Politics & Council
26 May, 2024
Mapping the spend: Wonderful weekends
By CHRIS EARL VISITORS spent more than $3 million at Loddon Shire businesses last month. And weekends are the peak spending time, according to data now being analysed by Loddon Shire to guide future tourism marketing campaigns in Victoria. According...
By CHRIS EARL
VISITORS spent more than $3 million at Loddon Shire businesses last month.
And weekends are the peak spending time, according to data now being analysed by Loddon Shire to guide future tourism marketing campaigns in Victoria.
According to tourism and economic development manager David Stretch the Spendmapp software monitors aggregated transactional data for resident, visitor and online spends by a person’s local government area or town.
Data also captures days and times when purchases are made and allocates to categories including retail and hospitality.
“Spendmapp provides an image of the (local) economy every day so that trends and events in changing local conditions are captured,” he said.
“It is used in grant applications and acquittals, event analysis, land use planning, cost benefit studies, economic development strategies and in negotiations with investors and the business community.”
Mr Stretch said initial data had shown spending spikes on weekends, including Fridays.
He said last November’s Inglewood Alive weekend had seen $100,000 spent in that town for the weekend.
Across the shire, spending for the weekend was more than $500,000. The March long weekend had been strong for Boort while Easter had also seen strong spending in Bridgewater and Wedderburn with the total visitor spend more than $700,000 and the peak day Easter Saturday.
Using data back to January 2022, there had been a 28 per cent increase in visitors to the Loddon region this January.
Data has been supported by increased visitation at caravan parks in Bridgewater and Wedderburn while there was again an overflow of campers at Boort over Easter.
Mr Stretch said that while consumer spending in Victoria was down 8.8 per cent in the first quarter of 2024, the drop was only 3.2 per cent in the Loddon Shire.
Mr Stretch said residents from Swan Hill, Cohuna, Echuca-Moama and Kerang had been identified as strong spenders in the Loddon Shire.
He said there had been signification visitation from Murray River areas with a promotional billboard recently displayed at Yarrawonga.
“We’re now able to gather accurate data on the impact of events in communities,” Mr Stretch said.
He said data showed 92,000 transactions were made with Loddon businesses in March for an average spend of $55.
Spendmapp is a multi-award-winning bank transaction analytics application for local governments.
Loddon Shire’s use of the data comes as council leaders continue discussions with major employers ahead of a draft economic development strategy.
The current policy was adopted five years ago and a team including Mayor Gavan Holt has had initial talks with business and industry. They are also represented on the economic development committee.
The last Census showed Loddon’s population had increased for the first time in two decades, reversing the downtrend trend that started in the 1990s before stabilising a decade ago. It was estimated at 7747 last year.
Almost a third of residents work outside the shire. Of the 894 according to 2021 figures, 500 travelled into the City of Greater Bendigo for daily work.
Spendmapp also tracks aggregate spending of Loddon residents in other towns.