Tourists spend $451 million annually in Coffs Harbour City

March 14, 2008

New figures show Coffs Harbour City attracts an average of 790,000 domestic overnight visitors and 75,000 international visitors per year helping small business and pumping more money into the local economy.

 

The Nationals Federal Member for Cowper, Luke Hartsuyker, said the new figures from Tourism Research Australia, which are a three to four year average to June 2007, reveal the growing trends why people are choosing to visit Coffs Harbour City.

 

More than 790,000 Australians choose to come here annually, spending on average $335 million which is helping local restaurants, shops, hotels and B and B’s,” Mr Hartsuyker said.

 

“The majority of the visitors came from the Sydney and New South Wales market.

In addition, about 75,000 international visitors visit Coffs Harbour annually, pumping some $18 million into our local economy and creating new jobs. Day visitors also contribute $98 million to the economy.

 

“The new survey shows the biggest drawcards for tourists to the area are restaurants, the beaches and shopping.

 

The Tourism Research Australia data shows the average number of nights a domestic visitor spends in Coffs Harbour City is 3.4, compared to international visitors who stay an average of 4.5 nights.

 

Mr Hartsuyker said tourism is vitally important to small businesses in the local area which rely on visitor spending.

 

“There are more than 1730 businesses in Coffs Harbour City which rely on tourism spending to increase their yield,” Mr Hartsuyker said.

 

“These new figures can help small businesses identify the types of visitors attracted to the region and market accordingly. This as a result can lead to increased productivity and greater opportunities for tourists as well.”

 

To see a full summary of the Tourism Profiles for Local Government Areas in Regional Australia, log onto http://www.tra.australia.com/regional.asp?sub=0159.

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