Backpack army hits the Hunter
THEY travel light, party hard and spend tourist dollars year-round in the Hunter Region.
Carrying little more than a rucksack and a plump bank account, more backpackers than ever are flocking to Australia and featuring Newcastle, Port Stephens and the wine country in their itineraries.
Tourism Australia's International Visitors Survey showed backpackers visitor numbers jumped by 2 per cent last year to 570,000 visitors and expenditures were up by 10.4 per cent to almost $3.5 billion.
Hunter Tourism hopes to cash in on the growing number of international visitors using a $500,000 grant to target backpackers.
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