Kyabram’s Western Gums Tourist Park has turned the tables on Campaspe’s tourism headquarters, Echuca-Moama, by attracting a steady flow of visitors to the eastern part of the shire during holidays and long weekends.
Tammie and Craig Elliott, who took over the park more than a year ago, said plenty of Campaspe residents had been making the trip to Kyabram — even with overseas travel now on the cards for many.
Campaspe campers are regulars at the Kyabram tourism park during long weekends, the park booked out for the Queen’s Birthday long weekend earlier this year.
“We’ve had a lot of people come from Echuca for a little getaway, as it’s a short drive,” Mr Elliott said.
“Plenty of people who used to live in the area have also come back to visit.”
Mrs Elliot said many people thought caravanning was just a fad while they could not travel overseas.
“People can now travel overseas and yet we are still pretty busy — I hope that continues,” she said.
Among their guests, Mr Elliott said plenty of caravan clubs had come to town, as well as families.
“I wasn’t expecting it to be so busy after summer, which is usually quiet — as it’s colder,” he said.
The Elliotts said they still had plenty of bookings entering winter, making up for their unsuccessful first year of ownership.
At the same time last year, the couple was forced to cancel 30 caravan bookings when another COVID-19 lockdown was announced.
“It was a learning curve,” Mrs Elliott said.
“It’s good to see after two years of people not being able to see each other that they are out travelling and enjoying each other’s company again.”
They used this time to do maintenance and gardening around the park, as well as become familiar with the park and the area.
“It gave us time to learn the job,” Mr Elliott said.
“That lockdown we would’ve been really busy and not ready or settled for it.”
The Elliotts said they were thankful for the welcoming Kyabram community as they had settled into their new home.