A bumper winter at Shoalhaven Heads winery Coolangatta Estate has coincided with a $100 million increase in tourism expenditure on the South Coast.
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Coolangatta's cellar-door manager Ben Wallis said the recent growth in business was a result of more people coming from Canberra and Sydney, and a jump in mid-week trade.
The cellar door was getting the most trade but restaurant and accommodation bookings had also been strong, he said.
A combination of factors, including better weather, was responsible for the visitor influx.
"The Destination NSW short breaks campaign focused on this part of the world and helped us no end. And things like the Winter Wine Festival have encouraged people to come back. Sydney has been a great market and Canberra for us is a market that continues to grow."
The increasing reputation of Coolangatta Estate wines was also driving business.
"There is no doubt the wine-show success for us continues to be a major marketing tool and major drawcard in bringing people to the property," Mr Wallis said.
Meanwhile, the Big Foot tours, run by Bruce and Joe Bishop, of Bishop Adventures, continue to grow, and a second 36-seat, four-wheel-drive tractor-bus vehicle is about to be launched, doubling the capacity for tours up Mount Coolangatta. The additional Big Foot will allow more visitors to arrive on double decker buses.
Bishop Adventures has also been marketing alongside Dolphin Watch Cruises at Huskisson.
The willingness of so many businesses to work together was helping the region, Mr Wallis said.
It was now a place for adventure activities, visiting beaches, exploring fine wineries and enjoying a growing number of top-quality restaurants with access to fresh, high-quality local produce.
"There are so many good things happening down here," he said.
Tourism figures released for the March quarter by Destination NSW showed a $100 million increase in tourism expenditure on the South Coast during the year to March. The total number of visitors in that time was 9.1 million. They spent 13.3 million visitor nights and $2.1 billion on the South Coast. There were almost 3.3 million domestic overnight visitors, up 5.7 per cent.
The statistics also showed those visitors spent over 11.3 million nights in the region, up 3 per cent.
The South Coast figures took in Wollongong, Shellharbour, Kiama, Shoalhaven, Eurobodalla and Bega Valley.
South Coast Regional Tourism Organisation chairman Brian Longbottom said it was pleasing to see such a healthy growth in visitors to the South Coast.
"In no small way it can be put down to the co-operative marketing campaigns that have been done recently, and in earlier months, by the South Coast Regional Tourism Organisation and Destination NSW, with the full participation of the main tourism bodies of the Local Government Areas along the South Coast," he said.
