After months of separation, regional Victoria will open to metropolitan Melbourne residents, with accommodation and tourism providers expecting a big weekend.
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Halls Haven Holiday Units owners and operators Chris and Jeff Lovell said when the state government announced the news of regional Victoria's opening they were flooded with enquires.
"It is pretty exciting to have people back," Chris Lovell said.
"It has been very quiet, but we tried to get in and renovate the grounds and clean up lots of things.
"The school holidays, when regional Victoria could travel, were busy but then we had a lull.
"Bu since they have announced when Melbourne could travel the phones went crazy.
"The bookings have picked up, it is lovely to see so many people enthusiastic about coming to the Grampians."
Boost for the region
Mrs Lovell said her accommodation venue is almost booked out for the coming weekend with the added business a welcome boost.
"We have been closed for most of the time, so it has been lovely to be open and we are nearly booked out for this weekend," she said.
"It was a bit of a relief.
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"We just haven't had anyone, so it is great that we are going to have some people around to enjoy what we have here, which is very special.
"Regional Victorians booked a little bit earlier because they knew that they could come, but Melbournians didn't know until the last minute, so they have just had to take what was available.
"It is fantastic because once we have people here they will see what we have to offer.
"It is just great to have some money injected into the business rather than just having money going out.
"It is good for Stawell too to have people back in the region and it all flows.
"People come into town and they go and get groceries and everyone wins. It is win-win for everyone."
Chris and Jeff Lovell stepped into the ownership role in July and have faced a challenging set of circumstances since that time.
Ahead of the return of Melbourne travellers, Mrs Lovell said Halls Haven Holiday Units will be taking all the necessary precautions to limit the chance of any COVID spread.
Further south, Ararat Motor Inn manager Michael Patel said "business is picking up" over the weekend for his business.
"Bookings are higher than the previous weekend for sure," he said.
"We are getting bookings from metro Victoria which is good."
Mr Patel said the Motor Inn has received bookings from tourists going to the Aradale Ghost Tour, which re-opens from October 29.
"We are getting some guests from the Aradale Ghost tours this weekend.
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"That brings a lot of weekend business to Ararat, it is good to have them back."
Mr Patel said customers must comply with all of the government imposed regulations, including being double-vaxxed.
"Compliance is a big part, there are new signs everywhere," he said.
"Proof of vaccination is required, that is an extra challenge for us.
"We have just updated out COVIDSAFE plans, so it is all up to date with the latest guidelines."
Rule changes
Regional Victorians will be allowed to travel to Melbourne when the state hits the 80 per cent double vaccinated rate on Friday night and vice versa.
Premier Daniel Andrews said metropolitan and regional Victorians would be subject to the same rules from 6pm on Friday night.
As part of the changes masks will remain mandatory indoors but are no longer required outdoors.
Most indoor settings, including restaurants, pubs, gyms and hairdressers will open with no capacity limits subject to a DQ4 (one person per four square metres) limit, if all staff and patrons (excluding in general retail) are fully vaccinated.
According to the state government, where an accommodation facility includes spaces with vaccination requirements, such as swimming pools and restaurants, a customer staying at the accommodation facility who is not fully vaccinated and does not have a valid medical exemption must not access those spaces.
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