Port Stephens ranked as one of Australia’s top 10 beach destinations during Australia Day Weekend

Port Stephens, 2½ hours north of Sydney, was one of the top ten beach destinations for Australians over the Australia Day long weekend, according to accommodation bookings made on Wotif.com.

Port Stephens ranked as the sixth most popular coastal destination in Australia for the booking site’s customers from January 23-25, 2015, behind Surfers Paradise, Noosa, Broadbeach, St Kilda and Newcastle and ahead of Cairns, Port Macquarie, Wollongong and Maroochydore which also made the top 10.

Port Stephens, which did not feature in Wotif’s 2013 or 2014 top 10 beach destinations for Australia Day, was becoming more popular as a coastal getaway according to Wotif.

Destination Port Stephens CEO, Janelle Gardner, welcomed the top 10 listing, saying Port Stephens was experiencing one of its busiest peak summer holiday periods ever.

“The no vacancy sign has been up since before Christmas and all through January, and with ongoing investment in innovative and strategic marketing strategies from both Port Stephens Council and the industry, we are continuing to see visitor numbers grow from season to season,” Ms Gardner said.

“Our successful and far-reaching tourism slogan – ‘P.S. I Love You’- is clearly resonating with the market and, judging by our top 10 listing with Wotif and our bumper summer holiday traffic, holidaymakers clearly do love Port Stephens.”

Attractions in Port Stephens include the region’s world-famous dolphins and koalas, pristine coastal scenery, unspoilt bay and ocean beaches, the biggest sand dunes in the southern hemisphere, a wide variety of accommodation, gourmet seafood and locally made beer and wine and activities such as dolphin swims, parasailing, kayaking, quad biking, bushwalking, surfing, cycling, jetboating, sailing and snorkelling.

sourced:travedailynews.asia