“Gong hei fat choy” and "xin nian kuai le" Happy Chinese New Year and wishing everyone great happiness and prosperity in 2019, the year of the Pig! More Australians are discovering the Grampians region than ever before as visitor statistics for the year ending September 2018 show that the Grampians region leads the state in increases in domestic visitor nights (+34.4 per cent) and visitor expenditure (31.9 per cent) and third in the state for growth in domestic visitor numbers (+15.4 per cent). Some excellent results for our region and well done to all the hardworking Grampians tourism operators. Our team will be based in Horsham on February 21 and if anyone is interested in learning more about Grampians Tourism or has ideas to help promote our destination please drop into the Horsham Visitor Information Centre and say G'day. Our region continues to deliver amazing events with the Grampians Music Festival being held this weekend from February 15 to 17. The music festival is bringing the best new up-and-coming bands from across the country to the sunny valley in Halls Gap. Expect big mountains, huge sounds, new mates and a whole lot of dancing “The Grampians Way”. We have an exciting year ahead and we’re looking forward to building closer relations with our industry and trade partners and continuing to increase visitation across our region. At the end of 2018 we said farewell to David Osborn who has been the Grampians Tourism chair for the past six years and with David's departure, we welcome our new chair - Paul Hooper. Paul was a councillor with the Ararat Rural City having served as mayor for six terms and is an experienced business operator. We are extremely excited to announce the appointment of Sarah Myers as our new marketing and brand manager for Grampians Tourism.  Sarah is an experienced industry professional who will help Grampians Tourism navigate the latest in marketing and business strategy. Marc Sleeman is the chief executive officer of Grampians Tourism, grampianstourism.com.au