Canberrans are heading to the coast with their fingers crossed, according to hoteliers ready to welcome them with open arms (at a safe social distance).
Camp and caravan sites are near to full, according to owners still reeling from the previous two disastrous summers of fire, flood and pandemic.
Demand for holiday places is so high that it's bumping up against shortages of labour. Seasonal casual staff are in short supply because of the pandemic.
Two years ago, bushfires swept across the south coast. Last year, the lockdowns were severe - Victoria closed its border on New Year's Eve and Victorians scurried to get back home just in time.
But this year can't be as bad, according to the people in the industry to whom The Canberra Times talked.
"We've got to be positive," Batemans Bay hotelier Alison Miers said.
She said there was a "buzziness" in the area this Christmas. "People don't seem nervous. They are just getting on with it."
But she was watching the COVID figures closely. "It could change in a moment. You get a few cancellations and it all falls away."
She remembers last year very well. People from Victoria has actually started partying on New Year's Eve when the government in Melbourne announced the imminent shutting of the border. "The whole town emptied in a couple of hours."
This year is different. Her business, the Bay Breeze Boutique Motel, is booked out until January 11.
"We are fully booked," Julie Bowman, the manager of Alamein Caravan Park at Sussex Inlet, said.
"The industry on the south coast needs the boost after bushfires, flooding and then the dreaded COVID," she said. "Everyone needs to have something positive and that holiday spirit."
Her camping sites were fully booked until the middle of January and the cabins until the middle of February.
New businesses have starting opening up for tourism in Batemans Bay, according to David Maclachlan, President of the area's Business and Tourism Chamber.
"There's a vibe down here. There's that resilience and it shines through," he said.
But he was worried about labour shortages, particularly for linen deliveries. "It's not all peaches and cream. There's a chronic shortage," he said.
The Batemans Bay Business and Tourism Chamber has had a big publicity push with a series of glossy videos. One features Santas riding bikes and enjoying the recreations of the area.
Another video features a series of messages from stars, including Norah Jones and André Rieu.
"As you light your Christmas tree and as you reunite with your family and friends, I wish you happiness and joy this season, and dedicate this music to the people and visitors of beautiful Batemans Bay," Mr Rieu says as he launches his orchestra into luscious Christmas music.
The tourism industry has learnt the hard way that plans change in a moment.
A survey of Australians found that four out of five people had either cancelled or were thinking of cancelling their original Christmas plans as the Omicron variant threatened to take hold.
Most were planning travel in their own state and not risking crossing a border which might shut behind them.
"Australians are still very keen to take a well-earned holiday break and the coastal regions of NSW and Victorian destinations in particular will benefit from the lack of confidence in interstate travel as will, but to a lesser extent, the other states," Margy Osmond, chief executive of the Tourism and Transport Forum which represents the industry said.
