Kiama continues to draw visitors keen to explore the region, with new figures revealing 1.08 million people visited the Municipality in 2016; an increase of more than 13 per cent on 2015.
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The results also are a great outcome from Kiama’s participation in the South Coast Unspoilt campaign.
- Councillor Matt Brown, chair of the Tourism Advisory Committee.
“This is the first time since 2013 that we’ve had more than one million visitors to our region, which is a fantastic result,” chair of the Tourism Advisory Committee Clr Matt Brown said.
“The most important part of the results is that these visitors spent around $145 million dollars while visiting our area.”
Key results
- Total visitors to December 2016 – 1.08m – a 13.7 per cent increase.
- Overnight visitors (domestic) – 308,000 – an increase of 19.8 per cent.
- Day visitors (domestic) – 759,000 – an increase of 11 per cent.
- Overnight visitors (international) – 12,300 – an increase of 9 per cent.
Clr Brown said the increase in overnight visits was especially pleasing.
“Kiama always performs well when it comes to day visitors, as anyone who comes here on weekends and over summer can tell you,” he said.
“But getting people to stay overnight is absolute gold for our tourism operators as it provides an exponentially greater return in terms of the money spend while here.”
Clr Brown said the 2016 figures continued the strong performance of the local tourism industry.
“This outcome is yet another tribute to the high-quality service and tireless efforts of our local tourism operators,” he said.
“People may come for our beautiful beaches, rolling headlands and farmland and mountains, but they stay and spend because of strong customer service, quality accommodation and great food and wine.
“The results also are a great outcome from Kiama’s participation in the South Coast Unspoilt campaign.”
Clr Brown said strengthening of the tourism market was great news for the wider community.
“We know, based on previous results, that tourism generates around 1,400 local jobs. These latest figures mean the number of jobs will also have increased,” he noted.
Yolanda Wu from China explored the Kiama Blowhole on Saturday.
“It is my second time here,” she said.
“I come here just to see the blowhole, it’s very interesting, I can’t find this in other places.”
Sydney’s Farah Bozorg is attracted to the region for its natural beauty.
“Today we decided to come for a drive here,” she said.
“I have been here three times now, I like the nature, the green hills, farmland and the ocean views.”
Claire Yan, originally from China and now resides in Sydney, has also visited Kiama on two occasions.
“I enjoy the beautiful scenery here, the ocean, the farmland as well the hills and the blowhole, and most importantly because we are work colleagues we enjoy it together,” she said.
Kiama Tourism operations manager Lisa Kelsey said the municipality had a lot to offer from whale watching and festivals to quality wedding and conference locations.
“It’s fantastic to see tourism growing in our region,” Mrs Kelsey said.
“Obviously we work very hard marketing the area, our Unspoilt campaign we did with Destination NSW and South Coast Regional Tourism has been fantastic, it’s had phenomenal results for the area.”
Mrs Kelsey said it was good to see the South Coast had overtaken the North Coast as the number one spot to visit.
“Historically it was the North Coast people would visit, now people are discovering there is unspoilt beauty on the South Coast and we have so much to offer,” she said.
