All tourism sectors experienced an increase throughout 2016 including holiday travellers (up 15.5 per cent) and business visitors (up 29 per cent).

However, it was friends and relatives accounting for 43 per cent of all visitors, while food lovers saw the biggest growth.

Council's Marketing and Promotion Officer Paige Campbell said foodies are adding to Griffith’s tourism boom and the city is well on its way to becoming a food lovers destination.

"The opportunities here are enormous, Australian Tourism research shows food destination is the third most important reason to travel to a destination,” Ms Campbell said.

“In the past 12 months places such as Zecca and Limone are doing different things and putting Griffith on the foodie map.”

Luke Piccolo from Limone said Griffith is known for its food and support to promote the food sector is essential for continuous tourism growth.

“Griffith is not known for beaches or lakes or old architecture, Griffith is known for its good food and produce and it has been for 100 years,” he said.

“We focus on the food culture and really showcase Griffith’s produce and our number one goal is to attract more people to this area and we are doing that through food.”

Mr Piccolo said after seeing an increase of people travelling to Griffith just to experience the food, support and encouragement for the industry needs to be maintained.

Ms Campbell said the current tourism boom is a valuable economic driver with visitor spending injecting vast funds into local businesses and industries.

“On any Tuesday or Wednesday in Griffith there are at least 580 people looking for somewhere to eat,” she said.

“The average overnight spend per visitor in Griffith is $143.

“That means there is around $200,000 spent in Griffith Tuesday to Thursday every week - a significant economic boost for the city.”