City, region bustling with tourists

WANGARATTA and surrounds has seen an influx of thousands of travellers and tourists over the festive holiday period as families and friends travelled from all around to celebrate together. Between December 23 and December 31, some 2945 people visited the Rural City of Wangaratta's visitor centres at the Ned Kelly Discover Hub in Glenrowan and kiosk at the Wangaratta Performing Arts and Conference Centre. Council's visitor services team said visitors where seeking information on local attractions such as wineries, activities for the kids, and a lot of interest in the New Year's Eve celebrations at the Wangaratta Showgrounds - which attracted a record 10,000 strong crowd. Local caravan parks have been either fully booked or almost fully booked for the last few weeks as visitors enjoyed the area. Painters Island Holiday Park managers Kirk Edgar and Deb Daniel said their team had been flat out since the jazz festival weekend with no signs of slowing down for the rest of the summer season. "We're above our pre Covid levels on all figures, historically we're trading well above," Kirk said. "We are booked out until mid-January, we have 23 cabins and 122 campsites and we have a scattering of bits and pieces left over but the majority of it is booked out, and we are expecting a pick-up at the end of January. "It's a 300 metre walk from our park to the CBD and everybody knows that, our guests love it because they don't need to drive anywhere, they can go have a meal and a bottle of wine and just walk home along the rail trail. "We can hold over 400 people in the park so we pump millions of dollars into the Wangaratta economy and it's a real benefit for the community." For some, a visit to the region is a family tradition. The Hinds and Meagher family has been staying at Painters Island Holiday Park over the Christmas an New Year's break for 45 years. Julie Anne Meagher said the location is quite a sentimental place for her family. "My son had a plaque made and a tree planted in memory of my parents who started the tradition," she said. "We have a group of up to 70 people who gather together to relax, spend time walking to local shops and pubs, head out to the wineries, enjoy the river, play golf and celebrate a few family birthdays. "The park has seen us through over 40 years of our lives and we really enjoy it here.” For other holiday-makers, like John Phillips from Mornington Peninsula, it's their first time staying at Painters Island Holiday Park. John and his partner Tomoko Suetani have been spending their time seeing the sights, learning some Ned Kelly history, visiting wineries and fishing. "The fireworks on New Year's Eve was a highlight for my partner and I," said John. "We'll definitely be coming back." Valley View Caravan Park owner and manager Susan Remman said the award winning Whitfield facility had also been fully booked from the Christmas week to News Year's Day. "It quietens down a little until the 26th but we're expecting it to pick back up again around that time," she said. "This year we have been a bit busier, we have knocked back a lot of people between Christmas and New Year's Day. "I went down to Gentle Annie's this morning and they are also really busy, it's looking promising this season. "We have availabilities in the new year and we're open to reservations for the rest of the school holiday period." Tourism destinations such as Glenrowan have been bustling with visitors. Kate's Cottage owner Michelle Coad said it's been a good season so far. "Christmas and the holiday period is always a boost for our local economy," she said. "We're expecting consistency this month, it's always hard to tell but we're hoping for as good if not better of a season than last year. "We have had mostly tourists through but it would be nice to see more locals through, it would be great for them to have a look and learn some new things. "It's at your back door and not many people take the time to travel and explore within their own locality." Kelly Country Tours also reported being busy this holiday period, with owner Tony King hoping for a bigger and better outcome for the rest of the season. Council's visitor services team also reported a continuous increases in visitors accessing information via digital channels, with traffic to Visit Wangaratta was up 18 per cent year on year, with online searches up 26 per cent year on the year.

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