Fortuna Villa owner Paul Banks said he received three inquiries from gay and lesbian couples in the first day after the Australian Bureau of Statistics revealed a majority of Australian voters were in favour of marriage equality. 

Mr Banks said it was normally brides-to-be who first made contact but that trend was already turning upside down.

“It was guys ringing and I thought, ‘What's going on here?’” Mr Banks said.

“My wife said, ‘They’d be gay guys.’” 

Read more: Civil celebrates ready to officiate same-sex weddings

The businessman was adamant the law change would be a boon for those in the wedding business, with the lucrative, so-called “pink dollar” now up for grabs.

“My theory is, anything that involves change for the better is good for business,” he said. 

“The pink dollar is so much more economical; it's so much more profitable, because they want quality.”

ANZ chief economist Cherelle Murphy also expected an economic benefit; she told Fairfax Media the first year of same-sex weddings would be worth $650 million to Australia.

The 2016 census found there were 47,000 same-sex partnerships in Australia and if half of them married, the wedding industry could see a $6.3 billion boost, Ms Murphy predicted.

Asked if he expected to face backlash from heterosexual couples who disagreed with marriage equality, Mr Banks it was a possibility that did not perturb him. 

He received some negative feedback since putting the rainbow flag on the villa’s Facebook page last month. 

“Majority rules, and if people are nasty like that, I don't actually want those people like that,” he said.

Dozens of Bendigo businesses showed their support for LGBTI people throughout the survey’s duration, hanging rainbow posters in their shop fronts. 

Be.Bendigo, the city’s business council, also released a statement in support of legalising same-sex marriage.