The Daylesford Macedon region has topped the state for intrastate overnight visitation growth during the past year.
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Nearly 40 per cent more Victorian visitors spent the night in the region as of March 2019 in comparison to the previous year, data reveals.
It also validates our effort targeting the Melbourne market with our marketing.
- Steve Wroe, Daylesford Macedon Tourism
Daylesford Macedon Tourism chief executive Steve Wroe said the growth primarily came from Melbourne overnight visitors, which had been identified as the target market for the tourism body.
"We're very pleased with this growth," he said in a written statement.
"Put simply we had nearly 40 per cent more Victorians spending the night in our region compared to last year. This is almost four times the state average."
"This growth is a credit to our amazing operators, who are the engine behind the visitor economy, and the incredibly strong regional brand. It also validates our effort targeting the Melbourne market with our marketing."
Tourism Research Australia data shows 819,000 domestic visitors stayed overnight in the region in the year ending March 2019 for an average of 2.3 nights, while there were more than two million domestic day trip visitors.
While domestic day trip and overnight visitors to the Daylesford and Macedon region increased, the number of international overnight visitors decreased 3.3 per cent in the same period to 19,000.
See the Regional Tourism Summary for the Daylesford and Macedon region below.
A ministerial review into regional tourism is underway, investigating ways to increase regional marketing effectiveness, build tourism product in regions, enhance regional tourism board and support the tourism industry.
A total of 13 scheduled consultations with industry, local councils and communities across Victoria will be completed by the end of August.
The Regional Tourism Review Discussion Paper released in July identified international visitation as a major opportunity for growth in regional Victoria.
Mr Wroe said DMT supported the review.
"Our strong brand, attractive tourism offering, quality operators and exceptional visitation growth put us in a very strong position in this review," he said.
"We... urge Minister Pakula, and MP Mary-Anne Thomas, who is heading up the review, to support DMT's operators by allowing us to grow and continue to deliver for the tourism industry in our region."
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Rochelle Kirkham
Rochelle covers court and has a particular interest in social issues including homelessness, food security and family violence.
Rochelle covers court and has a particular interest in social issues including homelessness, food security and family violence.
