Coffs Coast Marketing, a unit of the Coffs Harbour City Council with the charter to market the region to visitors, is celebrating a five percent increase in domestic visitation and 51 percent increase in international visitors to the Coffs Coast.
Coffs Coast Marketing Tourism Manager, Glenn Caldwell, said a total of 1.94 million visitors came to the Coffs Coast (Coffs Harbour and Bellingen Local Government Authorities) in the 12 months leading up to June 2013.
“Tourism remains one of the key drivers of the local economy and it is fantastic to see this growth for the Coffs Coast region.
“One of our aims has been to convince visitors that there is so much to do in the region that they need to stay longer, and statistics show that this is starting to happen. So while we have been seeing a reduction in domestic day trips over the past 18 months, overnight visitation has increased which means that they are lengthening their stay. Visitors are also spending more money as shown by the increase in expenditure to $540 million.
“Some fabulous new initiatives and campaigns are starting to get some strong traction in the market place including recent branding for the region – Where Memories are Made, our awarded 101 Things to Do in Coffs Coast campaign, two new Coffs Coast TV commercials and a new website providing depth to a visitors stay.
“Aiding in this increased business has been $600,000 worth of online and print media coverage as a result of journalist visits in the past 12 months, the Coffs Harbour Regional Airport securing a fourth airline and $1 million in sales produced by the Visitor Information Centre for local tourism operators.
“We plan to continue this momentum with a new online booking platform amongst other projects highlighted in the recently released Coffs Coast 2014 Marketing Partnership Program outlining all the ways local industry can work together to grow tourism.”
Further information on Coffs Coast Marketing can be found online at www.coffscoast.com.au/resourcecentre.
