Taste Of Italy Griffith sees welcome cash injection into economy

The proof of the pudding is in the eating, and with A Taste Of Italy Griffith bringing in a welcome $800,000 into the economy, so this first taste of success was sweet.

With accommodation, flights and events all sold out on the weekend, with the many vendors, such as cafes, restaurants, cellar doors and retailers feeling the boost.

Tourism manager Mirella Guidolin said the two signature events were both sold out completely, with the money estimated based on Tourism Research Australia, which calculates an overnight visitor is valued at $151 per night.

"Griffith Italian Festival in its first year was a sell out with 1,500 attendees and the Salami Festival numbers were also up with over 1,200 guests," she said.

"All winery cellar door event numbers were in abundance, cafes, restaurants and clubs were all over flowing and our local retailers also acknowledged a large amount of visitors through their cash registers which is brilliant."

With many other places frequented by visitors, she said the Visitor's Centre staff fielding calls in the hundreds.

Relieving manager for The Grand Motel on Banna Avenue Stacey Hartin said they had to turn away a large number of people, and not just over the festival weekend.

"We were totally full all weekend... and we usually sit about 50 per cent full, but during the week we are full a lot of the time," she said.

"I think that Griffith could certainly do with another motel. There is enough to go around, with enough people requiring accommodation for it to work and everyone to get a bit of the pie.

"When it's on in Griffith, it's really on - we have festivals, courts, with so much industry - wine, solar panels, workers need housing.

"It wouldn't impact all that much [for established accommodation], maybe around five percent each, but then in these busy periods everyone would be able to have a room."

Patrick Zirilli, one of the organisers of the Griffith Italian Festival, said they had not expected to sell out in the first year.

"We will definitely be increasing the number of tickets next year due to the demand and support we received," Mr Zirilli said.

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"It was a really great community event, everyone got behind it, whether they were sponsors, or restaurants and retailers, as well as the tourism team with Mirella who really got behind it, supported it and made it the success that it was."

And not just great attendance from locals, but Mr Zirilli said there were a great many coming from Melbourne, with a few from Canberra and Sydney as well.

Eastwest Airlines marketing specialist Vianney Rouille said the weekend was the strongest the airline had seen since beginning the route in July.

"You can definitely see that weekend numbers were really strong, almost fully booked on flights both to and from Melbourne," Mr Rouille said.

"The numbers were almost double that of the previous week, so we can see the impact there, it just goes to show that there is a real connection between Griffith and Melbourne."

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