Great Ocean Road tourism numbers drop from coronavirus, Port Campbell businesses worst hit

Port Campbell businesses reliant on busloads of international tourists visiting the bucket-list locations like the Twelve Apostles say the town is quieter than normal since the virus broke out in China.

Loch Ard Motor Inn owner Troy Tutungi said the real impact wouldn't be felt for some time.

"The Chinese market is huge for us and it's all but stopped now," he said.

"We've had about 20 cancellations but that number doesn't account for the overseas people who would have booked with us in the future.

"It's the flow-on effect too, I can't give my staff the hours they are used to having and it rolls through the community. There are less fishermen going out because exporting has slowed.

"There's nothing we can do but roll with the punches."

Owner of 12 Rocks Beach Bar Cafe Mick Hunt said his business did not cater for busloads of tourists but he'd noticed the town's quieter.

"This week I started to notice the numbers but I'm sure other businesses up the street may have earlier and are doing it harder," he said.

"We're back about 20 per cent in our numbers this week.

"The town has definitely been quieter in the last couple of weeks."

The decrease in tourists comes a few weeks after Parks Victoria reported the Twelve Apostles recorded its largest number of visitors for a single month.

An estimated 260,000 people in December travelled to the iconic landmark, including more than 40,000 cars, 6000 coaster buses and 500 coaches.

December 29, a Sunday, was the busiest day of the month, with more than 15,000 people there.

Parks Victoria has recorded the number of people entering the Twelve Apostles' car park since it installed a traffic counter in 2015.

In December 2016, 209,000 visited, December 2017 saw 217,000, and December 2018 had 243,000.

Acting area chief ranger of Parks Victoria Darren Shiell said the figures were not yet available for January but they had observed a downturn in tourist numbers.

"Anecdotally, compared to previous years we saw significantly fewer visitors to the Twelve Apostles over the Chinese New Year period," he said.

"As a result, we began to scale-back our traffic management operation in the week following the Australia Day long weekend.

"I encourage people to get out and visit the state's parks and reserves, and help to support Victoria's regions."

Warrnambool Tours has been operating for just over 12 months and owner Fiona van Kempen said coronavirus had impacted her business.

"It is a lot quieter but we still have our visitors from Melbourne," she said.

"When I took a tour out to the Apostles on Saturday as far as international tourists go there was a lot less.

"I haven't seen the Asian tour companies coming to the area for a while.

"We are still getting inquiries and bookings for the future so time will tell what the real effect is."

Great Ocean Road Regional Tourism (GORRT) is actively working in partnership with Visit Victoria and Tourism Australia to encourage people to the Great Ocean Road region. They have embarked on campaigns to drive Australians to holiday at home to support the impacts from bushfires and now coronavirus.

GORRT general manager Liz Price said the new Get On Board package would help businesses struggling because of fewer tourists to raise their online profile.

"It is important for businesses to build their digital footprint and getting coverage on the official tourism websites through the package will provide another vehicle to help drive direct business," she said.

"From a region's perspective, the more operators involved the stronger our product offering looks the more competitive we are to attracting visitors and encouraging them to stay longer.

"Non-business people can help by visiting local businesses and encouraging friends and relatives to visit as well. With the decline in visitation first from bushfires and now coronavirus, businesses are looking to increase visitation from Melbourne, regional Victoria and key interstate markets."

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