Figures reveal extent of tourism's shocking 2020

The data was released this week by Tourism Research Australia (TRA).

Their figures showed there was a fall in spending of $256 million year on year just among domestic tourists, with international visitors no longer being tracked as their numbers have declined to such negligible levels.

One of the most important metrics is the number overnight visitors to the city, as these visitors tend to spend more. This was reduced by more than half compared to the previous year.

In Ballarat, the figure fell more sharply than across the state as a whole. In the year ending December 2020, there were 433,000 domestic overnight visitors compared to 992,000 the previous year.

Daytrippers fell dramatically too, dipping from 2,342,000 in 2019 down to 1,163,000 in 2020, which was again a trend that was more pronounced in Victoria than elsewhere in the country.

Only the first two months of the year would have been largely unaffected by the pandemic.

The drop in the number of nights stayed was less impacted than across the state, falling in Ballarat by 39.8 per cent compared to more than 44 per cent in Victoria.

However, overnight spending in the city more than halved, falling from $308 million to $128 million, while daytripping expenditure went down from $273 million to $197 million.

Paul Martino, the deputy chair of Ballarat Regional Tourism, said the figures did not come as a big surprise.

"The statistics are only telling us what we already know," he said. He noted that while recent Queensland border closures were a reminder of ongoing uncertainty, the emphasis was very much on recovery.

"We can reflect on the statistics and search for meaning and new information but it's what's happening tomorrow that's going to matter," he said. "What our focus is on now is making Ballarat stand out as a destination of choice."

The 2020 figures come after a record year in 2019 when the number of visitors to the city were the highest the city had ever seen.

The TRA last year showed the city received around 3,362,000 visitors during in 2019, more than any previous annual total.

Of those, there were 2,342,000 domestic daytrippers, as well as the 992,000 Australia visitors who stayed overnight.

There were also an estimated 529,000 nights spent in the city by overseas visitors in 2019, a market that has collapsed since COVID-19 restrictions were first introduced.

The international visitor survey that used to accompany the domestic study has been discontinued by the TRA since overseas arrivals largely stopped.

Sovereign Hill was perhaps the most impacted by the fall-off in the number of visitors from overseas, and has since released a long-term strategy which shows a renewed focus on tourists from within the country.

Last week, the new city-wide tourism marketing 'We Are Ballarat' campaign began, which called for residents to ask friends and family to visit. The highly regarded Made of Ballarat advertising campaign has also been brought back to life.

Mr Martino said the signs were good that the Easter holidays would provide a fillip to the tourism and accommodation industry.

READ MORE: Can tourism ever be the same again?

"The weather is going to be beautiful," he said. "We are very confident it's going to be a busy couple of weeks - but we need a busy 12 months."

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