mmg.com.au

These summer holidays saw more visitors opting to spend their holidays in the Moira Shire than during the same period last year.

Sun Country on the Murray executive officer Merran Socha said there had definitely been an increase in the percentage of new campers.

‘‘We all know about the generational camper who has been coming here for years and years, but about 25 per cent of those campers we surveyed were spending their holidays here for the first or second time,’’ she said.

‘‘Hopefully the marketing we’re doing has helped as well as going to the campervan shows.

‘‘We have definitely seen a shift in the demographic (of the people who holiday in the Moira Shire).

‘‘We are getting more people from South Melbourne and the Eastern suburbs.

‘‘This information will help us with the positioning of our billboards (advertisements).’’

She said it was encouraging to see more families with young children choosing to spend their Christmas holidays in the shire, citing the river and water sports as a prime attraction.

‘‘We’ve tried leaving the surveys at the motels, but actually getting out and talking to the campers is the most effective way of gathering information about who is coming here and why,’’ she said.

The floods had a considerable impact on the region and resulted in a temporary downturn in tourism, so those who work to promote tourism in the area were pleased to report a busy summer holiday period for 2012-13.