THE long weekend weather might best be described as miserable, but there was plenty to enjoy for Portland and district business owners as tourists flocked to the region.

Those businesses the Observer spoke to reported a booming trade over the three days, and even leading up to the break, as Melburnians in particular made the most of the last long break before the spring.

The foreshore car parks were full at the weekend as many took to the seas in search of game fish.

Compleat Angler co-owner Nigel Fisher said that translated into good business.

“We’ve had a great weekend,” he said.

“It started probably from Wednesday onwards, we had a few people leading up to it and Friday, Saturday and Sunday were very, very good, with (yesterday) ticking along but there’s a lot of boats out on the water.

“It was just a bit unfortunate the weather hit the way it did but there’s no complaints from us at all.

“The coffee shops here (Bentinck St) just got smashed (with the demand) as well.

“It’s great for Portland.”

Along the same block a spokesman for the Gordon Hotel also reported a booming trade.

“It’s been really, really busy the entire weekend,” he said.

“We’re barely keeping up.”

Mac’s Hotel licensee Rob Hunt said business was booming on all fronts – accommodation at the Mac’s and Cape Nelson Lighthouse, as well as booked out meals and a big turnout to entertainment.

“It’s been a wonderful weekend,” he said.

“Both from the accommodation point of view at the hotel and lighthouse and obviously that’s stimulated the locals to get out and about as well.

“You can never tell how much of this is driven by the weather but dare I say because the weather has been pretty inclement, it’s regardless of the weather.”

Mr Hunt also pointed to another change in the ‘busyness’ of the region.

“Certainly I always felt that this weekend is somewhat driven by the (South West Classic) basketball tournament that they have on but realistically there’s been no impact at all by them, it’s been totally driven by other things,” he said.

The boom wasn’t just limited to Portland.

Bridgewater Bay Café co-owner Scott Martin said after a quiet previous few weeks, the visitors were back at the beach.

These were mostly from Melbourne, with a few large groups of 10-15 people travelling in 3-4 vehicles.

“The weather hasn’t kept people away, it’s been fantastic out there,” he said.

“This year (for the long weekend) we weren’t sure what was going to happen, it has been a quieter last few years, but thankfully we were busier.”

The winter school holidays were expected to be busy, with a few more also for whale season, but in general the café would begin preparing for summer, advertising for staff.

Portland Tourist Association president Dennis Carr, who also runs Cape Bridgewater Sea View Lodge, said the region’s accommodation providers had few vacancies over the weekend.

“We’ve been basically booked out,” he said.

“Even though it hasn’t been real warm people don’t seem to care.”

Mr Carr said he expected the flow of tourists to quieten down now with no long weekends until late September, the month he also expected international visitors to start arriving in force.