An influx of tourists to Dubbo for the Easter weekend may have rewarded local businesses who put their eggs in one basket to get through traditionally slow February trading.
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City tourist attractions yesterday reported strong attendance numbers, including Taronga Western Plains Zoo where ticket sales could be up as much as 30 per cent on the same period last year.
Dubbo City Tourism Association noted “most motels” were full across Friday, Saturday and into Sunday, and that this Easter was a good time for “employers and employees alike” with increased patronage requiring additional labour.
The Dubbo Chamber of Commerce says Easter is why some food and tourism outlets in particular, “trade through February”.
“This is the money time,”the chamber’s senior vice president Andrew Grant said yesterday.
“Easter puts profit into businesses and increases confidence.”
Anecdotal reports suggest this Easter has been a bumper for some local enterprises with rain failing to dampen the impact of its return to a school holiday period and increased promotion of Dubbo.
Taronga Western Plains Zoo general manager Matt Fuller said attendances were up by “20 to 30 per cent” on Easter 2008, “a fantastic result given the weather” that had probably deterred some intended visitors living “within a two-hour radius”.
The bulk of people coming through the gates were out-of-towners, including residents of Newcastle and the Hunter Valley, targeted in recent promotions.
In contrast, rainy days saw about 2200 pour into Reading Cinemas from Friday to Sunday, with crowds again building in its foyer early yesterday morning.
Western Plains Cultural Centre counted a whopping 870 visitors on Saturday and 722 on Sunday, keeping staff and volunteer ambassadors on the move.
Visitor Services officer Brigid Palin said locals and people from “overseas and all over Australia” had made a point of calling in to see current WPCC exhibitions including ‘Great Collections’.
“For a lot of local people it was their first visit. Hopefully they’ll come back,” she said.
Tourism association president and motelier Wayne Mawbey said the rain had discouraged some visitors from staying Sunday night in the city, but overall the industry was enjoying a traditionally busy period.
Full-time performer at Old Dubbo Gaol Steven Butcher said rain had further whet the appetite of tourists for a gaol experience. He estimated that as many as 1900 may have passed through its gates by the time they closed yesterday.
Inclement weather on Friday night had not dissuaded a large group of people in Dubbo for the annual bush rally of the Council of Heritage Motor Clubs from testing out the cells.
The rally involved 450 people travelling in 227 cars built as long ago as 1910.
kim.bartley@ruralpress.com