About 49,000 people have visited Dubbo in the past two months, says Dubbo Regional councillor Kevin Parker.
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September and October were busy months for the region from the NSW Aboriginal Rugby League Knockout to the DREAM Festival to the visit from the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.
“All have contributed to a significant focus on Dubbo. Out of those, and a lot more events, the total visitors to Dubbo has been about 49,000,” Cr Parker said.
The royal visit alone is expected to have given Dubbo a $3.13 million boost after the city was on screens and in the media around the world.
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Buninyong Public School student Luke Vincent made national and international headlines for his hug with Prince Harry and his wife Meghan. There were also 15,000 people at the Picnic at the Park to see the royals, with hundreds of those having travelled from outside Dubbo.
Organisers of the Koori Knockout said they had expected 30,000 people at the event in October. Accommodation in Dubbo was booked out across the weekend with visitors forced to stay in surrounding towns.
The DREAM Festival also attracted visitors from outside the region. DREAM Festival chair Anne Field said they had advertised the event to towns outside Dubbo.
As well as boosting the economy, Cr Parker said the events added to the city’s positive reputation and showed the city was capable of hosting major events.
We’ve had a couple of good months and I think that will keep going.
- Kevin Parker
Accommodation providers have also been seeing the benefits of the significant events. Cr Parker said he had been speaking to one accommodation provider who told him the last 12 months had been one of the best years they had had.
According to Wotif.com, there has been a 15 per cent increase in the number of people searching for accommodation in Dubbo following the royal tour.
There had been an increase in interest across NSW, compared to other states, based on where the Duke and Duchess had visited.
To top it all of there had also been rain, Cr Parker said. The Bureau of Meteorology recorded 90.4 millimetres of rain in Dubbo during October.
While it wasn’t enough to break the drought, the councillor said it had certainly been positive.
“We’ve had a couple of good months and I think that will keep going,” Cr Parker said.