'Starting to price ourselves out': Holiday price rise 'substantial'

Great Ocean Road Regional Tourism general manager Liz Price said data showed prices for airbnb and motels along the entire regional coast had jumped on average from $290 a night in December 2019 to $374 in 2023.

"$290 to $374 is a big increase," Ms Price said. However, she said those price didn't include caravan park data which would lower the overall cost.

"I know the cost of doing business has gone through the roof and wages have increased but it is interesting we are significantly more expensive than we were in 2019," she said.

In Warrnambool, it was slightly less but had still jumped from $220 in December 2019 to $312. In Port Fairy the jump was less from $325 to $345.

And while final data on the 2023/24 holiday period was still to be finalised, Ms Price said it was shaping up to be a quieter summer in regional areas.

"With a lot of the holiday homes, I do think we are starting to price ourselves out," she said.

"One of the big challenges regional destinations will continue to have - especially in this cost of living crisis - is how much you can do in Melbourne cheaper."

Ms Price said Melbourne was yet to fully recover from the pandemic which meant there was more room stock and lower prices.

"When you start to look at the average prices of some of our properties, I think that's what people start to add up," she said.

Ms Price said people were happy to spend a bit more post-pandemic lockdowns because they were desperate to get out and had savings. "...now you haven't got the money because of the cost of living and it's even more expensive," she said.

It was a similar story on the Mornington Peninsula, she said, where the costs were going up "drastically".

Ms Price said anecdotally tourism was down as much as 15 to 20 per cent on last year.

"Talking to cafes and restaurants, people are not spending what they normally would have spent," she said.

And the international tourism market was yet to fully recover, she said.

In Corangamite, occupancy rates were about 50 per cent in December 2023 whereas in 2022 it was more than 60 per cent. Pre-pandemic levels were about 63 per cent. "Moyne in December was down," she said.

Warrnambool, however, in December was above 2022 levels with 56 per cent occupancy but still below 2019's 60 per cent.

January data was yet to be finalised, but earlier numbers showed forward bookings for the month had Warrnambool "tracking significantly below" with just 48 per cent compared with 75 per cent in 2022.

She said it would be interesting to see if the speedway events in late January had lifted the final numbers with Warrnambool motels reporting late bookings.

Future occupancy data for January and February in Moyne was "significantly" below last year - just 44 per cent in 2024 compared to 63 per cent in 2023, Ms Price said.

She said the trend across the state was people were holidaying for less time.

"Anecdotally I'm hearing there's more buses back and that would impact the Twelve Apostles," she said.

"We have been tracking significantly behind in day trippers. It will be interesting to see if it's day trips that have picked up because what I'm hearing is we're not seeing the accommodation pick up."

Twelve Apostles Helicopters operator Richard Nesseler said the summer had been busier but they were not at pre-COVID levels yet.

He said from Christmas Eve onwards it had been better than the past three summers.

"It's not hard to surpass but it's an increase so it's all positive," Mr Nesseler said.

He said there had been a lot of international visitors, especially during the Australian Open.

"There's been lots of people from all over America, Russia, European," he said.

But the bulk of visitors across the whole summer had been people from India and South Korea. "That market has increased."