It is a mixed bag for tourism bookings heading into the South Australian winter school holidays, according to the sector's industry council.

Record numbers of intrastate travellers sustained the industry during the pandemic, but this winter may be different with domestic and some international borders open.

The SA Tourism Industry Council chief executive Shaun de Bruyn says there is "not one consistent picture" across the state.

"There are a lot of South Australians getting out into the state, there are interstate visitors coming," he said.

"But obviously, at the same time, we are seeing international borders open and South Australians are going overseas."

Mr de Bruyn said lead times – the amount of time between booking a trip and undertaking the travel – was much shorter than before the pandemic.

"Consumer confidence is still rebounding," he said.

"Some visitor markets are cautious about booking travel too far in advance, they're still a little bit uncertain.

"[Short lead times can be] a good thing in that it allows you to influence the marketplace very close to the time of travel.

"On the other hand, it provides uncertainty for business in terms of the staff that they need."

International visitors trickle back

Mr de Bruyn said it was "going to take a number of years" to fully recover international visitation levels.

"There are gaps in the market in terms of the visitation that we're currently receiving," he said.

"The anecdotes and some of the arrival data and some of the airline capacity is indicating that there still is, particularly for international, a strong period of recovery ahead."

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Co-owner of the Caledonian Inn in Robe Geoff Prest agreed.

"With all the borders and international areas open again now, there seems to be … a lot of people travelling back to the sunshine," he said.

"We've lost that trade we've had the last two winters with lots of South Australians heading down the Robe.

"The thing that hasn't replaced it is international [travellers]."

A strong summer on the horizon

But Mr Prest said the Victorian school holidays over the past two weeks had provided a welcome boost to the winter season.

"We've already seen an influx last week with Victorians, and even a kick up again on the weekend," he said.

"We're a bit lucky. We get a four-week extended holiday period with school kids and families."

Mr Prest said it had been "a significantly quieter winter" compared to previous years during the pandemic.

"We had a really busy April school holidays … so it's probably lined the coffers of most hospitality venues in Robe to be able to ride through a quieter winter," he said.

Fuel prices keep travellers close to home

Owner-operator of the Beachport Caravan Park Paul Benson said he believed it was a busier winter season compared to last year.

"It's probably a fraction busier. People are out and about a lot more," he said.

"People now have the freedom to travel and they just tend to do it – whether the weather is terrible or not.

"Our accommodation, cabins, apartments, motor inn rooms and everything – they've been quite busy."

Mr Benson said some travellers who would normally head interstate have decided not to for financial reasons.

"There are people that are on a budget, and especially with the fuel prices at the moment, that's stopping a lot of people from travelling too far," he said.

"We're finding that a lot of South Australians, and now Victorians as well, don't have to travel far to get to us in Beachport."

Mr Benson said he had noticed more international travellers in recent months.

"It's good to see they're back. It's good to see a bit of normality."