BALLARAT tourism is reaping the rewards of an influx of Chinese visitors.
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Foreign visitor spending rose by seven per cent to $31.1 billion on the back of another big increase in the number of Chinese tourists and a strong performance from the United States.
The number of arrivals on our shores rose by eight per cent to a record 6.4 million last year, according to Tourism Research Australia's International Visitor Survey for the year ended in December.
Ballarat Regional Tourism chief executive George Sossi said the trend in Ballarat has remained consistent with Australia’s overall direction with Chinese tourism over the past year.
“Certainly from Ballarat’s perspective, we’re starting to see growth and we’re continuing to build that profile,” Mr Sossi said.
“They’re not the biggest overnight staying sector, but they’re the biggest spending sector.
“It’s such a large population base, even a five or 10 per cent (increase) is huge.
“China is the the fastest growing country in terms of Australian tourism.”
Speaking to The Courier in February, Mr Sossi said tourism was Ballarat’s fifth-most important business sector.
Two of Ballarat’s biggest attractions are Sovereign Hill and Ballarat Wildlife Park.
Both, alongside Kryal Castle, have experienced recent increases in tourist numbers.
Mr Sossi said an effort is being made to lure more international overnight travelers, with most Chinese tourists to Ballarat just day-trippers.
Ballarat Wildlife Park managing director Greg Parker said the park has made concerted efforts over the past year to appeal to its Chinese visitors.
“We have (seen an increase in tourism), but it’s hard to correlate it to the overall trend because we’ve done a few extra things,” Mr Parker said.
“We’ve spent more money on marketing and we now have a Chinese marketing person.”
“The dollar is favourable and we just want to help catch the wave.”
Meanwhile, Sovereign Hill has experienced an eight per cent boom in Chinese tourism over the past year.
“Our numbers are up over the China Market,” Sovereign Hill chief executive Jeremy Johnson said.
“We’re almost at record level for domestic attendances.”
Local businesses are present at this week’s Australian Tourism Exchange.