Destination Grampians leading the way under travel voucher scheme

With a fourth round of the popular program - and another 80,000 $200 vouchers - on the way, Victorians are once again likely to hit the road to explore regional areas of the state.

Eighty-four per cent of travel vouchers claimed in the Wimmera and surrounding area in the first three rounds of the scheme were in Northern Grampians shire - an amount worth $3.64 million.

Grampians Tourism chief executive Marc Sleeman said the scheme had been beneficial to the region's visitor economy.

"It's great to see that this initiative worked in driving visitation and increasing spending in regional areas," Mr Sleeman said.

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"It's clear that the Grampians region is quite appealing to the metro Melbourne market, post-COVID."

Mr Sleeman said that while the bulk of the spending was in Northern Grampians shire, he was pleased to see spending in other local government areas such as Horsham Rural City ($424,000), Hindmarsh, Yarriamback and West Wimmera councils.

"Although the concentration of visitation was around Northern Grampians shire, the interesting thing is that the dispersal of visitors happened right across the region, which supports a lot of smaller communities."

Mr Sleeman said the timing of the initiatives second and third rounds was also beneficial.

"It was fantastic that it was launched in some of the quieter times of the year, which helped support the recovery of the Grampians' visitor economy."

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In order to be eligible for a voucher, travellers were required to stay at least two nights in a regional area and spend a minimum of $400 on accommodation, experiences, tours or attractions.

In December 40,000 vouchers were released, being snapped up so quickly that in January another 30,000 were issued in January.

In March, the Victorian government released an additional 50,000 vouchers as part of the second round.

Although a large amount of the vouchers have been spent on trips to Mornington Peninsula and the Surf Coast, the Grampians' strong showing suggests the Grampians are among the state's places to visit.

Mr Sleeman said the vouchers were attracting visitors who ordinarily may have travelled elsewhere.

"It's attracting visitors who may have never come to our destination and is helping us build a brand new audience in the Grampians."

The dates for the fourth round of the Regional Travel Voucher scheme are yet to be announced.

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