In Horsham, Ploughman's Motor Inn owner Lisa Fitzgerald said she had seen an increase in her booking, but these are mostly from people travelling to Horsham for work.

"We have got workers staying, but I wouldn't say that we have seen the general movement of people we are used to," she said.

"It has definitely picked up and we have had moments of being busy, but it has still been quiet compared to what we are used to.

"We usually book out mid-week and that hadn't happened for a while.

"This week is our second week when we are booked out from Monday to Thursday night, which makes us feel a bit more normal again."

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Ms Fitzgerald said the changes to the restrictions across the state are welcome, but they will take time come into effect.

"It has been hard for every small business around town really," she said.

"I wouldn't say there has been a surge of people that's for sure.

"We are starting to see some of our regular customers, who may not have been staying on their regulars stays, but the weekends are still looking quiet.

"We certainly haven't had a huge influx of bookings.

"This is the misconception. People think that the restrictions get eased and everything moves back to normal, but it actually takes weeks and weeks."

Ms Fitzgerald said even with regional Victoria open to metropolitan Melbourne residents, her business will continue to keep a high level of COVID-safe practises and cleaning as they prepare for more visitors to the area.

Regional Victorians will be allowed to travel to Melbourne when the state hits the 80 per cent double vaccinated rate on Friday night and vice versa.

Premier Daniel Andrews said metropolitan and regional Victorians will be subject to the same rules from 6pm on Friday night.

As part of the changes, masks will remain mandatory indoors but are no longer required outdoors.

Most indoor settings, including restaurants, pubs, gyms and hairdressers will open with no capacity limits subject to a DQ4 (one person per four square metres) limit, if all staff and patrons (excluding in general retail) are fully vaccinated.

As the new COVID rules come into affect there are currently no vaccination requirements for customers of accommodation facilities in relation to accessing accommodation.

According to the state government, where an accommodation facility includes spaces with vaccination requirements, such as swimming pools and restaurants, a customer staying at the accommodation facility who is not fully vaccinated and does not have a valid medical exemption must not access those spaces.

Visitors to the Grampians region means a boost for business which is good news to the ears of Grampians Tourism chief executive Marc Sleeman.

He said the state government's announcement on Sunday caught some business off-guard, but he is confident the Grampians can handle the new faces.

"The forward bookings for our region are extremely strong right through to Christmas and so the early signs are very positive for the destination," he said.

"It provided a sense of chaos for a lot of our operators and there was a lot of unknowns.

"Because of the changes to a lot of the rules and regulations it has been quite frustrating for some of our operators so we are trying to share the relevant information as it comes to hand.

"The feedback we are getting is that some of our partners weren't prepared for the opening days moving forward and it has got some of the business off-guard a bit.

"The reality is that there is going to be some business that won't be able to open up and it will be difficult to provide a visitors experience without our full team of businesses open.

"The first couple of weeks are going to be challenging for everyone, but we have got pretty good at being flexible."

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Mr Sleeman also said he was confident that the region would continue to record strong visitor numbers as restrictions ease.

"When you compare the first half the year of 2019 to the first half of the year in 2021, the Grampians region had a 40 per cent increase in visitor expenditure and a 11 per cent increase in visitor nights in region," he said.

"We led the state on both of those metrics.

"History shows us that once Melbourne heads out our occupancy levels go up to about the 80 per cent mark and with our visitors and day-trippers we expect strong numbers from now right up until the end of the summer school holidays in 2022.

"I have full confidence in all our businesses that they will be able to follow the rules and regulations and provide a positive experience, but that doesn't devoid the fact that it is going to be challenging for the first few weeks.

"We are doing everything in our power to make sure everyone is armed with the most up to date information."

Grampians Tourism and a suite of government bodies held an information session earlier in October, with the industry forum focused on reopening the tourism industry to visitors.

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