SOUTH Australia’s tourism economy is at an all-time high and the effects are being felt closer to home at Millicent and Beachport.
The Millicent Visitor Information Centre recorded 6142 tourists during the peak summer period of December, 2018 to February, 2019, and the Beachport Visitor Centre recorded 10,826 during the same period.
The latest state economic data from Tourism Research Australia has reported the key industries contributing to South Australia’s all-time high of $7.2b expenditure are hospitality and retail.
Beachport Hotel co-owner Geoff Wells said the hotel hires additional summer staff to help with the workload, with an increase in visitors to Beachport during all seasons over the years.
“We (the hotel) rely on the summer trade to keep us going through winter,” Mr Wells said.
“Although we’re finding that winter almost holds its own now with people coming into the town.”
Mr Wells said Boxing Day was one of the busiest times of the year for Beachport.
Wattle Range Council tourism events officer Tamara North said a popular event in Beachport for locals and visitors in summer is the annual market day and duck race in early January.
Millicent’s own ‘give a toss’ market day, set for January 19, 2020, is another summer event which draws a crowd.
South Australian Tourism Commission (SATC) chief executive Rodney Harrex has said the latest state data confirmed the importance of the tourism economy to the job market.
“This is great news for our state’s tourism industry and shows the SATC is well on its way to achieving its original 2020 target to generate an additional 10,000 jobs,” Mr Harrex said.
