Grampians popular, but smoke and heat deter

GRAMPIANS Tourism chief executive Will Flamsteed believes the region has moved on from the floods that ravaged the area in 2011.

But business owners remain cautious about the effects of bushfire threats and hot weather on their operations.

Mr Flamsteed said there were no figures yet for the current summer but he expected visitor numbers to the region to be up on last summer.

"All the anecdotal evidence we've seen says there is a very good increase in the number of visitors," he said.

"I think we're beyond the floods now."

Mr Flamsteed said he expected the region to grow in popularity.

He said his organisation promoted the Grampians to places such as Melbourne to encourage visitors.

"Tourism is vital to our region," he said.

Grampians National Park acting ranger in charge Zoe Wilkinson said crowds had visited the park to see the result of 18 months of flood recovery work.

She said people now had access to several areas of the park, such as Venus Baths.

Ms Wilkinson said the first of a four-stage project to repair and restore access to Venus Baths had improved access between the Halls Gap Botanic Gardens and the site.

"The restored Venus Baths Walking Track is a wonderful example of the great work being undertaken in this special park and is a credit to our flood recovery team," she said.

Ms Wilkinson said the opening of Major Mitchell Plateau and Fortress overnight walks allowed walkers to visit more remote parts of the park.

She said there was a variety of outdoor adventure experiences that encouraged people to visit.

"The Grampians is a favourite for many visitors at this time of the year and it is wonderful to see so many people out and about enjoying nature," she said.

Halls Gap Caravan and Tourist Park manager Johanna Peet said despite the increase in visitor numbers generally, there was room for improvement.

"People are doing shorter trips, " she said.

Mrs Peet said the diesel shortage and fire warnings had discouraged visitors, with people cancelling bookings.