Q.Which of these iconic Australian destinations attracts the greatest number of visitors?

A. The Great Ocean Road regionB. Tropical North QueenslandC. The ACTD. Blue MountainsE. GippslandF. Victoria’s High CountryG. The Northern TerritoryH. Phillip IslandI. The Whitsunday Region

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Visits to Australian iconic regions in 2015 (millions)

Adding value to the Great Ocean Road

Great OceanRoad region

TropicalNorth Qld

ACT Blue Mountains(NSW)

Gippsland High CountryVictoria

NorthernTerritory

PhillipIsland

Whitsundayregion (Qld)

Source: TRA, IVS and NVS

The Great Ocean Road region attracts 5.5 million people annually and is worth $780 million to the Victorian economy. The region contains attractions including the 12 Apostles, Loch Ard Gorge, the Bay of Islands, Port Campbell, Warrnambool, Tower Hill, Port Fairy and of course the Great Ocean Road itself.

Significant investment is required to protect and enhance this drawcard and to encourage day visitors (more than 70% of visitors) to become overnight visitors, able to enjoy more of Victoria.

The Shipwreck Coast Master Plan has identified priority actions to improve the visitor experience and maintain

the Great Ocean Road region as a tourist attraction with significant environmental, historical and aesthetic values. The region also includes areas of important Aboriginal cultural heritage.

The survey found that 35% of the annual 630,000 international day trip visitors would not have visited Victoria but for the opportunity to visit the Great Ocean Road/ 12 Apostles area.

A mix of public and private investment over the next decade to ensure the region continues to meet the expectations of visitors.

A.The Great Ocean

Road region

visitgreatoceanroad.org.au

visitgreatoceanroad.org.au

The value to VictoriaThe incremental spend by interstate and international visitors to the Great Ocean Road region is $782 million. This supports 3,720 jobs directly and 6,180 jobs in total across Victoria (mainly Melbourne).

Stay, just a little bit longer?In 2015, there were an estimated 630,000 international visitors who visited the Great Ocean Road but did not stay in the Great Ocean Road region. Of these visitors, 81% were leisurew visitors either on holiday or visiting friends and/or relatives.

Just over a third of international day visitors who visited the 12 Apostles only come to Victoria because of the opportunity to visit the 12 Apostles/Great Ocean Road area. This is a critical finding because it is a major driver of the total incremental visitor spend to Victoria due to the Shipwreck Coast area.

We are seekingTo ensure a world class experience at this international destination we are seeking $160 million to improve viewing facilities, parking management and develop an interpretive centre.

Outcomes

Adding value to the visitor journey in the Great South Coast

Jobs Growth GRP Growth Facilitation of private investment

Enhancing the visitor experience of the Shipwreck Coast and encouraging multi-day trips provides opportunities for visitors to experience the following regional Victorian attractions:

Moyjil-Point Ritchie: at the mouth of the Hopkins River is Moyjil (“long drag net” in Gunditjmara languages) where archaeological evidence suggests indigenous Australians have been present at the site for more than 35,000 years. Analysis of material found at the site is ongoing with the possibility of human occupation of the site going back more than 60,000 years.

Tower Hill Reserve: this 614ha reserve contains the largest nested maar volcano in the southern hemi-sphere. The reserve home to a diverse range of bird life and provides visitors with opportunities to view koalas, emus and kangaroos.

Budj Bim: the Lake Condah and Mount Eccles area includes sites of indigenous and geological significance. The landscape around Lake Condah contains one of the world’s oldest examples of aquaculture, with a series of man-made channels and ponds created more than 6,000 years ago to trap eels and fish

visitgreatoceanroad.org.au