The frustrating practice of “ghost camping” – which is when holidaymakers book multiple free camping spots but fail to turn up – is hurting small businesses this Easter.

The move wiped out $7.3 million in annual booking fees for campers but it’s come at another high cost.

It might be the middle of the school holidays, but some usually bustling camping grounds are sitting half-empty.

“People are booking them in advance and just not turning up,” one camper at Tidal River campground, a popular site in Wilsons Prom in southern Victoria, told 9News.

Brett Beaumont, who operates the Open Air Cinema near the campground, said his business was down 65 per cent on last year.

“There’s 484 campsites, roughly 150 would be occupied at the moment,” Beaumont said.

“The consequences are my business, which has struggled.”

Beaumont claims that, in extreme cases, some families booked out a spot for an entire month when they couldn’t decide which weekend to stay.

Nationals MP Melina Bath said she wasn’t pleased to see ghost camping at the popular Tidal River spot.

“Despite the website showing Tidal River as being fully booked, there are plenty of spare campsites and it appears quite a few ‘no shows’ or multiple party bookings for space,” Bath said.

“Ghost camping looks set to continue harming local businesses and abandoning needed revenue.”

Back in January, fellow Nationals MP Danny O’Brien also took aim at the state government’s free camping initiative.

“It’s a shame people are so thoughtless but this could’ve been avoided with some foresight – require a refundable deposit or re-let sites if someone doesn’t show up within 24 hours etc,” he said on Facebook.

“Several campers stopped me as I had a look tonight to complain at what a waste it is, with international visitors and many others turned away when there are sites sitting unused. 

“This has been repeated around the state and will certainly have robbed many communities of vital summer income as visitor numbers are artificially depressed.”

Victoria Minister for Environment Steve Dimopoulos said in a statement that Victorians weren’t trying to “abuse” the system.

“I don’t buy that, Victorians want to do the right thing, that’s why Parks Victoria now send out two reminders to people to cancel if they can’t make their booking, so that other people don’t miss out,” Dimopoulos said.

“We introduced free camping to get more Victorian families out having holidays in the regions and putting money back in their pockets.”

“We want more Victorians to explore the great outdoors this Easter weekend, in addition to the 131 bookable campgrounds, Victorians can also stay at one of the 1000 free camping areas that are first-come-first-served across the state.”