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Ipswich profits from tourism boom before pandemic takes hold

In a first for Ipswich, more than two million visitors came to the city in 2019.

The latest National Visitor Survey and International Visitor Survey data released in April show visitors increased by 29 per cent compared to 2018.

And those tourists spent around $290 million while visiting the region, a jump of 12.1 per cent.

Ipswich Mayor Teresa Harding said the numbers were a great sign of the city’s economic evolution and potential.

“Ipswich is an interesting and attractive city and has so much to offer daytrip and overnight visitors,” she said.

“But of course, the focus now is on the extraordinary COVID-19 situation we and the world are facing.

“A big part of that is planning and preparing for our city’s economic recovery, something that we have set up special working group in council for.

“The Human Social and Economic Recovery Sub Working Group is assessing and making recommendations to council on a range of short, medium and longer term initiatives to generate the most speedy and sustainable recovery for the city.

“A big part of that will be to renew the momentum we had achieved over the past few years in attracting more and more visitors to the region every year.

The visitor survey showed the day trip market continues to drive the increase with a 39.8 per cent increase or 1.66 million visitors in 2019.

International visitors also increased by 5 per cent in the period, while domestic overnight visitors were slightly down year-on-year by 1.8 per cent.

The statistics confirmed Ipswich as one of the fastest growing regions for visitors in South East Queensland, behind Brisbane the Gold and Sunshine Coasts, Moreton Bay and Toowoomba.

The figures show day trip visitors increased by 39.8 per cent and brought in more than $139 million to the local economy in 2019.

The data shows visitor nights recorded a drop in the period, 4.9 per cent overall, Ipswich City Council were planning events to help combat this pre-COVID-19.

Retail businesses have also turned to online models and offered delivery to keep sales coming in despite social distancing and shut-down measures.

Some of Ipswich’s best rated restaurants have changed their businesses to offer takeaway and drive through services.

Infrastructure projects and upgrades to the Show Grounds, The Ipswich Turf Club and the new Brisbane Lions stadium have continued as planned.

Ipswich boasts 6500 hectares of reserves and conservation estates, 196km of biking trails and more than 7000 heritage-listed sites in the city.

More than 100 Ipswich businesses are part of the Ipswich Tourism Operators Network and benefit from growth in the visitor economy. Contact the Destination Development team to join, details at www.discoveripswich.com.au/promote.