There are fears Byron Bay's time in the sun has come to an end as the North Coast Tourism Symposium hears annual visitor numbers have dropped by one million since 2019.
Byron Bay's main beach is nearly deserted on a beautiful North Coast morning.abc.net.au/news/byron-bay-tourism-downturn-since-2019-destination-north-coast/102661962One of Australia's hottest holiday destinations is now only lukewarm, with annual visitor numbers to Byron Bay dropping by nearly one million since 2019.
He said overnight stays by domestic visitors were down by 300,000 and international visitors had also slumped by 166,000."A lot of those visitors who came to Byron Bay have taken those opportunities, now that international airfares have finally dropped to a reasonable level, to go overseas."Mr Thurston said the town might also be suffering the effects of overexposure.
"There was a massive uptake of people from Sydney during COVID, and then when the borders came down south-east Queensland was flooding into that market," he said. "With a lot of people having experienced it in the past couple of years, there's probably a little bit of a sting in the tail for Byron Bay, which is impacting visitation now."The decline in visitor numbers has taken a toll on businesses in the town."It's naturally a cause for concern if businesses are struggling and going out of business there," Mr Thurston said."So I think those visitors will definitely be back.
"Then people think maybe I don't want to come here because that might cause problems for the community."While visitor numbers across the north coast have been in decline, the tourism sector is starting to see signs of a rebound.The latest Value of Tourism Report shows more than 1.5 million domestic travellers visited the North Coast last year, spending almost $5.5 billion.
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