October 30, 2019

A multi-million dollar Victorian Government contribution in support of Tourism North East’s roll out of the Ride High Country marketing campaign has delivered outstanding results during 2018/19.

Minister for Regional Development, Hon Jaclyn Symes has announced the results of year one of the campaign, including an increase of 40,000 cyclists visiting the High Country – a 40 percent growth year on year.

The State Government contributed $4 million to a $4.4 million four-year marketing campaign taken to market by Tourism North East under the Ride High Country brand with a vision for the region to be recognised as Australia’s premier cycle destination.

The first year of the marketing program – which saw a spend of $1.1 million of the $4.4 million total – has resulted in a total visitor spend of more than $80 million – a growth of just over $31 million per annum – delivering an immediate and significant economic benefit to the regional economy.

As of 2018-19, High Country cycle tourism growth outstripped general visitation increases across the region, and also outperformed cycle growth for the State, underscoring the importance of this marketing investment.

The Ride High Country campaign aims to double cycle tourism visitation (from 103,000 visitors) and increase associated spend by $37 million a year by 2021-22.

Commenting on the results, Tourism North East CEO, Amber Gardner, said the first year of the Ride High Country program were “really impressive, with a $1million marketing investment generating a $31million return in terms of visitor spend in the High Country.

“Tourism North East developed a cycle tourism master plan for the High Country that identifies a range of priority projects required for the region to truly own cycle tourism. Investment in a marketing program of scale – simply telling people what is already available in-region – was identified as the initiative that would deliver the strongest cycle tourism growth for the region, and the current results clearly demonstrate that”, she said.

The following video provides insights of the campaign results.