Many had feared a slow weekend of trading due to the Melbourne lockout, but businesses on the Echuca side of the river say they have seen strong visitor numbers on the back of regional visitors.
Echuca Moama Tourism chief executive Kathryn Mackenzie said the outcomes of the weekend were stronger than many had expected.
“The visitor centre spoke to a lot of people from Bendigo, Geelong and Ballarat,” she said.
“The changes on Thursday allowing people from the regions into the town was good news, we had a strong turnout and a number of our operators really needed that to happen.
“It naturally wasn't as strong as it's been in past years, but overall it was good news for the towns.”
1895 The Royal owner Barry Saunders said regional visitors had boosted the business over the weekend.
“We actually had a really strong weekend,” he said.
“Initially we were pretty worried about Melbourne being locked out; typically when you have discussions with people over periods like the long weekend they tell you they're from Melbourne.
“But the people we saw come through this weekend were from other parts of regional Victoria, and there were definitely a lot of them throughout town.
“It was really good for a lot of businesses.”
But Moama has felt little love from the regions, with operators believing the decision to scrap stay-at-home orders came too late.
Murray River Resorts owner Steve Shipp said his business had lost 90 per cent of its bookings as a result.
"We didn't get any boost off the changes,” he said.
"It was the same for the cafés and the pubs, everyone in town. The decision to change the restrictions came too late.
"By Wednesday a lot of our bookings from regional Victoria had rung us and cancelled. They made a decision to go somewhere they knew they could go, not somewhere they might.
"It was too much in the end and a lot of businesses really hurt as a result."
And Ms Mackenzie said the news had come too late for many.
"We would have loved the announcement to have come earlier,” she said.
"By Thursday a lot of people had made the decision to change plans and that hurt us. While we were able to make some ground, if the announcement came earlier we may have seen even stronger numbers."
***
MORE LOCAL NEWS
Walsh calls for COVID-19 certainty for regional events
Moama Police Station a step closer to new site
Murray River Council ‘fed up’ with lack of support for NSW border communities
12°C