Rodney Stevens
Holidaymakers have flocked to the Clarence Valley for the 2023-2024 summer holidays with businesses reporting increased trade compared to last year, delivering a welcome economic boost in the current tough financial climate.
The coastal tourism mecca has seen thousands of people daily flocking to beaches along the 80km stretch of pristine Clarence Valley coastline, as tourists fill caravan parks and campgrounds at Iluka, Yamba, Brooms Head, Minnie Water, Wooli, and Red Rock.
Saraton Theatre Grafton Manager Michelle Gilbert said the theatre had enjoyed a welcome boost of visitors over the holiday season.
“We’ve had lots of families come in, a lot of them from out of town, who came to the Clarence Valley to visit relatives and family,” she said.
“We have seen lots of new faces, typically families at the theatre who haven’t been there before, with movies and choc tops proving popular on hot days.
“Of the films we have been screening, Wonka has been very popular with kids and families, as well as Migration, which is a kids animated adventure comedy, and Aquaman.”
A receptionist from Yamba’s Blue Dolphin resort said they had been booked out since before Christmas.
“We’ve been very, very busy this year, we’ve been booked out since December 20 and usually things don’t start slowing down until around the 20th of January, when more bookings will become available,” she said.
“It seems like it is busier this year than last year, all the roads have been very busy, the carparks have been full and there are a lot of tourists around.”
Family-owned Yamba Café Good Days said they have had to more than double their daily staff to keep up with demand from both locals and many tourists.
“We have noticed a massive increase in trade this holiday season compared to last year, so far we have had about a 32 per-cent increase in business these holidays,” owner Simone Mazzitelli said.
“I have talked to a lot of our customers and discovered there are a lot of people from Victoria visiting the Clarence Valley, plus there are a lot of tourists from inland NSW visiting the area from places like Tamworth.
“On a usual day we only have two staff working, but to keep up with demand I’ve had to put more staff on, so we have had five people working every day.
“Acai Bowls have proved very popular, we are selling triple what we would on an ordinary day.
“It has been a very welcome boost to business after some slow periods during the year and I’ve heard from other business owners that they have also been much busier than last year.”
Head of Holidays at Elders Lifestyle Group, Petra Broomby, said almost all of their more than 150 holiday rentals at their Yamba office had been booked out.
“Last week and this week we had about two holiday rental vacancies, and next week there will be about four vacancies…so it’s been very busy,” she said.
“The number of bookings is similar to previous years, the main difference this year has been a lot of last-minute bookings that are filling things up.
“Although we haven’t been completely booked out, I think it is busier than previous years.”