The Great Ocean Road region is recovering but not yet recovered.
- Liz Price
The Great Ocean Road is "recovering but not recovered yet" following the COVID-19 pandemic, a tourism boss says.
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New data released by the state government for the year ending December 2022 showed domestic visitation to the Great Ocean Road had decreased by 22 per cent for day trip visitors and 13 per cent for overnight visitors.
The Great Ocean Road region encompasses Winchelsea, Lorne, Anglesea, Torquay, the Glenelg shire including Portland, Camperdown, the Colac region, Corangamite shire, the Otways and the Moyne and Warrnambool regions.
Great Ocean Road Regional Tourism general manager Liz Price said the region was recovering but had not yet recovered from the pandemic.
"Domestic visitor nights remain nine per cent below 2019 levels and international nights, which equated to approximately 1.1 million nights in 2019, are not yet being recorded but remain significantly impacted," Ms Price said.
"Domestic visitor expenditure, albeit in an inflationary market, is above 2019 expenditure although the Great Ocean region is tracking below the level of increases being experienced in some of the other regions in Victoria."
Last year Ms Price said she didn't believe the region would see the return of pre-COVID international spend until 2024.
The data showed the total domestic spend in regional Victoria, including day trip and overnight stays, reached $15.3 billion.
This is 32 per cent above the pre-pandemic spend in the year ending December 2019, and 59 per cent above the year ending December 2021.
Further data released by the state government for the year ending September 2022 showed the Great Ocean Road was the second highest in total domestic spend in Victoria's regions for domestic overnight and day trips with a profit of $1.8 billion.
This was a 34 per cent increase from the same period in 2019, pre-COVID pandemic. The 2022 data was sourced from the International Visitor Survey, National Visitor Survey and Tourism Research Australia.