The Hepburn Shire Council's manager of tourism and recreation, Geoff Ryan, said claims made by state shadow tourism minister Martin Dixon were wide of the mark.

"It was unfortunate that the statistics (he) used had been collated based on accommodation places with 15 or more rooms, Mr Ryan said.

"Most of the accommodation places in this region, including the large number of bed and breakfasts, do not fit this category. They each have less than 15 rooms."

Mr Ryan said the questionable statistics had been based on visitor numbers to accommodation places that accounted for just 5.6 per cent of accommodation.

"The numbers (of people) visiting the Visitor Information Centre has always provided a fairly accurate indication of visitor numbers, he said.

"The steady increase there is very pleasing to council and tourist operators.

Mr Ryan said 559 more people had visited the information centre in January than for the same period last year.

Annual visits to the Daylesford Regional Visitor Information Centre have increased from 101,583 in 2002 to 114,645 in 2005.

Daylesford Accommodation Booking Service spokeswoman Barb Green said the holiday period was busier than last year.

"It has picked up since September. During the first week of holidays it was really busy," she said.

Ms Green said couples and families from Melbourne and South Australia had chosen Daylesford as their holiday destination. Pampering, from her experience, was one of the most popular activities for tourists.

Lavandula in Shepherds Flat attracted good numbers over the holiday period.

Spokeswoman Carol White said the three-day harvest festival saw people come from regional Victoria and Melbourne.

"We are very pleased with the way numbers have been," she said.

"When it's very hot numbers are slow. It's hard to get people away from the pool or the beach."

"Local operators, council, the campaign committees and Tourism Victoria are focussing on working together to maintain and improve visitor numbers and the visitor experience," Mr Ryan said.

"We are also focussing on ways to increase the length of time visitors stay and for a greater dispersal across the region."