With all Victorians now free to travel within their own state, many Echuca operators have seen a significant uptick in business.
But Moama operators are celebrating the most, with phones ringing off the hook since the announcement of the NSW border with Victoria opening in less than two weeks.
Echuca Moama Tourism chief executive Kathryn Mackenzie said all signs in recent days had been positive.
“The reports out of our operators in the past few days have been fantastic,” she said.
“People who have been stuck in the city (Melbourne) for the recent lockdown period are looking to the river.
“But what we are especially seeing is multiple bookings from within the same family, taking the opportunity to not only have a holiday but also to reunite after not being able to see each other in some time.”
Victorian operators have had some opportunity in recent weeks to kickstart their recovery, while those in NSW have continued to suffer due to the border restrictions.
But with a date set for border restrictions to come down, NSW operators are seeing signs of their own recovery.
“Phones have barely stopped,” Ms Mackenzie said.
“I spoke to one of our operators earlier who would normally be quiet during December who is taking the most bookings they have at this time of year.
“There's still a long way to go in terms of our businesses recovering — they have been in a terrible position for a lot of this year and that's naturally had a very negative impact.
“But signs now are good, people want to come to the region now that they are allowed to again, and that will hopefully have a great long-term impact.”
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