The region's accommodation providers have seen bookings cancelled due Melbourne's six-week lockdown.
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They hope the locking down of Greater Melbourne and the Mitchell shire can contain the second-wave of coronavirus and signal a return of people being able to travel.
Lake Eppalock Holiday park owner Peter Rose said 90 to 95 per cent of his bookings came from Melbourne.
"We had a lot of cancellations overall, (the lockdown) has a big effect," he said. "It was the same as the first lockdown over the whole of Victoria. We lost 100 per cent of tourist trade at the busy time of March, April, Easter and Anzac Day. "But the number one thing is to get on top of (the cases). We don't want end up like America."
Mr Rose said booking had trended up with the lack of sports being able to be played in the state.
"There was definitely a lot more people looking to get out than normal through the winter," he said. "A lot of sports haven't been on so families are looking to get out and about."
Bendigo Motels Association president Charlie Loftus said the sector was optimistic before the second wave of COVID-19 cases hit.
"The state border closure and lockdown put a stop to visitors in Bendigo," he said, "We only get the odd essential worker and tradesman.
"We were on the verge of it all starting to come good again, I know the hospitality industry was quite buoyant about limits going from 20 to 50 people but the whole thing went west. Realistically, we have to wait and see what happens in next couple weeks. The only light I can see is getting the Melbourne situation (controlled)."
Mr Rose said he was optimistic about the future.
"We want to make a lot of improvements to the park but (the pandemic) puts a bit of fear into not wanting to borrow too much because we don't know how long it will go for," he said.
"There's always light at the end of tunnel. I believe that with no overseas travel, people will start going caravan and camping more. We'll be right once we get through, it's just a matter how long it goes on for. (Hopefully) people do right thing and get us down to zero."