A 66% increase in visitor spend has super-charged Greater Geelong and The Bellarine’s visitor economy, returning it to its pre-pandemic worth of $1.1 billion.
The positive results come from the latest Tourism Research Australia domestic visitor data for the year-ending June 2022.
Initial predictions estimated that Greater Geelong and The Bellarine would not return to its $1.1 billion visitor economy until 2024.
“This is the first time since March 2020 that our visitor spend has returned to being a $1.1 billion economy for our region,” said Brett Ince, Tourism Greater Geelong and The Bellarine Executive Director.
“To achieve this result well ahead of predictions is a testament to the hard work of our industry, and the many events, experiences, projects and initiatives that are bringing people to our region.”
Figures also show significant growth in domestic visitors and nights for the year-ending June 2022:
- Greater Geelong and The Bellarine attracted 4.3 million visitors, a 25% increase on 2021 results and significant progress to the pre-pandemic figure of 6.4 million visitors; and
- Visitor nights increased to 3.8 million – a 34% growth on last year’s results. Prior to the pandemic, visitor nights were at 5.7 million.
For the year-ending June 2022, Geelong and The Bellarine was also the most-visited regional destination in Victoria, with our 9% share of regional visitation ahead of Mornington Peninsula (8%) and Great Ocean Road (7%).
Our region’s domestic recovery and growth on last year is performing ahead of regional Victoria and Victoria as a whole.
“While we may not be back to pre-pandemic visitation levels across the board, our region’s recovery is performing incredibly well in the state and regional Victoria,” said Mr Ince.
“The data also shows that the visitors we have been attracting are spending more and staying longer, which has helped our visitor economy to bounce back the way it has.”
These results are also reported in Tourism Greater Geelong and The Bellarine’s Annual Report 2021-22, which was released in late September 2022.
