Today the Victorian Government announced a new Destination Management Plan to boost visitors, investment and jobs in Gippsland. The plan will investigate options to increase visitors and invest in infrastructure at key tourism hotspots.
The Government will invest $400,000 in the development of the plan, to revitalise Gippsland’s visitor economy, making it more competitive, adaptive and diverse.
In 2016 alone, there were 5.2 million visitors to Gippsland, who contributed $781 million to the local economy.
Gippsland’s beaches, national and state parks, bushwalking and fishing activities are already popular activities for tourists in the region and the Plan aims to build on these strengths.
The Plan will be the first step in identifying opportunities to lift visitor numbers, improve the resilience and adaptive capacity of the region, as well as increase participation in arts, cultural, sporting and recreational activities.
The visitor economy was a key priority identified by the community through the Gippsland Regional Partnership and presented to the Government after the inaugural Gippsland Regional Assembly in 2016.