Tourism

Tourism in the Adelaide Hills: consume, play, wander, stay

With close proximity to Adelaide, seasonal climate, diverse experiences, strong epicurean offering and natural beauty in its favour, the Adelaide Hills has enormous opportunity for tourism growth.

Consumer appeal for the Hills is high thanks to these attributes, but consumers still feel the experiences are not unique to the region. The region needs to define what the holiday experience is that sets the Hills apart from our competitors.

The value of tourism
Approximately one million people visit the Adelaide Hills each year - 132,000 overnight visits and 839,000 day trips - with direct tourism expenditure of $120m (SATC, 3-year annual average to Dec 2015). This creates direct employment of approximately 1,100 people (5.5% of regional employment) (Deloitte Access Economics, 2015).

Tourism is therefore an important industry for our region and we must continue to build the reason and desire to visit and stay in the happiest electorate in the country.

How we support the industry
Adelaide Hills Tourism (AHT) is the State Government recognised Regional Tourism Organisation for the Adelaide Hills Tourism Region. AHT provides direction and market intelligence, coordinates marketing and provides connectivity between tourism operators and government. It is directed by a committee comprising tourism operators, industry sector and regional stakeholder representatives and the main funding partners – Adelaide Hills Council and Mount Barker District Council.

The Council currently provides $50,000 per annum to support AHT and encourage a vibrant and sustainable tourism industry in the Adelaide Hills through leadership, representation, information sharing and strategic projects.

By continuing to support what we have and working better together we can positively influence the key triggers to increase tourism demand and stimulate industry growth in our region.