It was apparent over the previous weekend that Melbournians were keen to reinvigorate the flailing Victorian regional economy. With beach towns very quickly becoming full to the brim as of Friday the 13^th of November. It was also good to see that the majority of those visitors took the still current COVID19 restrictions seriously as well. But Victoria hasn’t totally recovered yet, there is one sector of tourism and travel that’s still yet to get a fast start back into recovery.

Corporate travel was one of the last forms of travel to go at the start of the COVID19 pandemic and it’s beginning to look like it may be one of the last to recover as well. But the news isn’t all that bad. Clemenger BBDO’s most recent AustraliaNOW report (a weekly text-based survey sent to Australians based on consumer attitudes) reveals that while Australians are hesitant to travel interstate for leisure or corporate-based travel, they are comfortable with travelling within their own state.

And why shouldn’t they be? The Victorian regions tend to be a bit of an untapped gem both in practicality and luxuriousness for corporate travel with bigger organisations in Melbourne typically opting for conferences or meetings in the warmer Northern states.

Regions such as Northern Victoria are experiencing a renewed interest in the form of spend on tourism with locations such as Yarrawonga garnering the attention of the Accor Group in the form of their new Sebel location on the banks of the lake. Other locations were already gifted a pre-pandemic boom with locations such as Jackalope along the Mornington Peninsula and the Mitchelton Resort in Nagambie garnering national attention for their top of class luxury destinations.

So where does that leave corporate travel and the future? Well, it should leave them confident that they will still be able to conduct in-person meetings but possibly looking closer to home to do so. Booking attractive destinations not just for their renowned features but also for their practicality in both travel time and cost.

With other luxury resort plans popping up across Victoria (Geelong currently has two five-star boutique hotels with planning permits lodged), it’s expected that this renewed interest in Victorian’s backyard continues. And with any luck? It accelerates even further in the coming years.