One hundred World Youth Day pilgrims from Alaska and Washington got one step closer to heaven yesterday when they helped the Illawarra Fly register its busiest two weeks since it opened.
General manager Sean Haylan said the number of international visitors to the attraction had doubled in the week leading up to World Youth Day.
"They were mostly staying with people in Wollongong," he said.
But the impressive numbers continued throughout the entire school break.
Mr Haylan said it was the first holiday period to be blessed by continuous fine weather since the Illawarra Fly opened in April.
"We have had a bumper school holidays, including our second best weekend after the Anzac weekend," he added.
Mr Haylan said domestic visitor numbers were split between locals and Sydneysiders.
This showed that the Sydney tourism market was starting to discover the attraction and many were making day trips.
The strong numbers are expected to continue with the arrival of the first coach tours this week.
Mr Haylan said the first weekly APT coach would arrive tomorrow.
He was confident the coach tour visits would quickly gain momentum.
"We are very happy for the middle of winter," Mr Haylan said.
"Things look good going into spring."
It already feels like spring for Megan Murphy, of Fairbanks, Alaska.
"I live 20 minutes from the North Pole, where Santa Claus lives," she said.
Ms Murphy was one of 145 Americans who spent 2 and a half weeks at the Tops Conference Centre at Stanwell Tops.
She completed her visit yesterday with trips to the Illawarra Fly and Symbio Wildlife Park.
"It is totally amazing scenery," Ms Murphy said.
"It is so different here to what I am used to. This is nothing like winter in Alaska," she added.