7 nights for 5? The deals luring travellers back to the road amid fuel hikes

Caravan park owners are urging grey nomads not to give up their holiday plans amid soaring prices at the petrol pump, with the offer of discounts and a cheap place for serenity for locals.

Minimbah Fishing Lodge on the NSW Mid North coast has had winter bookings down by 60 per cent compared to this point last year but found a silver lining.

"There is a massive exodus of grey nomads from Victoria that come up north and we rely on them coming up every year," said Ron Guthrie, owner of the rural lodge.

"We're not going to get them so that's going to have a pretty dramatic effect on our local economy."

The cost of petrol and diesel has increased by over 25 per cent in capital cities since the most recent escalation of the Middle East conflict, according to the ACCC's more recent fuel price update on March 13.

It comes as a market research survey by Nature found 97 per cent of respondents felt "concerned about fuel supplies amidst current global tensions", while more than half said they'd already reduced unnecessary driving. Another 28 per cent were considering - or have already begun - storing petrol at home.

"The majority (80 per cent) of those surveyed don't expect an end to the instability in the near-future, saying they expect there will be significant fuel shortages in Australia for the next few months," said Chris Crook, managing partner at Nature.

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Mr Guthrie said his business has in the past month gone from fully booked out over the Easter long weekend to now having vacancies to fill.

"People in Sydney have pulled out because of the fuel uncertainty, not just the cost of it ... they're worried about getting here but [also] getting back home," Mr Guthrie said.

Mr Guthrie said his local area was safe from service station closures, though there have been reports of petrol deserts in other regional Australian towns.

For the time being, some of the lodge's vacancies are being filled by local residents with caravans and motorhomes who still want to enjoy a getaway but without the added price of travelling afar.

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"They want to stay longer where they are to avoid travel and fuel so we've decided that we'll try and help them out in winter time," he said.

"We're going to offer them the opportunity to stay for seven nights but only pay for five so they can get some assistance with the fuel money to move on to where they want to go next."