LOCAL business leaders have celebrated a “reawakening” of Torquay after a bumper holiday period which included the return of the iconic Rip Curl Bells Beach Pro.<\/p>\n
The long-running surfing event was one of the most conspicuous absences from the region’s event calendar during the past two years, when COVID-19 forced its first cancellations since its inception in 1961.<\/p>\n
But the Easter classic returned in full force this month and created a boom weekend for local businesses, who say they’re cautiously optimistic the worst of the pandemic is behind the region’s tourism-reliant economy.<\/p>\n
Bells Beach Brewing co-owner and Commerce Torquay president Jeff Crow said local businesses were blown away with the results of the Bells-Easter weekend extravaganza, which was sandwiched between two weeks of school holiday traffic for Torquay.<\/p>\n
“It didn’t just meet expectations, it beat the expectations,” Mr Crow said.<\/p>\n
“Business owners from around town are mainly in the hospitality industry, and everyone had a cracking weekend.<\/p>\n
“A couple of people in the restaurants around town reckon their Saturday night was one of the biggest nights they’ve had.<\/p>\n
“I think this was a bit better because of the spirit, having so many people and having the surfing back in town. It was a positive vibe with everyone.”<\/p>\n
Accommodation providers also reaped the rewards of a surge in travel as rooms filled up during the busy period.<\/p>\n
“Torquay was abuzz and it’s great to see people out and about enjoying the Surf Coast,” RACV Torquay resort manager Dean Newell said.<\/p>\n
“There’s many businesses that really needed this weekend to kickstart them back into good trading.”<\/p>\n
Great Ocean Road Regional Tourism general manager Liz Price said the bumper weekend provided a welcome boost to round off the peak tourism period ahead of winter months.<\/p>\n
“It gives people optimism when you see things happening, especially a large-scale, internationally recognised event that keeps us on the world map,” Ms Price said.<\/p>\n
“The weather, the Rip Curl Pro and three short weeks in a row has been good in terms of encouraging people to use leave and get away, and we’ve seen that across regional Victoria.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
LOCAL business leaders have celebrated a “reawakening” of Torquay after a bumper holiday period which included the return of the iconic Rip Curl Bells Beach Pro. The long-running surfing event was one of the most conspicuous absences from the region’s event calendar during the past two years, when COVID-19 forced its first cancellations since its […]<\/p>\n