"Oh yes, we've had a lot of interest," Claire Larkin, of the Mary MacKillop Interpretive Centre, Penola, says in reference to a two-fold rise in visitor numbers since Pope Benedict XVI's February announcement of Mary's impending canonisation.
"It is an historic time in Australia and New Zealand. People are wanting to know a lot more about her. That has increased dramatically.
"In Penola, of course, we say 'this is where it all began'," Mrs Larkin says in reference to Mary's arrival.
In 1860 Mary left Melbourne and headed to the outskirts of the outback town northeast of Adelaide to be a governess for the children of her aunt and uncle, the Camerons.
It was there she met Father Julian Tenison Woods, the Catholic priest for the area, and together they talked of the need to educate the children of the working class.
"This is where their dream began, where the seeds were sown. She started off in a humble stable, then Woods commissioned the schoolhouse, which we still have today."
Hit by a tornado on July 21this year, the schoolhouse lost its roof but its old walls, built in 1867, weathered the storm. In fact, staff from the interpretive centre moved back into the building earlier this week.
"Initially, a few people staffed the schoolhouse for a certain number of hours, but we didn't have facilities such as toilets or a shop. So at the time of Mary's beatification (in 1995, the first step to sainthood), the Archdiocese of Adelaide, which owns this property, decided to fund an interpretive centre. It has been staffed entirely by volunteers," Mrs Larkin explains.
"Visitors have definitely increased - a doubling of numbers. I would say the businesses we have here are benefiting, but there has been no major expansion. We have pilgrim groups who come specifically, but other buses come as part of a tour. It is a successful wine district.
"The council is looking at the infrastructure, to upgrade things as Penola is only a small town, of about 1300 people. It is an outback town. It appeals to people because it is indicative of where Mary went.
"I think Arrowtown is similar," Mrs Larkin says.
"I was there a few years ago and I thought, 'how on earth did she get to this place?' That was the sort of place she went - outback places."
David Clarke, director of the Lakes District Museum in Arrowtown, has also noticed a growth in interest since Mary's beatification.
"Word has got out. It is of interest whether or not you are Catholic. Ever since 1995 there have been bus tours (particularly by tour company Grand Pacific). They stop and point things out. It might also attract independent travellers as well. Australian visitors to Arrowtown are often surprised she even came here.
"However, I'm not saying Arrowtown is going to become another Lourdes. We do have a promotion association but the potential of Mary MacKillop's canonisation hasn't been raised.
"I always maintain that Arrowtown's point of difference is its history, with the Chinese village, gold prospecting ... Mary MacKillop is an amazing story. She was a woman who did saintly things."
