Since the bushfires began in early December, over 17,000 people have flocked to the area to experience spa and therapy outlets, food and bushwalking.

Daylesford Visitor Information Centre figures showed that 17,061 people visited the area last month, compared to 8841 at the same time last year.

Hepburn Shire Council recreation and tourism manager Geoff Ryan said the single biggest factor for the dramatic increase in visitor numbers was the bushfires.

He said the weather had also helped visitation numbers.

"Out of the disaster, we are benefiting," he said.

But Mr Ryan reacted cautiously to the statistics and warned business owners not to get "carried away" with the jump in visitor numbers.

He said there was still a lot of work to be done in the shire's tourism industry including marketing.

"Never sit back and think people know (about the shire), spread more across the shire and encourage people to stay longer," he said.

Mr Ryan also said the Daylesford and Macedon Ranges committee had helped market the shire.

The committee has targeted magazines and released a brochure in Melbourne and Sydney.

"There is evidence that the Sydney market is discovering Daylesford," he said.

The temporary closure of the Hepburn Springs bathhouse had not impacted on visitation numbers with operators providing positive feedback that they have had a strong Christmas.

"There's no evidence that numbers have dropped off," Mr Ryan said.

With a range of festivals including the Glenlyon mixed sports day, Lavandula Harvest Festival, Organs of the Ballarat Goldfields and Cricket Willow Twenty/20 match, Mr Ryan expected January's figures to be higher than normal.

He commended the hard work of the volunteers at the visitor information centre, who were so busy the tourists nearly cleaned out all of the brochures.

"It put a lot of pressure on the volunteers."

Mr Ryan said he very pleased with the increase in visitor numbers and hoped people would revisit the shire.