Tourism recovery

By Tania Martin
THOUSANDS of visitors last week returned to the Dandenongs, rejuvenating the local tourism industry.
Dandenong Ranges Tourism (DRT)’s Michael Axel said a recent 10-day campaign had helped kick-start the region.
Mr Axel last month told the Mail that although the Dandenongs had not directly been affected by the Black Saturday bushfires, it had left the region bereft of visitors.
He said the campaign sponsored by the State Government had breathed life back into tourism.
The Yarra Valley and Dandenong Ranges – Amazing as Always – campaign was announced last month and culminated in an Easter festival from 9 to 19 April.
It ran in all the major tourism centres affected by the downturn of the bushfires from the Dandneongs to the Yarra Valley, Nillumbik and Murrindindi regions.
State and Federal Governments kicked in more than $200,000 for the campaign as part of the Victorian tourism package for bushfire ravaged areas.
The idea for the campaign was raised at a meeting of the Bushfire Response and Recovery Committee and was run in conjunction with Tourism Victoria and Yarra Ranges Regional Marketing.
Tourism Minister Tim Holding said the festival would assist in the economic recovery of the region which has suffered from cancellations and a drop in visitor numbers.
“We are working to rebuild communities affected by the devastating bushfires and restoring tourism to these regions,” he said.
“This was a great way to drive tourism in this region during the week, which is when these operators really need our support.”
“Our target is to get visitor numbers to return to levels that they were before the bushfires.”
Mr Axel said the campaign was a fantastic idea and had been a popular way to get people back to the area.
He said tourism operators across the Dandenongs had shown a marked improvement.
“The region is on its way back,” he said. “It has been disastrous for months but the numbers are starting to creep back up … we appear to have weathered the worst of it.”