The Boggabri Drovers Campfire has again been crowned as one of inland NSW’s top tourist attractions.
An excited contingent of campfire supporters was in the audience at the tenth annual Inland Tourism Awards at Moree on Saturday night to hear that their event had won the 2013 Community and Events category.
This is the second year the annual Boggabri Drovers Campfire has won the top award.
The Drovers Campfire is now automatically a finalist in the overall NSW tourism awards in Sydney.
This year saw the staging of the eighth Boggabri Drovers Campfire, which is now well established as a major shire tourism drawcard.
It was again a huge success and engaged people and organisations from across the Boggabri community.
“It was the biggest so far,” said Boggabri Lions Club member Geoff Eather.
“We had a record attendance, with 380 campsite booked.”
That translates into a huge influx of visitors into Boggabri who stay for not only the weekend but also the days leading up to the big event.
And most of the visitors then spend time travelling around the shire, spending money and seeing the attractions of the district.
Many of the caravanners and campers who come to Boggabri return each year.
The event is legendary among the caravanning community for its hospitality and friendliness.
And each year, visitors speak highly of the level of organisation which makes the campfire a success.
Mr Eather and the Lions Club launched the first Drovers Campfire back in 2005.
At the time they were pleased with the 20 or so campers who arrived for the weekend.
“We are certainly doing it again next year,” said Geoff.
Regional tourism is big business and growing bigger.
Each year regional tourism contributes $11.5 billion per year to the NSW economy and accounts for almost half of the state’s 162,500 direct tourism jobs.