The Warrnambool City Council chief executive and Regional Development Australia Barwon South West committee chair said that while Malcolm Turnbull’s announcement was titled “City Deal in Geelong,” a big part of the deal involved discussions for better tourism infrastructure along the GOR.

Mr Anson said the proposed Shipwreck Coast Master Plan was a key component of the MOU and the signing of the memorandum was “a great announcement” for the plan’s future.

The MOU meant the state and federal governments would work closely to develop a priority list for all the work done on the Shipwreck Coast Master Plan, he said.

Mr Anson said the master plan had already developed a business plan and provided a cost benefit analysis on proposed upgrades to GOR tourism infrastructure and the state and federal governments would now take those proposals further, with input from regional bodies.

“I think this is a major achievement,” he said.

Mr Anson said several south-west councils had been pushing in recent years for tourism infrastructure upgrades such as those outlined in the master plan.

The GOR tourism infrastructure upgrades in the master plan aimed to slow down GOR tourists and get them to stay longer in the region such as at Camperdown, Warrnambool, Port Fairy and Hamilton, he said.

About 2.5 million people visited the Twelve Apostles and the Great Ocean Road each year, generating about $800 million a year in revenue but not much of that was spent in the south-west, Mr Anson said.

Many of the tourists visited the Twelve Apostles on a day trip from Melbourne where they had booked accommodation, he said.

A joint media release by the federal and state governments said the MOU would help ensure the Great Ocean Road reached its full potential.