The prediction came after the price of fuel hit a record 139.9 cents per litre in Daylesford last month.

Daylesford's three petrol stations ranged from 138.9cpl to 139.9cpl at the time The Advocate went to print. The average price in Melbourne was 129.8cpl. Oil prices have been hovering around $US70 a barrel in recent weeks.

RACV government and corporate relations manager David Mr Cumming said that if petrol reached 149.9cpl it would make people think twice about filling their tanks.

Mr Cummings said that petrol stations in Daylesford relied on tourists.

"There will be an impact on travel in Daylesford, being a tourism area, but we won't know until after winter once the finer weather comes back," Mr Cumming said.

However, Hepburn Shire Council's tourism and recreation manager Geoff Ryan said history had proven that increases in petrol prices could have a positive effect on tourism in the Hepburn Shire.

"What tends to happen is that people from Melbourne choose to holiday and travel to places closer to home such as Daylesford as opposed to going for longer trips," he said.

"We have not encountered any decrease in visitor numbers and do not anticipate this will occur."

Bellinzona Grange Country Retreat in Hepburn Springs had not experienced a drop in visitor numbers.

Spokeswoman Lisa MacDougall said that Bellinzona mostly hosted corporate groups and petrol prices didn't stop them from travelling to Bellinzona.

John Williams from John's World, a nursery in Trentham, said the rise in petrol prices was affecting his business because he picked supplies up in Dandenong and also had supplies delivered to him.

"It's costing more to bring plants in. It's a lot of money but what can we do about it, it's all out of our hands" he said.

Mr Williams said he was putting up with the rise in petrol prices as best he could and would not know until September the extent of the effect.