Double digit visitor rise to the Great Ocean Road, reveals Tourism Research Australia report

Released by Tourism Research Australia on June 19, the quarterly International Visitor Survey shows 987,000 visitor nights were spent along the Great Ocean Road, up 6.9 per cent on the year to March 2018.

Overall spending in the region slumped 0.8 per cent down to $113 million.

International visitors spent an average of $462 each over the duration of their visit, and around $115 per night. An average of $118 was spent on commercial accommodation per visitor per night.

The expenditure figures not not match the total amount spent on a trip as it excludes airfares, vehicle hire and 70 per cent of pre-expenditure.

Of those visitor numbers to the Great Ocean Road, 57,000 of them were international backpackers, up 3.6 per cent.

Backpacker retention rates were 27.4 per cent higher on the 2018 figures, with 325,000 nights spent in the region.

The numbers of domestic tourists visiting each year has not yet been tallied by Tourism Research Australia, however December 2018 figures show 2.2 million Australians visited the Great Ocean Road over 12 months.

With numbers yet to be released, 2.45 million or more visitors are predicted to have visited the Great Ocean Road over the year.

The Great Ocean Road is ranked 20^th in the state's top tourism regions for international visitation.

Chinese visitors continue to lead the charge to Victoria with almost 680,000 visitors in the past year. Total spending by Chinese tourists was $3.2 billion.

"More international visitors than ever are choosing to come to Victoria and it's paying dividends in terms of thriving businesses and growing job opportunities," Tourism Minister Martin Pakula said.

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