Tamworth council analysis suggests industry focus on cheaper stays

Using data from Tourism Research Australia's recently-published National Visitor Survey, Tamworth Regional Council's analysis of tourism trends shows more people are travelling, but Tamworth's biggest segment of visitors are spending less and less each visit.

"Domestic visitors seem to be tightening their wallets," the report says.

The analysis describes people visiting friends and relatives as a "key market" for the region, but unfortunately for the local hospitality industry, many of these visitors are avoiding paying for accommodation.

"In 2022 a quarter of the visitor nights for the visiting friends and relatives segment was not in commercial accommodation. In 2023, this has grown to nearly half of the visitor nights of the segment not being served by commercial accommodation," the report says.

Council suggests developing the region's more affordable accommodation options could help support the broader industry.

"There is an indication of a greater need for more affordable accommodation options. Supporting this trend, spending on caravan parks or commercial camping grounds increased by nearly 60 per cent in NSW in 2023, compared with 2022," the report says.

The boss of one of the city's four year-round camping and caravan parks said while he agrees demand for camping and caravan spaces has increased, he thinks the region needs more accommodation at every level, not just cheaper stays.

"Our demand is spread out across all options. We haven't seen a downturn in our higher-end accommodation at all," Tourist park manager of BIG4 Paradise Tamworth David Dalley said.

"What I've found is that during COVID a lot of people went out and bought caravans, camp trailers, and motor homes, sometimes spending serious dollars on these items. What we're finding right now is rather than doing overseas trips, people are utilising what they've invested in: their caravans."

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Mr Dalley's assessment is supported by industry insiders and experts, who told the Leader the growth of camping and caravans has hit record heights for nights, trips and expenditure.

"The latest industry data reveals the NSW caravan and camping sector contribution to the visitor economy delivered close to five million trips and 19.2 million visitor nights all whilst generating over $3.6 billion in tourism spending in the year ending June 2023," Caravan and Camping Industry Association NSW CEO Lyndel Gray said.

Mr Dalley says the demand for caravan infrastructure has pushed park capacity to its limits, leading the business into conversations with council about a permanent expansion.

"We're increasing our expanse for the park because we're growing and growing rapidly, constantly upgrading and renovating all the time," the park manager said.

"It surprises us a little bit, we thought by now we would've seen a downturn but we still haven't seen it."

In the meantime, Mr Dalley says he's adding temporary cabins, power, and water supply for the upcoming 2024 Tamworth Country Music Festival.

"You won't even want to talk to my wife about [festival accommodation]. She works on it all year and we are just flat out, booked solid," he said.

Another major finding in council's analysis of the National Visitor Survey is that visitors who stay overnight spend more than five times as much as day-trippers.

"An average day trip to Regional NSW is less than one fifth (only 17 per cent) of the value of an average overnight trip to Regional NSW," council's report says

"The 'mix' of the visitors we attract is vital in influencing in the value per visitor generated by visiting Tamworth. Our events and attractions need to drive longer stays."

The findings support council's decision to launch a 'One More' marketing campaign earlier this year, which encourages visitors to stay in Tamworth for an additional night by promoting local experiences.

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