Looking for a family room this Easter Festival? You may find it a struggle

According to the Bendigo Motel Association's bed bank website there was just one motel in the region with a three-night booking for a family of four.

Six motels had availability for a three-night booking for two adults, with prices ranging from $164 a night to $299 a night.

Bendigo Motels Association president Mark McLoughlan said it was "a bit unusual" for there to be vacancies ahead of Easter.

"I think people are leaving their commitments to a bit later this year," he said.

Mr McLoughlan said bookings for the big weekend of March 16 and 17 - which included the Meatstock and Dahlia festivals - had come in quickly just before the event.

"It was a short lead time, which is a bit unusual," he said.

"We obviously look for longer lead periods, but we have to be realistic and we are here no matter what."

Tea House Motor Inn and Apartments owner Jody Curran said bookings were slow, however it wasn't unusual for Easter.

"Since COVID people aren't booking in advance as much," she said.

The motel had a number of queen and king rooms available, although family and twin rooms were already booked out.

Mr McLoughlan said a one-night booking for Saturday, March 30 could cost up to $300, however most motels encouraged multiple night stays.

Ms Curran said Tea House had dropped minimum bookings down to two nights in an attempt to book out.

Bendigo Tourism board chair Kath Bolitho said this year's Bendigo Easter Festival was shaping up to be as big as other years.

The event attracts about 80,000 people to Bendigo's CBD, according to the City of Greater Bendigo.

Cost of living pressures, however, may have changed travelling habits, with people day tripping or spending one or two nights instead of three in Bendigo.

"People may be seeking more cost-effective itineraries, which means that a predominantly free festival like Bendigo would be a huge draw card for many people that are watching their money," she said.

"There may be people considering doing a day trip or wanting to have only two nights instead of three, and perhaps not paying the same amount of money for certain experiences.

"They might've in the past, they might be rethinking how they travel."

Ms Bolitho said Bendigo was still a hot spot for a range of audiences, with events for families, sport and arts.

She said it was highlighted by the region winning Wotif's Aussie Town of the Year award in February.

"The variety is huge and it continues to be huge," she said.

"Having a wide variety of different audiences and visitor types come to see us is extremely important because we have so many different types of operators and experiences for them to tap into and who need to have the opportunity to connect with different markets."