Our bumper weekend
A SMORGASBORD of tourism offerings enticed visitors to make the Bellarine region their holiday destination during the unofficial long weekend.
Geelong tourism chief Roger Grant said visitor drawcards including the renowned Archibald Prize, Toast to the Coast and Bellarine Arts Trail encouraged visitors from Melbourne and regional Victoria to pack their bags and stay in the Geelong region during the Melbourne Cup weekend.
“We get about 5.34 million visitors a year and about 3.5 million are day-trippers,” Mr Grant said.
“So our biggest challenge is trying to convert those daytrippers to overnight visitors.
“The possible way we can do that is to provide additional events.”
He said the long weekend visitor influx was expected to inject millions of dollars into the region’s tourism economy.
“This is a really important weekend for the region,” he said.
“The combination of Toast to the Coast as well as the Arts Trail on the Bellarine really means, in many ways, that this weekend launches the start of the summer season — particularly in terms of Melburnians coming down.
“It’s a terrific shot in the arm for the tourism industry.”
Barwon Heads Arts Council vice-president and Bellarine Arts Trail co-ordinator Karen Shirley said that more than 100 artists were involved in the trail, which gave art-lovers the rare opportunity to meet artists in their studios.
“There is a really lovely level of excitement from artists and visitors alike,” Ms Shirley said.
“We’ve spent the last two days visiting all of the venues and we had such a great time.
“I think people are just really pleased that this part of The Bellarine has been able to connect artists with public because before this event there was only the odd exhibition.”
A Barwon Heads Caravan Park spokeswoman said the park was almost at capacity, with most campsites and all cabins filled.
“Most of the visitors are families from Melbourne, Ballarat and other regional areas,” she said.
“We’ve got a lot of families who are just down here making the most of the long weekend and enjoying the coast.”
The region’s event calendar will remain jam-packed throughout the month.
More than 700 visitors a day are reportedly attending the Archibald Prize, with all but 30 per cent of patrons visiting from Melbourne, Ballarat and other regions.
Visitor numbers for the exhibition are expected to peak over the November 17-19 weekend when the National Non-Fiction Festival Word for Word is held.
Internationally acclaimed authors, including two-time Man Booker Prize-winner Peter Carey, will present over the three days.