Visitor Economy strong in Hepburn Shire

Published on 01 September 2022

Daylesford Macedon Tourism, Hepburn Shire Council and the local industry are driving tourism expenditure in the region.  Effective and targeted marketing campaigns, diverse and highly attractive tourism offerings, enhanced and new events, are attracting both day-trippers and overnight visitation to our beautiful region.  

Visitation to the Daylesford Macedon Tourism (DMT) region is tracked through the National Visitor Survey and the International Visitor Survey, and the recently released statistics demonstrate our region’s continual growth. 

Mayor, Cr Tim Drylie, said he was pleased with the strong visitation results for the region.

“A strong visitor economy means more jobs, business growth and benefits for our towns locals.  These results are solid and very welcome given the recent impacts of COVID on tourism and businesses,” said Cr Drylie.

Our Tourism Board and Council have a strong focus on overnight visitation growth.  Overnight visitors spend four to five times as much per person as day trip visitors, ensuring sustainable and high-value tourism, rather than just volume.

Highlights from the Visitation Statistics for the 12 months ending March 2022 are:

• Domestic overnight visitors: DMT region grew 41% year-on-year against a regional Victoria average of 26% growth. 
• Domestic Nights (nights spent in region): grew 37% Year on Year vs regional Victoria average of 13%.
• Overnight visitor spend: the average spend per night is the highest in our region at $198 per person per night, against a regional Victoria average of $165.  The overnight visitor spend in our region for the year ending March 2022 was $276 million. 
• Daytrip spend: DMT region recorded 58% growth in daytrip spend against a regional Victoria average of 40% growth.  Daytrip spend is worth $158m for DMT.
• The total tourism spend in our region for the 12 months ending Mar 2022 is $434million.

Additionally, the recently released Hepburn Shire Council Community Satisfaction Survey identified that ‘Tourism development’ had performed significantly higher compared to State-wide and group averages. Council’s rating in this area has been stable for two years now.

These outstanding results, which build on several years of strong growth, demonstrate the benefits of collaboration between Daylesford Macedon Tourism, Hepburn Shire Council and our brilliant tourism and hospitality operators.

Steve Wroe, CEO of Daylesford Macedon Tourism, said “COVID really put us all through the wringer.  To see such a strong recovery in this vital segment (tourism is critically important to Hepburn Shire’s economic fortunes) is really pleasing.  While we and the Council each do their bit, it is the tireless work and innovate on of our amazing tourism and hospitality businesses that I particularly want to acknowledge”.