THE results are in from the Great Lakes Tourism 2005/2006 summer survey, and while there are areas for further development, overall the region fared well during the summer school holiday period.
45 surveys were returned from tourism related businesses across the region.
As well as accommodation providers, there were also a number of activities and attractions that contributed to the results.
The survey period was from Sunday, December 25, 2005 until Tuesday, January 31, 2006, and was held in conjunction with the Chamber of Commerce's economic activity survey.
The average occupancy for the period was 72 per cent, however within this, some accommodation providers did better than others.
The highest occupancy was the apartments, resort-style complexes, and caravan and camping parks. Many of these achieved close to 100 per cent occupancy.
Motels and B&B's were lower than previous years, as were private rentals.
As expected, there was a gradual decline in visitor numbers as January progressed to a low of 41 per cent.
The family market accounted for 55 per cent of total visitors to the region with the average length of stay being one week. 60 per cent of visitors came from the Sydney region.
Interestingly, caravan and camping parks within the Great Lakes area, with an average occupancy of 91 per cent, had 84 per cent of their customers as families, 39 per cent staying for longer than 2 weeks, 84 per cent repeat customers and 49 per cent from the Newcastle/Hunter region.
In contrast, Hotel/Motels, with an average occupancy of 68 per cent, had 30 per cent of their customers as families, 32 per cent young couples and 29 per cent older couples. Of these, 67 per cent stayed for one to two nights and only 23 per cent stayed for a week. The Sydney region accounted for 52 per cent with 34 per cent being repeat customers.
Clearly, different operators attracted different types of visitors and the traditional summer school holiday period continues to evolve.
This change is influenced by the growing number of accommodation providers and options throughout the region.
The increasing use of the Internet for bookings and information sourcing is clear, with web-based marketing accounting for 41 per cent of visitors.
This is a combination of operator websites at 29.5 per cent and the Great Lakes website at 11.5 per cent.
The second largest source of promotion for the region was referral from family and friends at 22 per cent.
The strong showing of referral highlights the need for customer service programs that recognise the constantly evolving nature of visitors.
Only 37 per cent of visitors were repeat customers. This result reflects not only a decline in the loyalty of visitors to one particular region, but also a need to work hard at retaining current visitors, attracting new visitors and encouraging previous holiday makers to return.
Overall, external and internal factors influenced Great Lakes visitor numbers during the 2005/2006 summer season.
External influences included changing holiday patterns, visitor expectations, cheap air travel, fuel costs, weather and a strong Australian dollar.
Internal influences included increasing accommodation options, customer service and diversity of activities and attractions.
The region performed strongly, and while there are obvious areas for development in coming months, Great Lakes Tourism will be working with operator groups and at a regional level to address these potential growth areas.
The next major survey will be a measure of tourism product in the region - beds, attractions and activities, as well as a measure of activity during the Easter school holiday period.
It is planned to continue these surveys throughout the year so that a complete snap shot of 2006 can be created, and from this, a bench mark for future years.
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