Eureka Stockade Holiday Park is usually full over the Queen's Birthday long weekend because of the Ballarat Junior Basketball Tournament and tourists traveling to the region to visit attractions such as Sovereign Hill.

The holiday park has seen some bookings over the long weekend, however manager Hayley Kane believes something needs to be done to help businesses struggling during this period.

"We haven't had a flood of bookings," she said.

"I think Ballarat relies not only on Sovereign Hill, but also the events that are held here. This long weekend we're usually completely full of people travelling here for the basketball tournament.

"With all the events still being cancelled it's been pretty difficult to entice people to come here. We have had a few bookings over this weekend... we're taking whatever we can get.

"For us until events start coming back and Sovereign Hill reopens it's going to be a long road back."

She added while it is difficult to know exactly what should be done to assist businesses, something such as an action plan needs to be developed soon.

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"It's hard to know what can be done," she continued.

"Once gatherings start to be allowed to be a bit bigger something may happen but it's all up in the air. Ballarat as a city needs to come up with an action plan to bring people into the city."

This comes as the City of Ballarat have engaged a company to develop a Traveller Experience Plan that will engage with businesses on COVID-19 tourism recovery in June.

One attraction that did reopen and brought in visitors over the weekend was Ballarat Wildlife Park.

Managing director Greg Parker said he and his staff were excited to see people return to the park and praised visitors for their support.

"We've had a lot of phone calls and a lot of enquiries over social media asking if we were open this weekend," Mr Parker said.

"It's been great to see the numbers coming through to support us this weekend... Everybody has been really positive and supportive."

"The thought of opening again was really exciting for all of us and it's been great to see people coming in. The animals have loved it as well, they've responded really well to having people come back."

Moving forward, Mr Parker said the next milestone he is looking towards is the return of international visitors.

"International visitors make up a large proportion of our visitor base, so things will never really be back to normal until restrictions are eased in terms international travel."

While some tourists returning to the region took part in attractions such as the Ballarat Wildlife Park, others opted to simply get out of the house and get back to camping, which was allowed for the first weekend in months.

One such couple was Teesdale locals Nikki and Dale Herman, who happily stationed their caravan by the water at Lake Burrumbeet.

Mrs Herman told The Courier the couple was extremely excited to get out of the house and get back to travelling as they did prior to COVID-19.

"We were counting down the days until we could out of the house and get away in the caravan," she laughed.

"We had planned on coming away this weekend but got a little scared off because of the weather. Ultimately we just decided we wanted to get away as we normally do and we couldn't be happier."

She continued, adding the mental health benefits of being able to finally get out of the house were being immediately felt.

"Dale and I were both lucky enough that we were able to keep our jobs during this time, however to just go to work and come home over and over again without any breaks has been tough.

"Getting away has been really great for us and I think it will help a lot of people's mental health."

The couple were also joined by their dog Cookie, one of their four Border Collie's who Mrs Herman said has thoroughly enjoyed getting out of the house.

"She's been thrilled, I've never seen her so relaxed and so happy to be out and about," she laughed.

"She's been lounging by the fire just like we have."

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