Tourism spending in regional Victoria eclipses Melbourne for the first time We’re sorry, this service is currently unavailable. Please try again later. Dismiss Normal text size Advertisement Tourism spending in regional Victoria has eclipsed Melbourne’s for the first time but struggling operators say already wary travellers are being spooked by this week’s lockdown in Brisbane. The latest state government figures show that overall tourism spending was down 60 per cent across Victoria in the year to December, with holidaymakers spending $6.8 billion in the regions, compared with $6.2 billion in Melbourne. After months in lockdown, Victorians craved the open air.