Destination Wollongong says more than 202,000 people have passed through the doors of the Bulli Tops building since it opened almost three years ago.

The figures, outlined in Destination Wollongong's 2011-12 annual report, equate to an average of just under 1300 visitors a week, or 184 a day.

Once inside, tourists can use state-of-the-art interactive digital touchscreens to find hotels, restaurants and things to do throughout the Illawarra and the South Coast.

The centre's operating costs for the year totalled almost $400,000.

Destination Wollongong chairman Matt Davidson said he hoped the solid visitor numbers would help dispel beliefs from some community members that the centre was a "white elephant".

However, Mr Davidson also said Destination Wollongong did not expect visitor numbers to grow considerably at the site in coming years, and believed they could even drop off slightly.

"That's why as a group we're really focusing on social media interaction with visitors through Twitter, Facebook and our website, as well as using the mobile van to take the service to where people are."

Meantime, Destination Wollongong's annual visitor figures reveal a 12 per cent increase in domestic day trips and short breaks in the Illawarra during the past year, but a fall of almost 20 per cent in the number of international travellers staying overnight along the coast.

The region received more than 3.5 million domestic day visitors during the past 12 months - accounting for one in 10 visits to regional NSW.

The high Australian dollar and Europe's economic troubles were blamed for an overall downturn in overseas visitor numbers.

However Destination Wollongong also conceded it had reduced its international marketing budget for 2011-12 in line with a new strategic direction.

China was the only international market to grow during the past year - up by 23 per cent on the 2010-11 financial year.

Destination Wollongong recorded an operating profit of $14,310 for the year, the report showed.