“People are worried about planning a holiday and then having it ripped out from beneath them,” the owner of the Julia-Anna Inn said.
Tourism Transport Forum chief executive Margy Osmond said consumers were booking their holidays at the very last minute in the hope of avoiding border closures. She had also noticed a resurgence in the road trip which has, she said, been a “big holiday trend”.
Victorians enjoying the sites and tourist towns of their own state after months of tough lockdown restrictions.
Credit:Justin McManus
Tourism in capital cities across Australia was hit harder by the pandemic than regional areas, with overnight trips falling by 52 per cent, according to Tourism Research Australia.
While some operators have struggled to attract as many interstate visitors as they would have liked, Melburnians have flocked to regional destinations.