Two local tourist facilities are undergoing significant renovations on the back of welcome news that tourism visitation numbers to the Hastings have grown by 19 per cent, Independent Member for Port Macqaurie, Peter Besseling said.

The first sod was turned on Wednesday for the $600,000 upgrade of Sea Acres, a significant local tourism facility for our region that attracts 200,000 visitors a year.

"This is complemented by the first stage of the $500,000 revamp of Roto House, another tourism driver whose refurbishment started earlier this month," Mr Besseling said.

[Caption: Environment Minister Frank Sartor visits Sea Acres at the invite of Mr Besseling in May 2010. A month later, the centre's upgrade was announced in the state budget.]

"These two major tourism attractions for Port Macquarie have received significant state government investment recently and their upgrades will provide a further boost to the good economic news concerning local tourism growth in our region.

"The works at Roto House are also welcome news for the Koala Hospital, whose visitors will benefit from the addition of a cafe, better parking and better access to the facility.

"Nature-based tourism plays a big part in bringing people to our region and state government investment into these two significant upgrades, valued at more than $1 million, can only help secure our position as a destination of choice for future years," Mr Besseling said.