BALLARAT'S outdoor tourist attractions have been hit hard by the wet weather over the long weekend.
Sovereign Hill and Ballarat Wildlife Park had reduced tourist numbers, but attendances were up at indoor attractions.
"Queen - The Unseen Archive" exhibition at the Art Gallery of Ballarat seemed to be the big winner for the weekend.
Director of destinations and connections with the City of Ballarat, George Sossi, said there was a large attendance at the Queen display.
"Indoor attractions around the city were popular this weekend and the Visitor Information Centre has been very busy," Mr Sossi said.
"Obviously the outdoor activities have been affected (by the rain), but there has been a good balance of indoor and outdoor activities in Ballarat over the weekend."
Mr Sossi said the number of daytrippers to Ballarat was down, but pre-booked tourism remained high.
Tourism numbers at Sovereign Hill, however, were well down for the long weekend.
Despite intermittent showers on Saturday, attendance figures at Sovereign Hill were slightly up, but Sunday's deluge halved that day's numbers. There were 1265 visitors at the tourist park on Sunday, compared with 2100 on the same day last year.
"Sunday's numbers were well down ... half of what we had anticipated, and that can be blamed on the weather," Sovereign Hill's deputy chief executive officer and museum director Tim Sullivan said.
"Considering that so much of our audience comes from Melbourne, I would imagine they had other things on their mind," Mr Sullivan said of the once-in-a-century storm to hit the metropolitan area on Saturday afternoon.
Ballarat Wildlife Park entrance manager Jared Mulholland said wet weather had affected attendance numbers.
"Saturday's figures were fairly good, because the rain was relatively sporadic, but yesterday's (Sunday's) numbers were down significantly," Mr Mulholland said.
"The Begonia Festival weekend usually brings extra tourists, but the weather has spoiled that this year."
Customer numbers at city accommodation providers seemed to be unaffected by the weather.
Owner of the Central City Motor Inn at Bakery Hill, Gerard White, said bookings were strong. "Labour Day and Queen's Birthday are the two busiest weekends in Ballarat. If you are not booked out over those weekends, pity help you for the rest of the year," Mr White said.
He said the 15-unit facility was still able to fill last-minute inquiries at the weekend.
At the other side of city, at the Comfort Inn Bell Tower, bookings were also up for the long weekend. The 67-room motel at Alfredton was fully booked on Saturday and close to full on Friday and Sunday.
Manager Jody Hammond said the many sporting events in the region helped keep booking numbers high.
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