Accommodation booked out. Visitors fill region

Alex de Vos
A surge of warm weather during the first week of school holidays has lured a wave of holidaymakers to the Bellarine Peninsula, according to tourism industry operators.
Holiday parks around the peninsula were full to capacity and streets and beaches were hives of activity after the region hit record spring temperatures on Tuesday.
Ocean Grove’s Green Valley Caravan Park manager Brian Cooper said his facility was fully booked until the end of the holidays.
“We’ve had some fairly good weather, which seems to have brought a few people out,” Mr Cooper said.
“I’ve also noticed there are lots of people in the street and around the beach.”
Mr Cooper said that aside from cruising The Terrace or hitting the beach, tourists seemed mostly happy fishing off the piers, catching the ferry to Sorrento and taking kids to activity centres at nearby Wallington.
Barwon Coast Caravan Parks manager Bob Jordan said all his accommodation was also booked out.
“Certainly all our on-site accommodation is fully booked and a lot of our annual campers are down,” he said.
“There’s lots of folk around and lots of kids swimming.”
Mr Jordan welcomed the burst of warm weather earlier in the week.
“The weather has been pretty good, so people have made a decision to come down for the holidays,” he said.
Mr Jordan considered fine spring weather crucial to attracting tourist business in the September school holidays.
“With weather like this it’s not surprising we’re full,” he said.
Tourism operators on the Surf Coast reported similar trade.