By Tyler Wright
Local accommodation businesses are bracing for a busy period coming into the Easter Holidays.
Reopening after Victoria’s lockdown ended in October last year, business at Joe and Julie Azzopardi’s Bed & Breakfast has increased significantly – a warm welcome after the unpredictability of the last two years.
“We’re now getting weekday bookings that we rarely had in the past as well as the weekends,” Mr Azzopardi said.
With trees falling down around the property in last year’s June storms, and false starts with re-openings of accommodation, the income generated from visitors is helping renovate the Azzopardi’s Bed & Breakfast garden to attract stayers.
“We had some visitors here from from South Australia over the weekend, so there have been interstate visitors as well, from Queensland and South Australia. But in the main, it’s been from Melbourne metropolitan and the local government areas around us,” he said of the visitors they host at their lodge.
With the inability to travel interstate and overseas during the pandemic, Mr Azzopardi said Victorians are realising the Yarra Valley is on their doorstep and are planning much further ahead for their trips.
“We’d get booked, generally, two to three weeks in advance,” he said.
“But now we’re finding we’re being booked months in advance.”
Some local accommodation also falls within the area for visitors to redeem their travel vouchers from the recent Victorian Government ‘Victorian Travel Voucher Scheme.’
The scheme provides successful applicants with a $200 reimbursement when they spend more than $400 on accommodation, attraction and experiences.
The allocation is already exhausted, fulfilling some Victorian’s needs to getaway.
But restaurants and cafes in the area will close over Easter and Anzac Day for the public holidays, meaning preparation is essential for visitors.
“When people ask us for restaurant recommendations in the area, we’re happy to make those recommendations, but we always suggest to book in advance,” Mr Azzopardi said.
“Don’t wait until you get here and decide to book, because you may very well miss out.”
The amount of guests at Mountain Lodge Accommodation has also made the Azzopardis busy.
“I do a homemade bread board and then afternoon teas,” Julie Azzopardi said.
“Joe and I do all the cleaning, dry cleaning, take it to the laundromat.”
As a small, two-suite accommodation mostly suited to couples, they have been pleased to build relationships with return guests.
“We try and make that occasion special for them,” she said.
