Gippsland ranks 17th as tourism hotspot
Gippsland has ranked as the 17th most loved tourism destination in the world for 2021.
The rating, called the Tourism Sentiment Index, used an AI to gather 1.6 billion pieces of online conversations and content pieces to rank the top 100 global destinations.
Gippsland ranked well above Budapest at 53rd, Las Vegas at 32nd, the Mornington Peninsula at 28th, and Havana at 20th.
It comes as some local accommodation businesses experience a surge in bookings, as Australians look to venture into the country despite the increase in COVID-19 case numbers.
The Mercure Hotel in Warragul was booked to about 80 per cent capacity last month, experiencing an increase in bookings compared with pre pandemic levels in January 2020.
“This January we definitely noticed a lot more leisure guests, so we were booming right through from November until January,” Mercure
Hotel manager Anna Coffey said.
Ms Coffey believes the constantly changing travel restrictions had brought more Melbournians to holiday in Regional Victoria.
“Instead of taking it for granted and going to other states or overseas, people are actually trying to explore what we have on our doorstep,” she said.
A backlog of weddings, various wineries, and bushwalks at places like Noojee were popular among those visiting Warragul.
“Being ranked 17 in the world, it does surprise me in a way but that’s because I’ve done a lot of travelling.
“But I guess there is plenty of places to go and I feel like now is the opportunity [travellers] are taking what we have in Victoria,” Ms Coffey said.
The Sunshine Coast ranked as the number one most loved destination, followed by the Whitsundays in second and Udaipur, India in third.