Bendigo, the Murray River, the Silo Art Trail, Daylesford and the Macedon Ranges are among the destinations Victorian tourism minister Martin Pakula intends to advocate for as he calls on the federal government to do more to promote tourism in the state.

Mr Pakula said he would be writing to federal tourism minister Dan Tehan to seek to have more destinations included in the government's $1.2 billion tourism and aviation package, announced on Tuesday.

Asked whether Bendigo would make the list, Mr Pakula said, "Yes."

He named Melbourne Airport, Mildura and Albury in his five-part Twitter thread, which opened with how "profoundly disappointed" Victoria was with the Commonwealth's half price flight initiative.

"Avalon flights are welcome and will be great for those wanting to travel to the Bellarine, the Great Ocean Road and beyond," Mr Pakula tweeted.

"But for those wanting to travel to the mighty Murray, Melbourne's CBD, Gippsland, Macedon- Daylesford, Gippsland, the Silo Art Trail or many other places, this initiative offers nothing.

"Instead, it treats Melbourne, Sydney and Adelaide as merely source markets for Queensland."

Mr Pakula said there seemed to be a misunderstanding within "the Canberra bubble" about how Victorian tourism worked, and "a failure to understand that capital cities have felt the absence of international visitors every bit as much as the Gold Coast, the Sunshine Coast and the Whitsundays."

"Brendan McClements - the CEO of Visit Victoria - has already contacted his counterparts - and I'll be writing to Minister Tehan tomorrow to seek to have other destinations, including Melbourne Airport, Mildura and Albury included in this initiative," the Twitter thread said.

"We want to get Aussie visitors to our ski fields, our wineries, our hotels, our restaurants and laneway bars, our rugged coastline and our incredible regional culinary and cultural offerings. But this inequitable package from the Commonwealth doesn't do it, and it needs to change."

He suggested Victoria had been treated unfairly, noting the extent of support for Tasmanian airports.

"Launceston to Devonport by car - one hour ten minutes. Devonport to Burnie by car - 35 minutes. Yet all three airports are included in the Commonwealth's inequitable half price flight initiative. Even then, no issue with it as long as other states are treated the same way," a later tweet said.

Update, 4pm

Acting Premier James Merlino says Victoria has received a raw deal as part of the federal government's scheme to slash airfares to regional tourism destinations, AAP reports.

The $1.2 billion tourism and aviation package, unveiled by the Morrison government on Thursday, will halve the cost of about 800,000 return flights to 13 destinations across Australia.

Passengers will be eligible to receive a 50 per cent discount from April 1 to July 31, covering the upcoming Easter and winter holidays.

Avalon airport, the gateway to the Great Ocean Road and Bellarine Peninsula, was the only Victorian location to make the cut.

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Mr Merlino told reporters the state-by-state breakdown was not fair, joining Queensland and Western Australia in panning the scheme.

"The numbers speak for themselves," said the acting premier, standing in for Daniel Andrews as he recovers in hospital with spinal and rib injuries.

"Five in Queensland, three in Tassie, two in the Northern Territory, just one in Victoria."

He said there was nothing for interstate travellers who want to visit Melbourne, Gippsland, the Ballarat goldfields, Yarra Valley, Mornington Peninsula, Murray or high country regions.

"It's like they're looking at the Melbourne and Sydney markets and using them as the source for markets across the rest of the country," Mr Merlino said.

"It is not fair and we are disappointed."

The Victoria Tourism Industry Council said the "halfway" package disadvantages destinations that missed out, particularly Melbourne.

"This will cannibalise our tourism opportunities here in Victoria," VTIC chief executive Felicia Mariani said in a statement.

"This package also fails to address the key issue of consumer confidence. People are reluctant to travel and risk being at the other side of a snap border closure.

"We need to address the issue of snap border closures once and for all if we are to have any hope of encouraging Australians to confidently travel interstate."

The Victorian government plans to push for Melbourne to be added to the destination list, incentivising travel to more parts of the state.

"I do understand that there was a meeting of tourism ministers yesterday, and the federal tourism minister (Simon Birmingham) indicated to state and territory ministers that he's prepared to look at changes," Mr Merlino said.

"That is exactly what we will be putting to the federal government. This is not a fair outcome at this stage."

The new federal scheme comes as state Tourism Minister Martin Pakula announced 40,000 travel vouchers for Victorians to visit and stay in Melbourne would be up for grabs online from 10am on Friday.

Earlier

Australians will be able to book half-price flights to popular domestic tourism hotspots whose trade was decimated by the COVID-19 pandemic under a rescue package to be announced by the government on Thursday.

The 800,000 flights - to popular Queensland destinations, Alice Springs, north-west Tasmania and other locations largely dependent on air travel - are part of a push by the federal government for state leaders to avoid snap lockdowns and border closures and give people confidence to book holidays.

The travel sector has been crying out for assistance as the end of the JobKeeper wage subsidy program looms, with snap state border closures and lockdowns stifling the domestic tourism sector, even with international travel off the table.

Worth $1.2 billion, the package will also include a loan scheme for small businesses, financial support for international airlines to stay "flight-ready," and support for airport ground handlers to retain accreditation.

The discounted flights will be available between April 1 and July 31, including term one school holidays around the country, with the 50 per cent discount to be on flights both to and from the destinations. Australians won't have to register with the government but just book the flights through the airlines themselves, starting April 1.

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It's hoped the program will increase demand on the routes, increasing the number of flights running to the destinations.

Regional towns like Merimbula in NSW and Devonport, Launceston and Burnie in Tasmania are on the initial list of approved destinations for half-price flights.

Six of the initial 13 locations are in Queensland, including the Gold Coast, Cairns, the Whitsundays, Prosperine, Hamilton Island and the Sunshine Coast.

Remote locations Broome in Western Australia, Alice Springs and Lasseter region in the Northern Territory are also on the holiday list.

Avalon airport in Melbourne and Kangaroo Island in South Australia are also included.

With international tourism at a standstill with no prospect of returning this year, tourism operators, travel agents and the aviation sector have hoped domestic tourism would keep their businesses ticking along.

Despite positive signs, overnight trips were down by 26 per cent in November, according to Tourism Research Australia, and operators say snap border closures are to blame.

Earlier this week Prime Minister Scott Morrison said 2021 required a different response to COVID-19 than in 2020, saying that as the vaccine rollout continues it will be harder for state leaders to justify lockdowns and border closures triggered by sometimes just a single case of the virus.

"It's important that all premiers, chief ministers, prime ministers make decisions that are very commensurate with the new risk framework that we are facing this year, which is different to last year," he said.

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Small and medium businesses still relying on JobKeeper up until the program ends in March will be eligible for loans worth up to $5 million under the support package to be announced on Thursday, with loan periods up to 10 years, and no repayments for the first 24 months. Businesses will be able to use these loans to refinance existing debts.

The program is an extension of the existing loan scheme for small and medium businesses, and the government expects more than 350,000 current JobKeeper recipients are eligible for the loans.

Mr Morrison labelled the program "our ticket to recovery", with money spent in domestic tourism to support jobs and investment in the tourism and aviation sectors.

"Our tourism businesses don't want to rely on government support forever," Mr Morrison said.

"They want their tourists back. This package, combined with our vaccine rollout which is gathering pace, is part of our National Economic Recovery Plan, and the bridge that will help get them back to normal trading."

International carriers Qantas and Virgin can expect further financial support from the government running until October 31, when the government says international flights are expected to resume.

A dollar figure has not been attached to the program, which will keep 8600 international aviation employees in work, and planes in flight-ready condition.

Under the support, the government will pay for the airlines to maintain their international capability based on pre-COVID-19 levels.

Other programs are also set to be extended, including support for domestic and regional air routes, waiving aviation security charges and Airservices Australia charges at domestic airports, the business events grants program and the zoos and aquarium program.

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