Rising cost of living a challenge for south-west tourism industry

This could be attributed, in part, to the rising cost of living, she said.

"Travel is considered a discretionary spend and the rising cost of living places increased pressure on the household budget and reduces discretionary spending," Ms Price said.

She said consumer confidence across the world had declined and this was expected to have an impact on global travel.

"We are not hearing of cancellations due to the rising cost of living but we are seeing forward occupancy tracking behind last year and we are seeing more last minute or late bookings," Ms Price said.

"Some operators have also reported that despite volume of visitors being similar to previous years, a decline in transaction spend is occurring."

Ms Price said the industry had been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic.

"The industry has experienced constant change through COVID and COVID recovery and this places increased pressure on businesses to continue to evolve their business models and manage a changing cost base," she said.

"The uncertainty the changing economic environment creates impacts business confidence and we have seen more businesses reducing operating hours, their product and service offering and/or the business owners working more ours themselves."

Ms Price's comments come as it was revealed four in five Australian holidaymakers were reconsidering their travel plans due to the rising cost of living.

Research conducted by YouGov found while 87 per cent of Australians planned to travel at some point this year, 83 per cent said they would need to rein in spending.

The rising cost of living and spiralling inflation has led to 48 per cent of people being less likely to travel overseas in the next 12 months, while 37 per cent are less likely to go interstate.

For those still travelling, almost half would book cheaper accommodation, while 36 per cent would take a shorter trip and one in 10 wouldn't take out travel insurance.

The poll of more than 1000 people was commissioned by Southern Cross Travel Insurance, whose chief executive Jo McCauley said while COVID-19 disrupted travel in previous years, household budgets were now the dominant factor.

"It's unsurprising, following the lockdowns, that Australians still have a huge appetite to get out there and see the world," she said.

"But the rising cost of living is impacting Australians across all areas and travel is no exception, so it's understandable Australians will be looking for ways to cut costs while still trying to make those trips happen."

Ms Price said the number of international visitors travelling to the Great Ocean Road had not yet reached pre-COVID levels.

"We have seen some return of internationals from key markets like Malaysia, Singapore and India but we are still tracking significantly behind pre-COVID visitation," she said.

"The cost of travel has increased and we have not yet recovered to pre-COVID flight capacity."

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