Limestone Coast tourism soars as Qantas arrives in Mount Gambier

The Flying Kangaroo has landed in Mount Gambier for the first time, arriving with the announcement of a new event and confidence Limestone Coast tourism is set to take off.

Qantas has made its long awaited descent into Mount Gambier.

The arrival of QF2215 on Sunday marked the first time the national carrier has flown into South Australia’s second largest city.

Following a $9.2 million Mount Gambier Regional Airport upgrade, the airline now joins Regional Express (Rex) in connecting passengers to Adelaide and Melbourne with 500 weekly seats on each route.

Passengers were welcomed to Mount Gambier Regional Airport after arriving on the first QantasLink flight from Melbourne. Picture: Jessica Ball

QantasLink CEO John Gissing said the airline had an important role to play in driving regional tourism.

“We know Australians love to travel and many are looking to visit places they haven’t been before,” Mr Gissing said.

“The addition of Mount Gambier to our network will support the growing demand we’re seeing and help deliver a boost for local businesses.

“We’re working with tourism partners to promote the unique geographic landscape and world class wine of the Limestone Coast to millions of our frequent flyers around the country.

“The new flights will also offer locals more choice and competitive fares on what were previously monopoly routes, with seamless onward connections to our large domestic network through Adelaide and Melbourne.”

Representatives from Qantas, Grant Council, Mount Gambier Council and MP Tony Pasin welcome the first QantasLink flight at Mount Gambier Regional Airport. Picture: Jessica Ball

MP Tony Pasin said a little more than a decade ago the airport only served instant coffee and now had a growing capacity of 160,000 arrivals per year.

“I remembered the meeting with Alan Joyce in 2013, where it was suggested that my wish to bring Qantas flights to Mount Gambier was an unrealistic goal,” Mr Pasin said.

“Now in this modern state of the art facility we’ve got a 50 seat aircraft landing, we’ve got a commitment for regular flights five days a week, we’ve got the competition, which sadly, this region has lacked for too long into the marketplace and that’s got to be a great thing for consumers.”

South Australian Tourism Commission chief executive Rodney Harrex said Qantas’ commitment would build confidence in the region’s tourism and business sectors.

“Victoria is our largest interstate domestic overnight market, so these additional flights are going to be a great boost for local businesses in the South East, and further drive visitation to the Limestone Coast from Adelaide and Melbourne,” Mr Harrex said.

Passengers check in ahead of the first QantasLink flight from Mount Gambier to Adelaide. Picture: Jessica Ball

“It’s terrific for the region that has been hit very hard by COVID restrictions, and also the bushfires just over a year ago.

“Before COVID, tourism in the Limestone Coast contributed $369 million and directly employed 2100 people.

“Having additional services means that we can continue to grow visitation, rebuild the visitor economy and create more jobs.”

Mr Harrex also announced Mount Gambier’s Cave Gardens will be one of three regional sites to host an Illuminate South Australia installation ahead of the new Illuminate Adelaide event which will take over the city this winter.

He said it was an exciting time for the region which had benefited from almost $270,000 of grants through SATC’s Tourism Industry Development Fund.

Emma Vorwerk and Nathan Seal from Pine Country Caravan Park with South Australian Tourism Commission Destination Development executive director Nick Jones and chief executive Rodney Harrex. Picture: Jessica Ball

The six projects including winery and accommodation expansions have a combined value of more than $900,000.

“We’ve seen interest in the Limestone Coast is more than 100 per cent up year on year,” he said.

“We know is there’s massive potential and you’ve got businesses that prepared to invest and I think it's great the government’s prepared to work with them.

“There’s going to be this consistent flow into the future so I think domestic tourism is going to be really robust.”

Pine Country Caravan Park is among the grant recipients and having noticed increased visitation, owner Nathan Seal was excited to expand is rural glamping experience and create a further family friendly environment.

“We’re upgrading cabins, a jumping pillow, more glamping tents and upgrades of our amenities and creating an experience,” Mr Seal said.

Pine Country Caravan Park will add to its glamping experience after receiving a $90,000 grant through the Tourism Industry Development Fund. Picture: Tanya Dearing

“The people who would go to Bali aren’t going to Bali, so were seeing first time travellers visit the Limestone Coast and a lot of people coming from Victoria.

“People are starting to travel and look at new destinations that they never looked at before.”