Record visitors hit Victoria
The results are in and Victoria is welcoming more national visitors than ever before, spending their valuable dollars at local businesses and backing local jobs.
Minister for tourism and major events John Eren hailed yesterday’s latest National Visitor Survey results, which show record numbers of Australians travelling to regional Victoria.
Victoria welcomed almost 24 million domestic visitors, spending $13.3 billion in the 12 months to September, with some of the strongest growth occurring in our regions.
Visitors are spending more and staying longer when they explore regional Victoria, with visitation, spend and nights all experiencing double-digit growth.
Regional Victoria welcomed a record 15.6 million domestic visitors (up 15.1 percent), who spent nearly $6 billion at pubs, hotels and on activities across our regions (up 15.5 percent).
Victoria’s growth is also well ahead of the national regional average when it comes to visitor nights, with our regions boasting an impressive jump of almost 13 per cent.
Ten of Victoria’s tourism regions recorded double-digit growth in domestic overnight visitors, including Gippsland (up 34.4 percent), the Yarra Valley and Dandenong Ranges (up 26.9 percent), the Grampians (up 24.2 percent), the Great Ocean Road (up 15.4 percent), Geelong and the Bellarine (up 15.1 percent) and the Murray (up 14.3 percent).
Visitor spend and nights also grew in ten regions, with strong growth in the Grampians, the Great Ocean Road, Gippsland, Yarra Valley and the Dandenong Ranges, Victoria’s High Country and Geelong and the Bellarine.
Those opting to spend the single day in Victoria are also spending more, up by 9.4 percent to reach $5 billion, bounding ahead of the national average.
These impressive results are no accident. They prove that the Andrews Labor Government’s strategy with Visit Victoria to lure more visitors and strengthen regional communities is working.
The Labor Government has already supported more than 100 events across the regions and our major new tourism campaign, A Twist At Every Turn, is driving interstate visitation and supporting local jobs and businesses.
“We’re getting things done – these fantastic results are providing enormous benefit for regional jobs, tourism and businesses,” said the minister for tourism and major events, John Eren.
“More Australians are choosing to come to Victoria than ever before, and we’ll continue delivering the events and campaigns required to keep this momentum going.”
Chief executive of Visit Victoria, Peter Bingeman added: “It’s great to see such strong domestic growth for the state driven by regional visitation and spend which is supported by the work of the Regional Events Fund and dedicated marketing campaigns.”
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