ORGANISERS of Bendigo's Easter festivities are positive about this year's program, days out from the first events.
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"Eggs-plore Bendigo at Easter" kicks off with the opening of the Rotary Easter Art Show on Thursday night, with the majority of the events planned for the following four days.
The City of Greater Bendigo was exploring opportunities to safely increase the capacity of some of the planned events, given some of the relevant COVID-19 restrictions had relaxed since the program was developed.
Bendigo tourism and major events manager Terry Karamaloudis said bookings for family-based activities had been strong, with waiting lists for some events.
"We're very pleased with the numbers at this stage," Mr Karamaloudis said.
There was "solid demand" for the family-based accommodation bookable through the Bendigo Visitor Information Centre heading into the weekend.
However, Mr Karamaloudis said the sector was still finding people were leaving it late to book - a trend that had emerged as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Bookings with the providers associated with the Bendigo Motel Association were picking up about a week out from the start of the Easter program.
Accommodation providers would have been booked out by the same time pre-COVID, motel association president Kristyn Slattery said.
She was among a number of sectors leaders who encouraged the region's residents to get behind this year's Easter program.
"Easter's not cancelled, it's just looking like a very different format this year," Ms Slattery said.
Bendigo Tourism's Finn Vedelsby said there were still going to be thousands of people visiting Bendigo, accommodation was still going to fill, and there would still be things for people to do, including free tickets to events.
"So get amongst it," Mr Vedelsby said.
Mr Karamaloudis said the city's hospitality sector had a strong appetite to continue operating during the Easter break.
"We are very confident there will be a good, strong showing of local hospitality open across the Easter break," he said.
"If we had even 50 per cent of Bendigo people pop along across the four days, supporting activities and businesses, it would make a huge difference to our local economy," Mr Karamaloudis said.
He was pleased with interest from beyond the Bendigo region and hoped the local community would embrace the revised Easter format.
For more information, visit bendigoregion.com.au/explore-bendigo/eggs-plore-bendigo-at-easter
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