Mr Tehan highlighted under a national plan border closures would become "a thing of the past" once 80 per cent of people over 16 years old were vaccinated, meaning that operators would see domestic tourism lift.

"Lieutenant General John Frewen, who is in charge of the vaccine rollout, sees very much us hitting that 80 per cent target rate before Christmas," Mr Tehan, also Wannon's MP, said.

"Our tourism operators, I think, should be planning for a very busy Christmas and beyond."

Meanwhile, he said the return of international tourism would also involve the use of a QR code to certify vaccinations, both for Australians travelling internationally and visitors arriving in Australia.

"It's highly likely countries will look for proof of vaccination, that's why we have developed it and done it in a way so there will be an internationally recognised standard," Mr Tehan said.

But travellers won't need the QR code for domestic travel, Mr Tehan said, because border closures would no longer occur past the 80 per cent vaccination threshold.

Deep Blue Hotel and Hot Springs co-owner Gene Seabrook said the 80 per cent hurdle by Christmas felt like "wishful thinking", but he remained hopeful it could be reached.

"I would be surprised if we can reach 80 per cent by Christmas, but I am surprised by the vaccination uptake," he said.

He said a further concern for business was that long Victorian lockdowns continued until Christmas or occurred during the September school holidays.

"If they opened up and had a couple of two weeks' lockdowns, that could be OK. If they want to close us between now and Christmas, we would probably not survive without large government assistance," Mr Seabrook said.

He has offered $50 for casual staff and a paid day off for permanent workers to be vaccinated across his businesses, which include Warrnambool's Mid City Motel as well.

Port Campbell's Southern Ocean Motor Inn owner Asip Memishi was optimistic about enough people becoming vaccinated by Christmas.

But he said even if Melburnians were able to travel by Christmas it would make a big difference to trade.

"Even when NSW closed during Christmas last year we found it was pretty busy, because there are a lot of Victorians who would travel to NSW," he said.

"They all cancelled and rebooked and stayed with us; we had a really good summer."

Mr Tehan said during this current lockdown around 18,000 businesses in regional Victoria were receiving payments of $5600 a fortnight in partnership with the state government.

"We estimate there have been about half a million dollars in grants that have gone to travel agents in Wannon," Mr Tehan said of a separate federal program.

But Mr Seabrook said while government assistance was appreciated he did not believe it gave enough individual consideration to businesses.

"The problem is everyone gets the same, it is not based on revenue lost; the small cafe down the road is perhaps eligible for the same as we are," he said.

"They can do takeaway coffee, whereas we can't do takeaway beds."