The Limestone Coast has been a hive of activity, with tourists flocking to every corner of the region.

From Robe’s Long Beach, through to Beachport’s bustling main street, to Millicent and Mount Gambier’s cafes and on to Penola’s character-filled township, visitors from across Australia have spent the festive break exploring the region.

The Beachport Caravan Park is overflowing with visitors and will remain that way until the end of January.

Park owner Stacey Benson and husband Paul have overseen the park for four years and are noticing ever-increasing numbers. “We started getting busy before Christmas this year,” Mrs Benson said.

“We are now fully booked through until the third week of January, with South Australians and Victorians, a lot of the Victorians had bookings for NSW but are now coming in this direction due to the situation in NSW and the borders closing.”

Mrs Benson said it was the second summer tourists had opted to travel away from Australia’s east coast and head to the SA coastline. “This time last year there were fires, floods and then COVID which was pushing people this way,” she said.

“We have been filling gaps, people are taking whatever we can offer. “We have been pretty lucky in SA in general, we were shut for six weeks due to COVID but since then we have been open, we have been impacted by COVID but not as much as other states.”

Meanwhile, the Lions Club doughnut van at Beachport has been doing a bustling trade, selling record numbers.

Beachport Lions Club publicity officer David Snook said the volunteers sold 2700 doughnuts during the Beachport Market day. “The machine did not stop,” he said. “Some years ago on a New Year’s Eve we sold just a bit less that than, but this year it’s incredible.

“People come from miles away just to get a Beachport doughnut. We even had a tourist from NSW come back here just to get a doughnut and we hear that time and time again.”

Business is also booming at cafes in Millicent to record levels of patronage. Acky’s Deli proprietor Mark Pilmore said the high demand had been driven by regular customers as well as visitors to the George Street store.

“This has been our fourth Christmas in the shop and our busiest by far,” Mr Pilmore said. “Our turnover is up 80% compared to a year ago. “As Millicent has a great playground, we are serving many family groups from Mount Gambier and Penola.” Mr Pilmore said he was grateful to his 18 staff for their high levels of customer service during this busy period.

The high number of tourists in Millicent has also boosted the takings at the Shearers Cook Café. Proprietor Melissa Armfield said this was also noticeable in the amount of caravans on local roads.

She said people were out and about after the COVID-related restrictions. “We are also seeing greater numbers of tourists in the younger age bracket,” Ms Armfield said.

Mount Gambier Mayor Lynette Martin, who also owns Chapman’s Newsagency in the city’s main street, said she was amazed by the high volume of visitors. “I do not think I have ever seen so many visitors in Mount Gambier,” she said.

“I think it started at Christmas, I noticed that weekend the number of vehicles in the CBD and the pedestrians moving around was amazing. “I just think it has been wonderful for our economy, particularly for people in hospitality and accommodation given the year that we have had with COVID and how that industry really did suffer.

“I’m really pleased to see so much activity in the city, hopefully those sectors have done well. It does flow on to all sectors, the tourism dollar is a really good dollar to get because it flows on through.”

Mayor Martin did express some concern that not all businesses had opened to capitalise on the high tourist trade. “The local eateries were very busy when they were open,” she said.

“With the number of visitors to Mount Gambier we need to ensure our businesses are open so we do give the message that Mount Gambier is open for business.

“We want these visitors to go away and spread the word what a great place Mount Gambier is. “I was pleased to see more retail stores open during the break as well, but it’s definitely a time for the hospitality industry to capitalise as the city was swarming with cars and people.”

Penola District Business and Tourism Association president Bec Trotter said Penola had also experienced an influx of visitors. “Obviously living in Penola it’s been quite busy,” she said.

“Through our own cellar door we have had visitors from SA, NSW and Victoria, so there’s a good mix. “Even those who got in before the border closures from NSW have had a good time. “We have been seeing people who have not been to the area for a long time, or who have not been here before at all.

“There have been people who have had holidays booked or planned and had to cancel, we have had some people who had planned to go to NSW but came to the Limestone Coast instead.

“It’s really unfortunate for other states where something not very pleasant happening somewhere else has been our gain.

“Every time I have driven through the main street it has been full, it’s great to see lots of tourists wandering around browsing stores and getting coffee. It creates a great atmosphere in town, it’s good for the businesses to have all the tourists in town.”