An estimated 260,000 people visited the Twelve Apostles during December 2019, the highest monthly amount since traffic counters were installed in 2015.
The visitors arrived in more than 40,000 cars, 6,000 coaster buses and 500 coaches, with the busiest day of the month, Sunday 29 December, receiving more than 15,000 people – the highest daily number since Christmas Day 2018.
Parks Victoria staff have been pleased with how the visitors and traffic have been managed, with speed limit reductions, traffic controllers, roadside barriers, message boards and additional parking working to reduce congestion and ensure pedestrian safety.
This visitor and traffic management plan has now been successfully implemented around the Twelve Apostles and Loch Ard Gorge for a number of years, operating on peak periods such as the Christmas week, Easter, and the Grand Final and Melbourne Cup long weekends.
With the Australia Day public holiday and Chinese New Year celebrations expected to again draw tens-of-thousands to the region from 25 January, the current visitor and traffic management will remain in place until 9 February 2020.
The Chinese New Year festival is the biggest event on Melbourne’s Chinese calendar, featuring two weeks of celebration and festivities. Many families and groups enjoy the festival period by visiting regional Victoria, with the Twelve Apostles being a favourite destination.
China is Victoria’s biggest international visitor market, with tourism figures showing more than 666,000 people arrived during the year to June 2019, spending $3.2 billion. Last year, around 126,000 people visited the Twelve Apostles during Chinese New Year.
Traffic and road safety: 25 January 2020–9 February 2020
- Roadside barriers: To prevent illegal roadside parking, barriers are in place along the Great Ocean Road from approximately 200 metres west of the Twelve Apostles visitor centre to 300 metres east of Gibson Steps, and 200 metres each side of the Loch Ard Gorge carpark entrance.
- Speed limit reductions: To ensure the safety of pedestrians and drivers, the speed limit in these same locations is reduced to 40kms during operational times (daylight hours), and 60kms otherwise.
- Traffic control: Signage and dedicated traffic controllers will direct vehicles to ensure traffic flow into and around the precinct carparks.
Quotes attributable to Parks Victoria, Area Chief Ranger, Michael Smith:
“It’s been a big start to summer in the Port Campbell National Park, with traffic controllers, Park Rangers and Victoria Police working hard to ensure safe and enjoyable visits to this special part of Victoria.”
“With further busy periods approaching, I’d again encourage visitors to plan ahead, take care, and observe signage and the direction of Parks Victoria staff.”
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