THE FINE line between attracting tourists to the region and keeping out COVID-19 has been a win-win for Tamworth, with visitation significantly up and the city still virus-free.
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Tamworth Regional Council reported a 25 per cent spike in hits to the Destination Tamworth website and up to a 30 per cent increase in people coming through the visitor centre doors this summer, compared to previous years.
Council's coordinator of economic and destination development Kate Baker said it was "really positive" to see.
"I think we have actively promoted the region ... but also, people are wanting to get out and about and people are wanting to explore regional Australia," she said.
A number of campaigns have been on the go, but Ms Baker said council's tourism and marketing team had been treading a fine line between attracting people to the country music capital and keeping local residents safe from the virus.
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"It's definitely a minefield; we've had a real balancing act with that and certainly around Christmas time when there were hotspots in Sydney, that was very challenging to manage, so I think we've achieved that," Ms Baker told the Leader.
Tamworth has gone close to 10 months without a confirmed case of COVID-19.
As the pandemic lingers, Ms Baker said it's "critical" for Tamworth's economy to welcome new visitors to see what the region offers.
"It's been a great opportunity for us to target regional Australia and advertise what we've got so the family market is a big part of that, and they spend a lot of money," she said.
"Earlier on when the borders first reopened we were seeing a lot of the high-end travellers that would normally be going overseas, but now we are seeing a lot of travellers with children.
"They are really coming here and basing themselves in Tamworth and travelling all over."
Ms Baker said a large chunk of the visitors had come from south east Queensland, regional NSW, Sydney and Newcastle.
"What we're finding is that once people visit once, they come back and visit again so we really need to make sure their experience is great while they are here," she said.
A sunny but cooler summer has pushed people to explore the great outdoors, and Ms Baker said popular attractions had proven to be places like Tamworth's playgrounds, the marsupial park, the Quirindi sunflower field, Sheba Dams near Hanging Rock and the Barraba silos.
She said there had been one instance in December, when the northern Sydney hotspot popped up, when the Tamworth visitor centre had to turn two people away.
But, she said people are generally "accepting" and respectful of COVID rules.