Analysts at Quantum Market Research, which has worked with Sovereign Hill and the City of Ballarat, have found Victorians are set to prioritise visiting friends and relatives they have not been able to see since the restrictions came into force.

It is a clear sign yet of the pent-up demand for travel - and exactly how that is likely to play out.

Its recent AustraliaNOW report suggests recreational travel will play a secondary role to visiting friends and family - at least in the early days of the easing of restrictions.

The lockdown due to end at 11.59pm on November 8 - this Sunday. On Wednesday the New South Wales Premier Gladys Berijiklian also made the widely anticipated announcement that Victorian/ NSW borders will re-open on November 23.

The Ballarat-based tourism expert Dr Elisa Zentveld said the expected influx represented a significant opportunity for city businesses.

A total of 46 per cent of Victorians surveyed for the AustraliaNOW study said they would travel to see family and friends as soon as possible.

That compared to 41 per cent of people who said going on a leisure and recreation outing would be one of the first things they would do.

More than half of regional Victorians sampled (55 per cent) said they would travel to see friends and family as soon as possible, compared to 42 percent of Melbournians.

The sample size for Victoria was small, with 400 surveyed in total, but researchers said the margin of error was a "quite acceptable" 4.9 per cent.

Dr Zentveld, an associate professor at Federation University and a recognised expert in the Visiting Friends and Relatives (VFR) tourism sector, said the expectation of a surge of visiting friends and relatives tallied with her expectations.

"VFR travel was identified as a first mover market earlier in the year.

"People are really keen to reconnect. We're social creatures and we're going to want to rebuild those connections."

She said Ballarat the influx of people visiting friends was also a good opportunity for local businesses and that said the economic impact of the sector was often underestimated.

Her research has highlighted that historically 22 per cent of that category of visitors stayed in commercial accommodation - although she added that she was not sure whether that would stay the same post lockdown.

"Operators have an opportunity to try and proactively tap in. Those that try and motivate locals to bring their visiting friends and relatives to their premises are the ones that will end up with the benefits," she said.

"Not only are the VFR travellers engaging in touristic activities, but they're bringing in locals to those activities as well."

Both Dr Zentveld and Quantum Market Research analysts said the focus on friends and relatives was likely to persist - in part because it was viewed as a safe way of travelling, which they said was particularly important to people during a pandemic.

Dr Zentveld also said the expected increase in VFR travel would bring health and wellbeing benefits, especially for older and single travellers.

The City of Ballarat has also highlighted the return of friends and relatives as an important strand in the tourism sector's recovery.

Last weekend the city's main tourist attraction Sovereign Hill reopened for the first time in almost three months.

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