The meeting comes following a weekend that saw businesses forced to turn away people who had escaped Melbourne's lockdown for a day out.

Bendigo Tourism Board chair Finn Vedelsby said having Melbourne residents in the region during a lockdown and serious outbreak was a scary prospect.

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"It's actually quite frightening for a small business owner on a number of levels when someone comes and presents at door with a licence that has a Melbourne post code," he said.

"To the people that are doing the wrong thing and know they are doing the wrong by sneaking out of lockdown - shame on you.

"The numbers in Sydney and Melbourne are frightening for rural Victoria. Our businesses get seriously battered when lockdowns happen and staff lose valuable income that they use to live from day to day. It's the unknown that creates fear and we worry."

Mr Vedelsby said the Zoom meeting with police would also focus on trying to address situations that have seen essential workers from Melbourne who are legally living in Bendigo being ostracised from the community because of the metropolitan lockdown.

"There are two different types of (Melbourne) workers," he said. "Workers who commute (and) need to follow rules and laws of (metropolitan) lockdown and then there are a vast majority (of essential Melbourne workers) who are living and working in Bendigo - and have been since before lockdown six - who are very important members of our community.

"But they feel ostracized everywhere they go because they can't have a coffee or a wine even though they are doing the right thing.

"Bendigo hospitality members have got a zoom with Victoria Police on Monday to ask how to handle this situation and get guidance.

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"We're the piggy in the middle. We want to do right thing and keep people safe but we don't want to tar everyone with same brush. (Some of these people) came to the restaurants weeks ago and are now not allowed to."

Australian Hotels Association Victoria executive board member and Hotel Shamrock Bendigo owner Ray Sharawara hoped for an increased police presence in town rather than the introduction of the ring of steel.

"I don't think the ring of steel should be implemented and I don't think the police are for it therefore they don't have their heart and soul in it," he said.

"My personal experience with the ring of steel was it that it didn't work and those people that wanted to get around it, got around it.

"I don't think it will work and I believe businesses would prefer to have a greater police presence out on the road and patrolling the roads.

"I have seen that on the road and I believe that is more effective than the ring of steel."

Mr Sharawara said his staff would continue to check patrons identification and ensure everybody was doing the right thing.

"I don't want people breaking the rules and coming to Bendigo but I think that we have our systems well set up and we have been doing this for years in the past in terms of checking IDs," he said.

"No one has attempted to come in from Melbourne at our venue but obviously in some venues that might be different.

"We will continue to be vigilant and do our job the best we can at our end."

Mr Vedelsby said the situation with essential workers was a result of Bendigo growing and becoming an attractive city to live and work in.

"What makes it more difficult for business owners and is unfair to Bendigo residents is the fact that we are a big city now," he said. "People work and live in Bendigo with postcodes from all around Australia and the world.

"To run a top line medical facility and training centre like Bendigo Health is, there are medical professionals and students who have chosen to call Bendigo home - albeit for short time. They follow all the rules and are still tarred with the same brush because they are living in Bendigo hotels.

"How are we supposed to know who's who when they present at the door? There's been confusion from many Bendigo hospitality and tourism venues because... when you drill down, trying to do right thing by reading regulations, it's ambiguous, difficult to understand and can create fear through ignorance.

"It's a blanket rule and there is no easy way to prove these people are doing the right thing versus people who are doing the wrong thing."

Over the weekend, Mr Vedelsby heard that one hospitality business had turned away more than 50 people with Melbourne post codes on their identification.

"That prompted my business to call every reservation we had to advise them that we would be checking IDs and proof of residency," he said. "In those phone calls, I lost 20 per cent of the weekend's reservations."

Mr Vedelsby said hospitality staff were also not trained to enforce laws relating to COVID restrictions.

"That sort of training has never been provided to frontline, every day waiters or cafe workers," he said. "It makes (staff) uncomfortable and it's an extra job that is outside their purview.

"It's confronting and it's a negative way to start what should be a welcoming experience. It puts real dampener on someone's day."

Moving forward, Mr Vedelsby said that businesses could really only hope that Melbourne residents would live by the lockdown imposed on them to help keep regional communities safe.

"The calendar of events moving forward for Bendigo and the regions is chock-a-block with exciting things to do and is putting Bendigo on the forefront of people's mind who are travelling from all around regional Victoria," he said.

"It is exciting to see new faces from far and wide. Let's do our best to make everybody welcome and just hope that it is a very minimal, lowest common denominator who is breaking rules and putting everyone's health and livelihood at risk."

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Victoria Police have said extra personnel had been deployed to keep regional Victoria COVID-free.

"Victoria Police have deployed 200 police officers to the metropolitan Melbourne, regional fringe areas to enforce Chief Health Officer directions," a spokesperson said.

"Our focus is to ensure people from Melbourne do not travel to regional Victoria unless they have an exemption to do so."

They said police were determined to look out for local businesses in the community,

"Police support all local businesses and have divisional vans and police on patrol engaging with people in all regional areas and intercepting vehicles in local communities," they said.

"They are the eyes and ears of the town and if they see what looks like an influx of tourists, you can expect to be asked why you are there and not at home.

"Police have responded to a number of Melburnians breaching public health orders in regional areas.

"If anyone is caught in regional Victoria without an exemption, a fine of $5452 will be issued."

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