Vol. No. Vol. 2518No. 2727
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Wednesday, January January 18, 13, 2023 2016 Wednesday,
LIFE SKILL: Horsham’s Prouse Swim School swimming instructors Claudia Lanyon, left, and Ellie Woods, right, teach students Tiffany Petering, Oliver Walters and Beau Hudson how to swim safely in open water at Green Lake, near Horsham, this week. Classes began on Monday and continue each afternoon until Friday and are part of a VicSwim course teaching people to navigate different water environments safely. Story, page 5. Picture: PAUL CARRACHER
Tourism injection BY MICHAEL SCALZO
A
bundant water and a summer free of COVID-19 restrictions have combined forces to energise Wimmera and southern Mallee tourism, as visitors revel at the region’s natural attractions.
Months after heavy spring rain and the gradual easing of COVID-19 restrictions, new anecdotal and recorded data continues to demonstrate a crucial economic link between water and tourism in the region. GWMWater’s latest catchment report has shown significant touristattracting storages including Lake Bellfield, at 99 percent full, Taylors Lake, 96 percent, and Lake Lonsdale, 103 percent.
Wimmera Mallee Tourism chair Graeme Milne said full water storages and a restriction-free summer was continuing to ‘push’ people into water-side holiday spots again. Mr Milne said people who visited the region with an intention to enjoy water-based recreation were ‘usually the largest tourist spenders’. “Having water in the drier parts of the region will always be one of the biggest attractors of people and as a tourism board, we see water recreation as extremely important to our overall tourism strategy,” he said. New data from the Tourism Research Australia, TRA, has also captured a bounce back of the Grampians’ tourism credentials. The annual TRA national visitor
to tourism operations, and was due recognition of the region’s natural tourism advantages. “These figures are incredible and they show that the region has started to extend beyond pre-pandemic levels,” he said. “Obviously, it has been tough for businesses, and at times, no-one had the answers in the midst of the pandemic, but the fact that overnight visitation spending has increased in this region, and to this level, is outstanding.” Mr Sleeman said high water-storage levels often directly correlated with an increased rate of tourists’ ‘extended stay’ in the region. A 2020 Wimmera Development Association report demonstrating
survey results, recorded between September 2021 and September 2022, showed the region had all but returned to its pre-pandemic tourist spending level. The Grampians recorded the thirdhighest annual growth of a Victorian region of overnight spend increases, above levels recorded in the 12 months from September 2018 to September 2019 prior to the pandemic. The data shows the Grampians recorded a 44 percent increase in overnight spending above pre-pandemic levels, behind the High Country, 55 percent, and Gippsland, with a 65 percent increase in spending. Grampians Tourism chief executive Marc Sleeman said the figures justified the region’s collective approach
the socio-economic value of recreational and environmental water had suggested the Horsham Rural City municipality and Northern Grampians and Yarriambiack shires, in particular, maintained a strong link between recreational water and economic growth. The report estimated the economic contribution of water facilities in the Northern Grampians shire was more than $7.2-million, while it was more than $6.8-million in the Horsham Rural City muncipality and more than $5.5-million in Yarriambiack shire. The report also estimated water recreation generated almost $2.1-million across Hindmarsh shire for the year. Continued page 3
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