Destination Wollongong releases Destination Development Plan
Tourism in the Illawarra has the potential to be a key economic driver if local operators can work together and drive a regional tourism destination management plan to boost the industry, according to the Property Council of Australia and Destination Wollongong.
Destination Wollongong (DW) this week launched its Destination Development Plan as a lead up to the focus on the sector at the Property Council’s Illawarra lunch being hosted tomorrow.
With the aim of the event being to bring external and internal investor-operators together to learn some insights on demand drivers, successes and failures and the lessons of leveraging opportunities, DW thought it was timely to highlight the series of potential projects to develop as attractions.
The Destination Development Plan was commissioned by DW in response to minimal reference to tourism in the discussion paper on the Illawarra Growth Plan released by the State Government last year, with the recently released draft version now inclusive of this sector as a focus area for growth.
“We know tourism in this region is a growing sector in our economy with some exceptional entrepreneurs and good operators but we want to look at how we take this industry to the next level, to encourage more investors to consider Wollongong as a destination to develop tourist attractions,” Destination Wollongong’s General Manager Mark Sleigh said.
“The potential is there: we’re only 60 minutes from a major international airport and a global city which attracts 8.6 million domestic and 2.9 million international overnight visitors annually – our focus needs to be on capturing more of that market for longer stays.”
Destination NSW estimates that tourism is worth almost $710 million per year to the Illawarra, bringing in nearly 5 million visitors each year, but it’s the overnight stays operators would like to boost, according to Mr Sleigh.
“The creation of new attractions, not only provides direct economic benefit but it also creates employment. A large proportion of tourism related positions are relatively unskilled and perfectly positioned for our young people and also displaced workers from traditional manufacturing backgrounds,” Mr Sleigh said.
Property Council Regional Director Amanda Kunkler said the region’s tourism industry started from a great platform of benefits, including beautiful beaches, rainforests, retail and restaurant offerings, some key attractions and about 5 million people living within a three hour radius.
“We need to attract greater investment in developing multiple assets which give people a reason to come and play and stay,” Ms Kunkler said.
Speakers for the event are:
- Drenka Andjelic, Managing Director, Construction Assignments
- Will Creedon, Chairman, Tourism Hunter
- Matt Davidson, Chairman, Destination Wollongong
- Steve Savic, General Manager Novotel Wollongong Northbeach
For more information on the event click here.