Expenditure by international visitors in Bendigo Loddon has increased by 51 percent, but it still makes up just three percent of spending by visitors to the city according to statistics released by Tourism Research Australia.
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International visitor number to the city rose by 5,000 from the year ending June 2017 to the year ending June 2018, an increase of 31 percent according to the International Visitor Survey. Spending by international visitors rose by six million dollars, from $12 million to $18 million.
Australians still make up the bulk of the Bendigo Loddon region’s visitors, with 3,817,000 visiting in the year ending June 2018 according to TRA’s Domestic Visitor Survey.
Chair of Bendigo Tourism Board Finn Vedelsby described visitor numbers as “really, really positive”, saying they were evidence of tireless work on the council’s events driven tourism strategy.
Mr Vedelsby said events such as Open House Bendigo and White Night had been successful in drawing people to the city, while the art gallery and sporting facilities were always popular.
He believes that recent years have seen Bendigo move onto the map for international tourists.
Mr Vedelsby was confident that increased visitor numbers had a positive effect on the local economy.
Total visitor numbers to Loddon Bendigo have grown by 626,000 since the year ending June 2015, an increase of 19 percent.
Domestic day visitors make up the bulk of Bendigo’s tourism traffic, with 2,780,000 visiting in the year ending June 2018.
Overnight domestic visits were the next most frequent, accounting for 1,037,000 visitors in the same period.
Just 24,000 of the city’s visitors during that year were international.
Loddon Bendigo has seen the highest rate of growth in domestic day visitors over the past four years ending June 2018, despite a slight drop in numbers in the past year.
The area saw a total 24 percent increase in domestic day visitors over the four year period.
International visitors have increased by 20 percent, while overnight visitors have increased by just 7 percent.
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