Taronga Western Plains Zoo director Matthew Fuller said the Zoo has recorded good summer holiday visitation.

“For the month of January overall admission to the Zoo was up three per cent on January 2016, a pleasing result. We had an earlier, sharper tail off due to the extreme heat, however overall it’s been positive” he said.

“Our overnight experiences have remained really strong, especially Zoofari Lodge and the Savannah Cabins, contributing to the overall result.”

Mr Fuller said the zoo was looking forward to welcoming guests in the coming months as the temperatures start to cool down.

“We’re really excited about what’s coming up, with some new additions going on display including lion cubs and cheetah cubs,” he said.

“We’re really looking forward to a great 2017, this also being our 40th birthday year.”  

Old Dubbo Gaol Operations Supervisor Kim Hague said attendances for December and January were strong and slightly above this time last year.

“Summer school holidays has been really great for Old Dubbo Gaol.  We were running tours and performances throughout the holidays which really kept the crowd entertained and were well received,” she said.

“Our ‘Prisoner 2830’ program (which is free entry for all residents in the Dubbo LGA) had almost double the amount of admissions compared to January last year. This is a really great result as we are seeing more locals visit for the first time or returning after many years.”

Ms Hague said they were also finding locals were recommending a visit to Old Dubbo Gaol to relatives and friends and then coming with them to experience the heritage site due to the free entry.

The Old Dubbo Gaol’s Rocky Horror Picture Show movie night, which was held over the school holidays, sold over 150 tickets and has been the best performing movie night to date. 

“We encouraged people to dress up to the theme, have a little fun with the night and we had some great feedback on the night.  We will certainly be looking at doing another themed movie night in the coming months,” Ms Hague said.

“Wine and Nourishment is on February 25 and tickets have already sold out (500 tickets).  We will have the Smoking Bros from Orange back again to do the catering as well as Ma & Me for a beautiful dessert selection.”

Ms Hague said there will be more events to come in the coming months so if people don’t want to miss out they should follow the Old Dubbo Gaol on Facebook for more announcements.

The Red Hot Summer will be in the city early in March and tour promoter Duane McDonald said visitors coming in for the festival have to purchase things such as accommodation, fuel and food which all adds up to boosting the local economy. 

“It all adds up. Cities (like Dubbo) need things like that to help keep things moving,” he said.

According to Destination NSW, in the year ended September 2016, Dubbo welcomed more than 952,000 international and domestic overnight and day trip visitors who stayed 1.2 million nights and spent $324 million in the region. 

“In terms of visitors to the area, Dubbo has received the highest number of both international and domestic visitors in Sept 2016 over the last five years,” a Destination NSW spokesperson said.

“Dubbo received five per cent more domestic overnight visitors and seven per cent more international visitors 20 per cent than the previous year.

“Domestic visitor nights in the area have also grown by nine per cent over the previous year, having been driven by a 32 per cent rise in domestic holiday nights. International holiday visitors to Dubbo has also grown 13 per cent in the past year.”