ACCOMMODATION in the region has been snapped up as tourists pour in for the Easter long weekend and Stawell Gift.
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Several accommodation managers said they had been booked out weeks and even months in advance in the lead up to Easter.
Marianne Braam, owner of the Stawell Grampians Gate Caravan Park, said she had to cap bookings to ensure park infrastructure can cope with the numbers.
"We have plenty of land ... but we cap the numbers at 700 just because the old pipes get older every year," she said.
"We get the same people who book every year.
"I would say 60 per cent come for the Gift, 20 per cent know about the Gift, and 20 per cent have no idea what it is but they are still coming out here because it's the long weekend and it's the entrance to the Grampians."
To cope with the influx, Ms Braam has hired additional Easter staff for the first time since they took over the park six years ago.
"We're just a little mum and dad park, not like the big fours at Halls Gap and everything, but I've got 300 check ins in one day and we'll just be sitting there going hammer and tong," she said.
David Harris, who runs Pomonal Cottages, said they had no availability over the Easter period.
"We have been booked out for six months for Easter, and I guess having the Anzac day following on is also very good for us," he said.
Over in Ararat, Ararat Motor Inn owner Harry Quinn said the lack of accommodation is compounded by the influx of workers at Hopkins Correctional Facility and wind farm projects.
"Ararat's a busy happening little spot at the moment," he said.
"It's not just Easter but the wind farms and the prison."
The inn is also housing athletes for the Gift.
"We have runners staying here and the guy who won the 400 metres last year is staying here again," Mr Quinn said.
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