North East business leaders have welcomed news travel between Melbourne and regional Victoria will recommence from 6pm on Friday, but say the current outbreak will put a dampener on any immediate benefits.
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Business Wodonga president Graham Jenkin said it was unlikely there would be an influx of tourists into Albury-Wodonga come Friday.
He said until the current outbreak was under-control he suspected trade would remain low.
"Even now locally business in general, especially for retail and hospitality business, it's a bit quiet at the moment given the high numbers of cases, exposures sites and so many people in isolation," Mr Jenkin said.
However, in the long-term the reopening would boost tourism ahead of summer.
"We think it will be great for our businesses," Mr Jenkin said.
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Further south in Beechworth, the reopening might have more immediate effects.
Beechworth Chamber of Commerce president Rod Devlin said although there was some trepidation about Victoria's high case numbers, it would be great to see visitors return to the tourism town.
"We're excited, a lot of businesses are excited to see the return of Melbourne customers," he said.
"A lot of businesses are very well versed in operating their business in as COVID-safe a way as possible. I think it will be a shot in the arm, certainly, for the tourism in industry which is needed as far as Beechworth is concerned, we're very reliant on tourism dollars."
Mr Devlin said the town's retail, food, cafes, restaurants and accommodations providers were all "heavily" dependent on tourism.
On Sunday, Victoria recorded 1935 new cases, the majority in Melbourne, which did cause some apprehension in towns such as Beechworth that have largely avoided outbreaks.
"It's certainly a concern to some level," Mr Devlin said.
"There are really two schools of thought; you bundle up in cotton wool and hope it passes, or you open up and live life again.
"I don't know the best answer. But I think purely from a business perspective businesses have done everything they can to ensure customers and staff are COVID-Safe and look forward to seeing old customers and new ones."
The reopening of regional travel is one of a series of new freedoms allowed once the state hits 80 per cent vaccination.
From Friday at 6pm, hairdressers, gyms, and hospitality venues no longer will be subject to patron caps and will only have to abide by the one person per four-square-metre rule.
However, like in NSW, the new freedoms are reliant on staff and patrons being fully vaccinated.
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