The Bendigo Loddon region was Victoria's second most visited area in Victoria for the arts in 2018, according to a report from the Australian Council for the Arts.

The region had the third highest rate of people taking part in arts activity during daytrips in Australia, the 10^th for overnight stopovers.

Read more: Bendigo narrowly misses out on glamping crown at tourism awards

These tourists are likely to travel further, stay longer and spend more, the report stated.

Council staff said the city needs to stay different to maintain its strong status in the field.

City of Greater Bendigo Tourism and Major Events manager Terry Karamaloudis said the Bendigo Art Gallery had been foremost in attracting visitors interested in arts and culture to the region.

He dated the Bendigo's success in attracting arts and cultural visitors to a decision council made 20 years ago to move away from marketing itself on gold and history.

"It's been a long game, we've been at it since the year 2000," Mr Karamaloudis said.

"Clearly the latest data from the research institute shows that we're doing really well."

Read more: Tourism recommendations may see new KPIs introduced for industry

Bendigo Loddon was the fifth most frequently visited region for museum and art gallery day trips in Australia, following only capital cities and the Sunshine Coast.

It had the third highest rate of arts activity on day trips in Australia, following only Ballarat and Canberra.

It sat at 10^th in Australia for overnight trips involving arts activity.

Seven per cent of Victorians on arts daytrips went to Bendigo, seven per cent to Ballarat and 42 per cent to Melbourne.

Bendigo Art Gallery director Jessica Bridgfoot said those visiting the city made up 82 per cent of people at ticketed exhibitions.

Ms Bridgfoot said a strategy of hosting exclusive exhibitions had brought more out-of-town and interstate visitors.

She said interstate visitation had increased 1.5 per cent since the Balenciaga exhibition in August to November of 2019.

Read more: Bendigo Art Gallery announces new director

Ms Bridgfoot said the gallery was becoming mores strategic with its programming to target marketing.

She said with visitor yield in mind they were focusing on audiences with discretionary income and time to spend it.

Strategies included work in creating experiences, packaging exhibitions with hospitality and extras to encourage people to come for a unique experience.

"As a public gallery we want to attract as many people to the region as possible and increase visitor yield across the city," Ms Bridgfoot said.

Mr Karamaloudis said Bendigo needed to avoid the "see of sameness" to maintain its popularity.

It was this that drove the city away from the "golden history" idea that competitor cities were all pursuing in 2000, he said.

"We need to be looking at research, be right across what people are looking for from a destination. What are the things people are interested in," he said.

"We need to position ourselves strategically with our industry partners, state government partners, federal partners."

Mr Karamaloudis said overnight stays were the most important figure, because it meant people were staying longer and spending more in the distention.

Have you signed up to the Bendigo Advertiser's daily newsletter and breaking news emails? You can register below and make sure you are up to date with everything that's happening in central Victoria.