Tourism Recap 2024-25
Published on 21 July 2025
Grampians Wimmera Mallee Tourism Recap Of 2024/25 Financial Year
Grampians Wimmera Mallee Tourism is a Visitor Economy Partnership (VEP) to manage the sustainable growth of our region's visitor economy; it is a collaborative partnership between the Victorian Government, our region's councils and tourism stakeholders. The purpose of the VEP is to inspire visitation, overnight stays and expenditure through promotion and development of our tourism industry.
Tammy Smith - Chief Executive Officer of Yarriambiack Shire Council said, "Our participation in this partnership offers an impactful platform to collaborate with tourism stakeholders to enhance our visibility and economic development through joint initiatives. Together with the VEP, our region can access funding, programs and support that otherwise would not be available".
Grampians Wimmera Mallee Tourism conducted the "Meet Me in the Wimmera Mallee" promotional campaign from 14 March 2024 to 14 March 2025. This multi-channel campaign had a reach of 234k and increased Visit Wimmera Mallee website active users by 196%. This campaign is an acknowledgement of the growing significance that digital media can influence potential tourists.
The Visit Wimmera Mallee website has expanded its reach with the social media platform generating a combined reach of 735k between June 2024 and June 2025. During this time the website, www.visitwimmeramallee.com.au, has been viewed 148,000 times and engaged with 39,000 new users, bringing its total active users to 41,000.
Grampians Wimmera Mallee Tourism also acknowledges the importance of print media to promote tourism. In recognition of this, an 84-page Wimmera Mallee Official Visitor Guide was developed as a tourist information publication for our region, with 40,000 copies distributed across Victoria, South Australia and New South Wales.
Partnership Program
The Partnership Program for Grampians Wimmera Mallee Tourism provides advantages to participating tourism operators. Yarriambiack Shire Council is one of the 71 current program partners. The partnership provides opportunities to connect with the tourism industry for collaborative benefits and increase digital presence to enhance marketing and build reach to potential visitors. Specific benefits include targeted industry and activity upskilling, representation and advocacy to State and Federal government industry bodies, targeted marketing activity, access to established and expanding social media audiences, and data insights to drive robust decision-making.
For more information and to join the partnership program, please visit www.visitwimmeramallee.com.au/industry-resources.
The ATDW Platform
The Australian Tourism Data Warehouse (ATDW) is a platform to support Australian tourism operators with digital marketing to help extend their exposure to tourists and attract more business and visitation.
"By listing a tourism service once in the ATDW database, tourism operators benefit from being listed on our state's consumer website (www.visitvictoria.com), the national tourism website (www.australia.com), and through the ATWD's extensive network of over 250 tourism distributors (such as The Grampians Wimmera Mallee Visitor App)," explained Mrs Smith.
To register with the ATDW, tourism operators will need to provide: the business name, contact details, and an Australian Business Number (ABN).
For more information about the ATDW, please visit www.atdw.com.au/business.
Visiting Friends and Relatives Campaign
The domestic Visiting Friends & Relatives (VFR) market represents over 25% of all visitor nights in our region, contributing $131 million to our local economy, with more than 671,000 accommodation nights booked. A VFR focused campaign is currently being undertaken with the purpose to leverage locals as the region's most authentic influencers to boost visitation, emotional recovery and economic activity.
The key campaign objectives are to: encourage locals to invite friends and family to visit our region or to stay longer, support local businesses through increased foot traffic and bookings, and position the region as welcoming and ready to host.
Mrs Smith stated that, "The biggest tourism attraction in the Yarriambiack Shire is the people who live here - especially those who share the rich history and natural attractions in our region's backyard".
"The VFR campaign concept celebrates local knowledge and identity; it encourages us to showcase travel itineraries for things to see and do, eat and drink, where to stay, and the unique attractions that tourists can discover," explained Mrs Smith.
For more information about this campaign and for details how to invite friends and family to stay in our region (including example travel itineraries), please visit www.visitgrampians.com.au/you
Visitor App
The Grampians Wimmera Mallee Visitor App has now launched! The app showcases everything to see, do and experience across the Grampians and Wimmera Mallee regions. The app provides interactive maps and wayfinding for ride and/or walk routes, search options with filters for distance and experience type, and offline functionality for app features. The app's tourist information is powered by details available on the ATDW and other business listings. The app is available to download from the Apple App Store (for iOS) and Google Play (for Android).
END OF RELEASE
Tammy Smith - CEO
Yarriambiack Shire Council