Prospective visitors to the Goulburn Valley will be invited to feast, discover, stay and celebrate in Shepparton and its surrounding region and towns under a new tourism strategy.
The ‘Shepparton and Goulburn Valley’ rebrand was launched at the Shepparton Golf Club on Monday, February 6 by City of Greater Shepparton Mayor Shane Sali.
He said the new strategy evolved the previous ‘Visit Shepparton’ and ‘Many Great Things’ brands to promote the region by showcasing the most distinctive, authentic and compelling experiences it has to offer.
That includes what the campaign says are the region’s “signature pillars”, including being a most culturally diverse region, a region of unique, connected towns and a fun and festive place all year round.
Cr Sali said the rebranding would help the region’s economic recovery from the dual impacts of COVID-19 and historic floods.
“We obviously got past the worst of the COVID pandemic and then we were hit with arguably the biggest flood we’ve seen in history, and our visitor economy industry was impacted more than anyone. So this is about how we bounce back,” he said.
“It's an exciting launch. I think we're really excited for a big (20)23.”
One of the societal changes the COVID-19 pandemic has brought about is a shift from international to regional tourism.
For the year ending September 2022, Victoria’s regional domestic tourism industry generated $14 billion, including $9.6 billion in domestic overnight and $4.4 billion domestic day-trip tourism.
The local industry, along with many others around Victoria, is hoping to entice a greater number of those travellers to the Goulburn Valley.
“It is competitive,” Cr Sali said.
“We’ve got our own little niche that we feel we can offer more broadly to people that want to stay regionally, and with travelling, and that has been highlighted, as you mentioned, the past 12 months, people want to stay local, whether it’s from a national base or even regional Vic as well.
“We’re in a really good location to be able to tap into people that are travelling up to the Murray or to the snowfields. So looking forward to seeing how the year unfolds.”
A calendar of major events was also launched at the announcement, with highlights including a change of date for the Illuminate festival from March to May 5 and 6.