EASTER in the Alpine Shire was booming over the weekend with reports of high spirits, despite some heavy rainfall on Friday.
Bright Chamber of Commerce president Scott Brandon said the town has been quite busy.
"It's been good and the weather has been great apart from a wet Friday," he said.
"It feels like things are returning to what we'd normally expect for the Easter period.
"It's hard to say if the numbers are up or down yet but it feels like it's pretty much full for Bright and with most businesses having the chance to resolve staffing challenges they are managing the influx better now."
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Bright NRMA Holiday Park manager Brent Galambos said they've been almost booked out for the two weeks of holidays since last year.
"It's been really good and as usual we were booked out for the full two weeks," he said.
"Most of those bookings are people who have been coming for more than 20 years and just book when they leave the year before.
"When they leave we only have about 10–15 sites left to offer.
"It's been the usual Easter with lots of family–friendly fun.
"The feedback has been positive; everyone has had a really good time and it does seem busier than last year."
The Park Mount Beauty is also reporting big visitation numbers this year and owner Duane Gardiner said the park is already booked out for Easter 2024.
"We've certainly been at capacity so we could do times over if we had more space; 2024 Easter is already fully booked so we generally book year to year and we've got a waiting list," he said.
"Easter is in higher demand than New Year's now and we're definitely seeing exceeded numbers on pre–COVID bookings.
"In terms of the rest of the town, the difficulty for a small business is the penalty rates.
"Cafes are only opening 50 per cent of what they could as they can't afford the rates and are unsure if they're making money over Easter.
"Our bookings are seven to 10 days so we have other periods in the Easter time when we're not having to pay those penalty rates so it's profitable for us but still difficult.
"The recent opening of Tawonga Tourist Park after three years will have given the town a bit of a boost.
"They opened just before Easter so that will have helped hospitality businesses around town with another 300 or so people down there looking for places to eat and drink."
