Region. Visitor numbers up 500 per cent

Visitor numbers to the Australian Botanic Gardens, Mount Annan, and the Blue Mountains Botanic Gardens, Mount Tomah, have skyrocketed by as much as 500 per cent since the new government abolished entry fees. “Mount Annan is the largest Botanic Garden in Australia and is dedicated to native plants, while Mount Tomah in the iconic Blue Mountains is home to cool climate plants from around the world,” said Premier Barry O’Farrell

Parramatta. $500,000 strategy exhibited

Parramatta City Council’s draft Visitor Strategy for Parramatta, 2011-2016, is currently on public exhibition. The strategy, designed to increase visitation to the city, encourage repeat visits, boost the local economy and improve perception of the city, took 18 months to develop. The strategy was funded by a $500,000 grant from the federal government

Parramatta. Visitor strategy for Parramatta

Parramatta City Council will place on public exhibition its draft Visitor Strategy for Parramatta 2011-2016. “The draft strategy was created to build and position Parramatta as a leisure destination to increase visitation, foster repeat visitation, facilitate greater spend, encourage longer stays, grow advocates and evolve perception of the city,”a council report noted.

Parramatta. Presentation of visitor strategy

Almost 100 local tourism industry professionals attended the presentation of a draft strategy to attract more visitors to Parramatta. The presentation outlined a series of recommendations to be considered for implementation over the next five years and covered areas such as product development, infrastructure, marketing and governance of the local tourism offer. Following the presentation, Tanya Gadiel MP, Member for Parramatta, launched the Discover Parramatta visitor guide. Some 70,000 copies of the guide have been produced and will be distributed in key tourist locations across Parramatta, Sydney and around the state. Also, Ms Gadiel said Parramatta City Council would receive $49,000 towards a marketing campaign aimed at attracting visitors to Parramatta. The campaign would run from 1 November 2009 until 31 January 2010.