TOURISM growth in Loddon Shire would come through collective effort and collaborative spirit.
That was the message of lessee of the Bridgewater and Wedderburn caravan parks, Kristy Hourigan, at last week’s Loddon tourism network dinner.
Tourism businesses and organisations from all major Loddon Shire communities heard from Mrs Hourigan on the destination visitation growth achieved at the parks in the last 12 months.
She said bookings at Bridgewater had increased almost 40 per cent and there were plans to place cabins at the park to further boost stays.
Mrs Hourigan said industry data showed people had a preference for overnight stays over day trips.
Loddon Shire’s tourism and economic development manager David Stretch said accurate economic data would soon become available for the shire’s team.
Mr Stretch said the economic spend in towns and broad information on regions visitors were from would help with future targeted promotional campaigns.
“We will be able to direct ouR efforts into the areas where these people are coming from,” he said.
The network work dinner was also told that council was beginning a tourism services review and would also review existing tourist signage across the shire.
Several brown tourist signs are now unreadable, including one in Inglewood director visitors to Kooyoora State Park and another on the Loddon Valley Highway with directions to the Terrick park.
Flavours of Loddon co-ordinator Anne Marie Davis briefed the network on the pop-up food van project’s first events since being launched last November.
She said there were plans to expand the collaboration to include more growers of produce in the shire, tap into the shire’s inclusion in Bendigo’s City of Gastronomy and the growing agritourism market.