Tourism business operators from across the High Country enjoyed great food and wine and a lively exchange of ideas at a recent Industry Networking dinner at Brown Brothers, Milawa.

The dinner included insights from Tourism North East Board Chair, Paul Carrick, and CEO Amber Gardner who shared current trends and future High Country tourism projects.

Paul Carrick told the gathering that for the first time ever, tourism expenditure in the High Country was close to $1 billion ($980million) to the year-ending September 2017.

He said the growth in visitation could be attributed by and large to the excellence in delivery of visitor experiences by tourism operators as well as a collaborative approach by like minded businesses as exemplified by the High Country Brewery trail and the High Country Harvest.