Sustainable - Hobsons Bay

Table 3: Visitor activities in Nelson Place, 1996
5.1.2 Overnight visitors
Hobsons Bay has 32 accommodation properties
(providing approximately 1,000 commercial bed spaces
– refer section 5.3.2 Accommodation). This is of a
larger scale than other parts of Western Melbourne
such as Wyndham and Melton. 14 The number of
accommodation spaces suggests considerable demand
by overnight visitors staying in the municipality.
Information gathered during the consultation
phase indicates that a significant proportion of
accommodation is occupied during the week by
business guests and at weekends by leisure guests.
There is a lack of local area data regarding actual
accommodation demand, rates and seasonality.
5.1.3 International visitors
There is also limited local area data on the international
visitor segment. The pie chart relating to visitor origin
(Table 4) indicates that 23% of all visitors calling
into the Hobsons Bay Visitor Information Centre
(Williamstown) are from overseas. At Scienceworks
3% of visitors are international. Information from
a sample of accommodation providers indicates
international guests account for 10% - 15% of all
nights. This latter percentage correlates with Tourism
Victoria 2005 data indicating 17% of all Melbourne
visitor nights are attributable to international visitors.
5.1.4 Visitor origin
Data on visitor origin suggests a dominance of
Melbourne day trippers. This is not reflected however
through the Visitor Information Centre data. The
Centre naturally attracts more of those less familiar
with the local area. The following pie chart shows
the breakdown of visitors to the Visitor Information
Centre according to place of residence.
5.1.5 Visitation patterns
including types of visitors
The dispersal of visitors across major attractions and
destinations in Hobsons Bay is reported in section
5.1.1 Domestic day trip visitors. In addition to
the concentration at these ‘hot spots’, there is also
a very strong seasonality and day of week visitor
concentration:
• Peak visitation to the Scienceworks museum
occurs over weekends and during school holidays,
reflecting the family oriented nature of the
attraction. Winter is the peak period for visitation
attracting 32% of all visitors, indicating the
importance of good indoor attractions through
this more general trough period. 15
• Visitation to the Nelson Place precinct in
Williamstown is predominantly day trippers with
visitation heavily skewed to public holidays,
weekends and school holidays and with a strong
summer bias.
Visitation seasonality through the Visitor Information
Centre is illustrated in the following table.
Table 5: Seasonality of visitation to the
Hobsons Bay Visitor
Information Centre (Williamstown) for the
year ending March 2006
12
Meeting with Sally Curtis, VIC Officer, 6 March 2006.
13
Cultural Tourism Visitor Survey 1996 – Summary by the Roy Morgan Research Centre, for the Cities of Melbourne, Hobsons Bay,
Yarra and Port Phillip. N = 627.
14
Op cit and Shire of Melton Tourism Strategy 2003/08. Tourism Destination Management. 2003.
Table 4: Origin of visitors to the
Hobsons Bay Visitor Information Centre
(Williamstown) for the year ending
March 2006
While holiday leisure visitors are the major type of
visitor through the Visitor Centre accommodation
providers indicate a strong mid week business visitor
presence linked to local industries. The visiting friends
and relatives (VFR) market is also estimated to be
on a par with Melbourne-wide data indicating 43%
of domestic overnight visitors are VFR and 27% of
international overnight visitors are VFR.
14 15