THE region's tourism industry has been hit hard after a big slump in visitor numbers during winter and early spring.
Global economic turmoil has also painted an uncertain future for the lucrative international tourism market.
Cool winter weather and a bumper snow season were blamed for fewer visitors to the region, except Portland and Dunkeld which enjoyed a boom.
Warrnambool's August tourism figures were the worst with:
* 25 per cent fewer visitors to Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village;
* A 21 per cent drop in whale-watchers at Logans Beach; and
* 14 per cent fewer tourists at the visitor information centre.
The trend continued last month with:
* A 20 per cent fall in bookings at Surfside holiday park; and
* A 6.3 per cent fall in Flagstaff Hill's daytime visitors.
Flagstaff Hill's showpiece Shipwrecked sound and light show drew 16 per cent less in audience numbers during July.
It also had seven per less visitors during August and 7.6 per cent less last month, compared to last year's figures.
After the August tumble, visitor information centre foot traffic revived in September with a 9.7 per cent rise, while July's figures were up 16 per cent.
A count of vehicles entering the whale viewing platform car park in August revealed a 21 per cent slump compared with the previous count in 2006. There were 14,873 visiting vehicles in August compared with 18,863 in August 2006.
Flagstaff Hill and tourism services manager Peter Abbott predicted a brighter outlook for summer.
"We hope the worst is over. Summer bookings are looking good," he said.
"There was some pretty ordinary weather in August and many tourists went to the snow fields.
"Petrol prices and interest rates also had an effect."
Shipwreck Coast Marketing chief executive Carole Reid said the south-west definitely felt the pinch, particularly with financial uncertainty hitting retirees.
She will be in Florida next week at a tourism expo promoting the Great Southern Touring Route.
Port Campbell, which usually enjoys a thriving Great Ocean Road tourism trade, suffered in August. The town's visitor information centre recorded 11 per cent less tourists for the month, compared to last year, following a 6.8 increase during July.
Port Fairy's figures were down 5.7 per cent for July and 2.3 per cent in September while August visitor traffic rose by 10 per cent.
Portland Visitor Information Centre figures were up 18 per cent for August, following a five per cent rise for July. September's figures were up by 4.5 per cent.
Dunkeld's visitor numbers rose a massive 52 per cent in July, 7.8 per cent in August and 13.5 per cent in September.
Hamilton took a 15 per cent fall in September, 1.6 per cent in August and 5.6 per cent in July.
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