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Christmas And New Year Visitors Flock To Latrobe City Visitors flocked to Latrobe City over the Christmas and New Year period with the Latrobe Visitor Information Centre (VIC) experiencing an increase in visitor enquiries, accommodation bookings and retail sales. By Latrobe City - 14th February 2011 - Back to News Latrobe City mayor, Councillor Darrell White, said that the economic injection into the local area was a positive for Latrobe City and the wider Gippsland region.
"Tourism is a key element in the prosperity of any municipality. By attracting visitors from outside of our region, there is not only a direct financial gain for tourism operators; but many other businesses, such as restaurants and leisure services, benefit from an increase in customers.
"With tourism comes fantastic economic impacts and the recent growth is great news for Latrobe City," Cr White said.
Latrobe Tourism Advisory Board chair, Dunbar ward councillor Rohan Fitzgerald, explained that many of the key indicators had risen from the Christmas and New Year period of 2009 -10.
"Our figures showed a 16 per cent increase in visitor enquiries compared to the same period in the previous year, and that the dollar value of accommodation bookings made at the VIC increased by 125 per cent. Website hits also increased by 5 per cent in December and January compared to figures from the previous year.
"These figures show that visitors are interested in our local tourism assets and are actively seeking information on the experiences this region has to offer," Cr Fitzgerald said.
Latrobe City general manager economic sustainability, Allison Jones, commented that the VIC was a hub of activity throughout the period; providing helpful information to a variety of people.
"Visitors to the VIC came from all over Australia with international visitors coming from Brazil, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, India, Japan, Singapore, at the United Kingdom, just to name a few.
"Visitors accessed a range of local, regional and Australia wide brochures and maps, kits for new residents, dining options, scenic drives, information on upcoming events and much more.
"One particular day, 45 Canberra travel club members came to explore our backyard with help from the staff and volunteers at the VIC. Latrobe City was their choice of destination because of the range of accommodation and dining options, our local attractions and proximity to well-known tourist areas, such as Walhalla and Tarra Bulga National Park," Ms Jones concluded.
The Latrobe Visitor Information Centre, located in the Old Church, near Traralgon railway station offers personal customer service 7-days a week from 9am to 5pm and 24-hour service through the website, www.visitlatrobecity.com and information touch screen.
Media Enquiries:
Media Relations Team
Telephone: 5128 5458 or 0407 862 977
Jacinta Kennedy, Manager Community Relations
Telephone: 5128 5421 or 0401 824 195
Source: www.gippsland.com Published by: news@gippsland.com

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