The birth of Warrnambool’s first whale calf of the season will boost the region’s tourism, as will visiting South Australians whose school holidays continue this week.
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The Standard spoke to accommodation providers two weeks ago, at the beginning of the Victorian school holidays, who reported quieter or similar patronage compared to the same time last year when the Fun 4 Kids Festival was on. We contacted them again on Friday to see how they fared in the second week of the holidays and responses were mixed.
Warrnambool Holiday Park owner Steve Moore said the first week was terrible and the second was quieter. “It’s a shame,” Mr Moore said. “Maybe next week with South Australian school holidays we might get a few coming through. There’s a few coming for one night and just heading off again.”
Figtree Holiday Park manager Nicole Campbell said they had “lots of bookings”. “We have deals online and we seem to be pretty full,” she said. "People aren’t staying quite as long but online bookings are going well.”
Blue Whale Motel and Apartments owner Graeme Soulsby said the first week was a “little bit quieter” but business “picked up a bit”. “It wasn’t too bad actually. We did alright.” Warrnambool Discovery Park receptionist Stephanie Windridge said they were “about the same” as last year in the first week but were “a bit quieter” in the second week.
Warrnambool City Council manager visitor economy David McMahon said although visitation data was still coming in, he was “quite satisfied”. “As far as we’re aware, across the board things are on par with previous years,” Mr McMahon said. “Some operators are up and some are down but that’s part and parcel of year to year.” He said those who “proactively marketed their business and products continued to be successful”. “It’s a market-led economy. They’re all competing with each other and council tries to help the industry as a whole.”
He said the calf’s birth would have a positive effect. “Fortunately once we have a confirmed calving we have a huge boost in visitations. Although it’s come towards the end of the Victorian school holidays we’re blessed in Warrnambool by the South Australian school holidays having a great impact.
Mr McMahon encouraged residents to ask family and friends, who make up more than half of the city’s visitation, to come to the south-west. “It’s important we continue to invite them to come and see what Warrnambool has to offer and see these beautiful whales.”
Lady Bay Resort manager Lydia Kippe and Best Western Olde Maritime owner Raj Patel were unavailable for comment.
