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Grampians visitor numbers jump

Grampians visitor numbers jump

Northern Grampians Shire Council and Tourism Victoria have reported growth in the Grampians tourism market in 2009.

Statistics released by Tourism Victoria show the Grampians as one of only two regions in the state to have experienced domestic visitor growth in 2009. Grampians growth was the biggest in the state at 7.2%p.a.

Acting General Manager Business Services, Samantha Magill, said statistics from the Halls Gap visitor information centre supported this.

“We’ve seen a significant increase in the number of visitors coming through the doors in Halls Gap over the past 12 months, particularly in traditionally low seasons”.

“In 2009, we recorded our best ever August and also a very busy October with over 9000 visitors being assisted by our staff. Over 81,000 visited the centre in 2009”, Mrs. Magill said.

Mrs. Magill also pointed out that tourism in the Grampians had not dropped since the 2006 bushfires.

“We’ve seen an increase of 8.8% in people coming to the visitor information centre since 2006. This is really encouraging for us and for all the operators in the area as everyone put in a great effort to get things back up and running after the bushfires”, Mrs. Magill said.

Council also reported that the number of visitors through the centre had remained higher than usual since the end of the Tourism Victoria reporting period in September 2009. The trend has been for continued growth of tourism in the Grampians