In the two months to December 2023, visitation to the newly opened Forster Visitor Information Centre has grown by seven per cent since it moved in October.
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However, storm and heavy rainfall in late November resulted in a three per cent drop during the same period at Gloucester Visitor Information Centre.
This information was presented to councillors attending the February 28 MidCoast Council ordinary meeting by economic and destination development manager, Tanya Lipus.
"Gloucester Visitor Information Centre was impacted by storms and heavy rainfall in late November 2023 resulting in the closure of the centre for two days to allow clean-up," Ms Lipus reported.
"Work still continues to replace some of the carpets and the ceiling panels."
In the year to date, Gloucester has assisted 6317 local and intrastate visitors with their tourism inquiries, Forster has helped 6143, while 662 have been via phone inquiries.
Ms Lipus said residents within the Mid-Coast LGA (local government area) and intrastate visitors were the top visitor origins of traffic into the centres.
During the October to December period, retail increased at both sites bringing in close to $12,000, while beach permits also rose by 15 per cent to more than $42,600
The most popular products were the Barrington Coast stubby cooler, Winston Walford beach towel, Tobwabba tea towel, topographical maps and the Guardian dog soap.
Maps and brochures remain the top visitor inquiry across the area, while the Barrington Coast Scenic Drives brochure with the full region map remains the most popular and has been reprinted using traceable QR codes for increased data recording.
"We are seeing a change of sentiment in residents when conducting pop-ups with a positive reinforcement of the activities of Barrington Coast tourism and the brand.
"There is also an increase in brand recognition with visitors."
Jeanene Duncan
Jeanene has more than 40 years experience as a regional and rural journalist starting at The Land Newspaper. She also worked for Stock Journal Newspaper (SA), McPherson, Fairfax newspapers and Rural Press, and contributed to various magazines.
Jeanene has more than 40 years experience as a regional and rural journalist starting at The Land Newspaper. She also worked for Stock Journal Newspaper (SA), McPherson, Fairfax newspapers and Rural Press, and contributed to various magazines.
