Tourists flocked to Gippsland in record numbers after post COVID lockdowns in the Victoria.
And they spent a record amount.
Chief executive officer of Destination Gippsland Terry Robinson has no doubts the reason was people were keen to travel and chose closer to home locations because of uncertainty around the availability of aeroplanes for overseas or longer trips within Australia.
Visitor data compiled by Tourism Research Australia for the 12 month ended last March put the number of people that visited Gippsland at a record 6.7 million, a 19 per cent increase on the previous year.
It was a trend reflected across regional Victoria.
Mr Robinson said that of the 6.7 million visitors the data indicated 2.7 million of them stayed overnight with the average stay three days.
It was estimated they spent $1.9 billion over the course of the year.
Mr Robinson said most of the visitors were from the Melbourne metropolitan area with about 3.9 million undertaking day trips.
It was a strong year for Gippsland where there is strong competition for the tourist dollar and plenty to see across the region, he said.
The major challenges for local businesses were getting sufficient staff to meet demand at peak times and boosting visitations across the year.