By Luke Voogt
Geelong’s tourism board hopes to reach millions of potential Chinese visitors with new app Birds of the Bay.
Tourism Greater Geelong and the Bellarine executive director Roger Grant was at the launch of the app on Geelong’s waterfront yesterday.
He said the app would encourage Chinese tourists to spend more time in the region, and therefore more money.
“What we’re trying to do here is get people to slow down. The Chinese provide us with a great opportunity because they have a great interest in nature.”
Mr Grant said the Chinese were captivated by our open skies, sunsets and birdlife like egrets, eagles and even seagulls.
“We might take these things for granted. But internationals go ‘Wow, what is that bird?’
“Chinese who don’t have access to those aspects of nature find them fascinating.”
The volume of visitors in Geelong and the Bellarine was not always translating into tourism profit, Mr Grant said.
A recent Victorian Government study showed the average spend by tourists at the Twelve Apostles was 14 cents.
“They’re not spending time or spending dollars,” Mr Grant said.
Mr Grant said the app would give tourists more “reason to stop, stay and spend” rather than “skim” travel.
“What we want to avoid is profitless volume.”
Mr Grant said there had been a significant rise in Chinese tourists hiring motor homes and cars with “an appetite for discovery”.
“There are still many who use group tours but we’ve started to see a great increase in what we call the independent traveller.
“You will see them in small convoys of two or three motor homes.”
The app will link to Tourism Greater Geelong and the Bellarine’s website, which lists their member cafes, caravan parks and tourism operators.
“What we’re really trying to do is add depth to the experience,” Mr Grant said.
The app features the work of Australian environmental educator Bob Winters and will be available in English and Chinese.
International visitors spent 790,700 nights in Geelong and the Bellarine in the past financial year, spending $83 million.
