Victorian Nationals leader Danny O'Brien joined local MP for the Ovens Valley, Tim McCurdy, touring Porepunkah, Bright and surrounds last Thursday to try to draw some visitors back to the region as local businesses began to receive relief packages.

“What happened in this region was a terrible, unprecedented event, but now it’s time to be upbeat," Mr McCurdy said.

"The best thing we can do is get people back in town; holidaying nearby, cycling on the bike trail and enjoying themselves, because that’s the best solution we have.

“My understanding is Mount Buffalo won’t be open anytime soon and people should not come to the region thinking they’re going to go to the National Park, because it’s not on anyone’s radar.

“But it’s important to realise there’s plenty more to offer in this region, whether you’re a cyclist, tourist or a wine drinker.

“The $5000 grants which were made available have started to come through, which is a great start for the people of Porepunkah, as businesses can start to pay some of their bills.

"I’m still a little bit concerned about Bright and surrounding districts for some of those grants, whether people and businesses are eligible or not: they were advised they could only apply earlier this week and some of them have already been knocked back, for different reasons.

“I really think it’s important the government explores this a bit more, to make sure everybody is eligible.

"If you’ve done it tough financially, we think you deserve to get some financial recompense."

Mr McCurdy and Mr O'Brien visited a local winery, caravan park and a number of other small businesses who have reported slower visitation over the last few weeks.

“We’ve certainly heard from businesses here in Porepunkah those grants are helping," Mr O'Brien said.

“They’re appreciative of the support but we’ll also need to make sure those further afield are getting that support.

“Credit to Tim whose been really forceful for his community with the government and we do appreciate the government responding and actually putting this support up.

“I think there’s a couple of grant restrictions which could be made more flexible; particularly, if you look at the 40 per cent threshold, that’s a big down-turn over a month-long period and many businesses were able to stay open, but did have significant impacts.

"Whether there’s a graduated process or a pro-rata process to the government could start up, so they could provide some support?

“This community has had a difficult time and it does need to have some flexibility from the government to ensure those businesses in need actually get support."

Mr O'Brien said they really want to make sure people understand the wider community is with the Ovens Valley, and Porepunkah and Bright in particular.

“There are businesses here that are ready to give [visitors] a great time," he said.

"There’s lots of things you can do, even if you can’t get into parts of the nearby mountains.”

Owner of the Punkah Pantry, Jacob Hanna, said the last few weeks had seen a small increase in visitation during the school holidays and AFL grand final long weekend, however traffic was still significantly lower.

"I had a customer earlier who had been coming up to the area for over 20 years and they said they had never seen the town this quiet before," he said.

"In terms of lost trade, every week it's close to three or four grand profits are down, so the fund the state government have organised through local government has been welcomed.

"I've absolutely had to reduce my staff's hours; the number of staff and the hours they're working has definitely had to be reduced, based on how busy (or not-busy) we've been.

"The (grant) process was really simple and easy; I applied for it through a link provided by the Bright Chamber of Commerce and I received that yesterday, actually."

Mr Hanna said with summer around the corner, it has been great to see cyclists on the bike trails and families out walking dogs around the community.

"Summer is prime time up here: it's a beautiful area to come visit," he said.

"Come and enjoy our beautiful area: sun's out, flowers are blooming at the moment and the Punkah Pantry makes great coffee, sausage rolls and pies."