The latest Destination NSW figures are good news for Orange’s hospitality sector, which in the preceding year felt the impact of a 13 per cent reduction in the number of overnight visitors to the city.

For the year ending March, 2017, visitors to Central NSW- which is is comprised of Orange, Dubbo, Bathurst, Coonabarabran, Mudgee, Narromine and Parkes – spent $1.2 billion in the region, according to Destination NSW.

During the 12 months there were five million visitors to the region, who stayed a total of 6.5 million nights.

The number of domestic overnight trips to all of regional NSW increased by 2.3 per cent from the previous 12 months and 15.7 per cent compared to four years ago.

The figures are good news for Orange businesses, especially in light of the city’s tourism decline in the preceding 12 months.

For the year ending March, 2016, Orange had a 13 per cent reduction in the number of overnight visitors –  a fall of 44,600 people – and a nine per cent reduction in the number of visitor nights, with a fall of 44,600 visitors.

Desite the drop, more than $100 million is pumped into Orange by overnight visitors each year.

Earlier this year Employment and Economic Development Policy Committee chairman councillor Jeff Whitton, who is on Tourism Transition board, argued the 2016 numbers were an aberration.

“The figures are showing we had a slight dip in visitors but we’re positive that we can get back to record numbers of visitors,” Cr Whitton said.

“A lot of people think tourism is a buzz word but it’s very important to the economy of our city.

“It’s where we generate our income from, and a lot of people don’t realise that.

While the region’s headline events and festivals – the Bathurst 1000, the Parkes Elvis Festival and Orange’s FOOD Week – remain a drawcard, the ties of family and friendship are also a key economic driver.

Visiting friends and family is the most common reason for tourist trips to the Central West, while a third of visitors said they travelled for a holiday, and 18 per cent came for business.

On average, including airfares and transport costs, they spent $140 per night.

There were also three million domestic visitors who visited for the day who spent $357 million in the region.​