandemic.

"There's been about a 20 per cent increase, which is because 80 per cent of our travellers are from Melbourne," he said.

"It's better than nothing, we have to start somewhere.

"It's been so good to see people and good to chat. Everyone is just so happy and the kids have been so happy to get out of homeschooling and their routines for the past six months."

In the south-west, grey nomads, road trippers and campers make up a large portion of the travellers attracted to the region all year round.

The State of Industry 2020 Report from the Caravan Industry Association of Australia revealed caravanning and camping injected $2.3 billion into the Victorian economy annually across the tourism, retail and manufacturing sectors.

Great Ocean Road Regional Tourism general manager Liz Price said campers and caravanners were integral to the south-west tourism sector.

"Staying in a caravan park or commercial camping ground traditionally represents about 20 per cent of all visitor nights along the Great Ocean Road, second only to visitors staying with friends or relatives," she said.

"We have seen some positive signs around the return of this market but it is school holidays and too early to see if this is comparative to the same time last year and whether or not it rises outside of school holidays."

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The Grampians Tourism chief executive Marc Sleeman said the south-west appealed to adventure and relaxation travellers with a mix of activities and scenery to entertain a wide variety of people.

"There's been a flurry on the road right up to the silo art trail, the first signs are great," he said.

"Our operators told us there have been positive signs. At the Halls Gap Lakeside Tourist Park there was 1000 bookings in the first day of the easing of restrictions and it's now running at full occupancy.

"The phased approached of the (state government's) roadmap (to recovery) means people are looking to other locations in their region for holidays. We're getting travellers from Warrnambool and Ballarat who never traditionally come here. Post COVID I think we will connect to a whole new market."

As restrictions ease, regional Victorians have taken the opportunity to travel around the state. For some operators, particularly those along the Great Ocean Road, the nation's bushfire crisis diverted the international market as far back as December 2019. The sector took another hit when the pandemic began in March and tourism businesses have been at a standstill since.

"We have lost all significant visitation periods this year with the first impacts of COVID felt in late January and many business also received cancellations from interstate and international guests due to the bushfires," Ms Price said.

Tourism operators believe an incentive is needed to entice visitors to the area.

Mr Patel suggested giving vouchers to local restaurants or for fuel could tempt people to stay.

"We need people to travel to country areas," he said.

"We can give away fuel vouchers or if people book through our websites we can give a voucher.

"We need a campaign to get people to Warrnambool."

The Tasmanian Government introduced the Make yourself at home travel voucher in August to encourage residents to travel outside of their municipality and explore tourism businesses.

Mr McCallum supports the incentive and would like to see a similar option available for Victorians.

"I think in all regional areas it would be a real game changer," he said.

"If you're putting money in people's pockets that they have to spend on a holiday in a regulated industry, that money goes straight back to our cleaners and receptionists. Once restrictions lift the voucher would drive the economy forward."

The Tasmanian voucher provides up to $100 towards the cost of a room in commercial accommodation, or up to $50 per booking to participate in a tourism experience and is expected to support up to 25,000 bed nights or 50,000 tourism experiences each month until November.

Mr Moore said the voucher system was a win-win for the state government and operators.

"It may help people hit the road and travel as a lot of people out there haven't been at work and can't afford a holiday," he said.

"We will have to get cleaners in, people will have to buy fuel and when people travel they'll spend the money in eateries and on shopping. It will all go back to the government, they're not going to lose.

"We've got to get people here, get bums in beds and get people out spending."

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