The number of day-trippers to Ballarat went up by more than 200,000 in a year, according to the latest available data.
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The same statistics also show a leap in the number of visitor nights spent, and a rise in the total amount spent by tourists in the area.
There were 3,257,000 visitors in total coming to Ballarat for the year between April 2018 up to the end of March this year, the new statistics released by Tourism Research Australia show.
Of those, the vast majority of them were domestic day-trippers, accounting for some 2,408,000 of the total.
That marks an increase from the 2.2 million who were registered the previous year.
There were also 824,000 visitors who stayed overnight, with an average spend of $311 according to the new statistics.
Visit Ballarat remains pleased with the significant growth over a five-year period - a period the experts tell us to review to ensure the most accurate picture of performance
While the statistics do not drill down to the precise numbers at different attractions, Sovereign Hill remains the biggest draw. A spokesperson for the attraction said that 740,000 visitors passed through their gates in 2018.
They also pointed towards the significant proportion of their international market coming from China.
A spokesperson for Visit Ballarat said: "Today's results show positive and healthy growth and also demonstrate the fluctuation of data on a quarterly basis, which is why Visit Ballarat remains pleased with the significant growth over a five-year period - a period the experts tell us to review to ensure the most accurate picture of performance."
They said that the figures showed an increase the total number of visitors of almost 40 per cent since 2015.
Ballarat does not feature in top 50 regions for overnight visitors but is ranked 26th overall when it comes to day-trip visitors. The number of overnight international visitors remains a small number of the total, with 25,000 stated for the time in question.
The number of international visitors was fractionally higher at 27,000 for Bendigo and Loddon, which had a total of 4,267,000 visitors for the same time period.
The future of Visit Ballarat, the arm's-length tourism marketing, research organisation mostly funded by the City of Ballarat Council, remains unclear.
Last month, the council announced it would be taking the service back in house, a decision strongly opposed by many in the city's tourism industry.
Earlier this month, a council spokesperson said overnight stays in Ballarat were down 40 per cent for international tourists and almost 12 per cent for domestic tourists since 2017, and that the council spent more on tourism than other councils for less return.
Visit Ballarat announced that the service agreement would end on September 30, with the future of its 16 employees a priority.
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