Tourism statistics

Where does the visitor dollar go?

Research indicates visitor spend filters down to all parts of the community and is felt much more widely than by just the accommodation provider or the tour operator.

The visitor economy creates jobs and supports local services including supermarkets, cafes, bars, retail, restaurants and petrol stations. The multiplier effect sees the local visitor spend flow on through local staff wages and business spend to support tradesmen, truck drivers, laundry services, child care providers, local food and produce suppliers, etc.

Murray Region visitation statistics

The tourism industry is a key economic driver for the Murray region. The visitor economy directly employs over 24,000 full-time staff and accounts for 17% of total employment. Visitation to the Murray continues to grow with 5.3 million visitors coming to the region contributing $1.4 billion in direct expenditure to the local economy.

Domestic visitor nights reached 1.6 million in the year ending December 2020.

Swan Hill region visitation statistics

The Swan Hill region welcomed 524,000 visitors in the year to December 2020, this includes 735,000 overnight stays, a -23.3% decrease year on year.