Tourism News

Tourism operators meet to promote Central Coast

With the Central Coast about to share in a State Government regional tourism funding initiative which has been described as the most significant investment commitment ever, the Coast’s leading tourism operators met recently to discuss how they could work together to market the region and increase the number of visitors staying for more than one day.

As part of the New South Wales Tourism Strategy the Rees Government is investing an additional $10.5 million over three years to help grow regional tourism which the Minister for Tourism, The Hon. Jodi McKay said, “Will open up a whole new era in tourism promotion and growth for NSW.” In 2009 the Government will also invest in $412,000 in grants and marketing to help grow and promote events across regional New South Wales through their Regional Flagships Event Program.

To take advantage of the Government’s offer tourism operators (i.e. the tourism industry) will need to participate financially, through their already existing advertising budgets, with the Department of Tourism contributing on a dollar-for-dollar basis.
The initiative follows the O’Neill Review into NSW Tourism last year which sought to fund regional tourism but which the Government decided against in favour of promoting Sydney, leaving the regions out in the cold.

Seeing that the regions would be disadvantaged, Central Coast Tourism Chairman, Peter Hale and CEO, Horst Endrulat, along with Blue Mountains Tourism Chairman, Randall Walker, moved quickly to establish a new regional tourism body - Forum of Regional Tourism Organisations (FORTO) - which now represents all thirteen tourism regions in NSW.

Following meetings and negotiations with Minister McKay and several Government Departments, the three convinced the Government that the regions needed substantial funding and three of the regions – Central Coast, Blue Mountains and Mid-North Coast – already operated with industry membership. These three regions, known as Tier 1 regions, will receive funding immediately so that they can link into the Department of Tourism’s advertising plans for 2009.

FORTO will co-ordinate and administer the funding applications that will flow through to the Department of Tourism.
It was against this background that twenty-three of the Central Coast’s leading tourism operators along with representatives from Gosford and Wyong Councils met at Crowne Plaza Terrigal in late January to discuss how they could work co-operatively to take advantage of the State Government’s funding of $670,000 in 2009.

“On the basis that the industry contributes $670,000 this year, we will have a total of $1.4 million available to promote the Central Coast. “We can for the first time be advertising in the marketplace every week of the year,” said Mr Hale. “Operators will need to contribute part of the advertising budget to this initiative,” he said.

The focus will be on encouraging visitors to stay at least overnight and longer. “That means we must promote the Central Coast as a destination. New research has shown that there is a large market segment called the ‘Experience Seeker’ and these people will travel further and spend more,” he said.

As one motel owner pointed out, “These days we just sell a bed and a shower and toilet. If we want visitors to come and stay we have to promote the Coast’s attractions and events, and that works. “With the economic downturn there is a greater opportunity for the Coast to attract more visitors from Sydney. We have never had this much money, we have always had to scrimp and scrape. Central Coast Tourism was set up originally by the big tourism operators on the Central Coast following a downturn in tourism, but over recent years most of them have changed their focus and the Councils now contribute less than they did fifteen years ago. This will be great for the Coast’s economy,” he said.

Weather and economy combine for best holiday season in years
Good weather and the state of the national economy have combined to give the Central Coast one of the best holiday seasons on record. Many businesses are attributing their good fortune to the day-tripper market which has seen the Coast’s attractions, including the beaches, doing exceptionally well.

Commenting on the Christmas holiday period Central Coast Tourism CEO, Horst Endrulat said, “The holiday season so far has been a boom time for the Central Coast’s tourism attractions and activities, with thousands of families visiting our many attractions.” Managers of various tourism attractions also had positive comments.

Sandrine Gaymard of Treetop Adventure Park, the newest adventure-activity operator in the Ourimbah State Forest (Yarramalong Valley), said they are more than happy with numbers of visitors going through and their Flying Fox is one of the most loved attractions for families.

Amazement, a new attraction next door to Treetop Adventure Park in the Yarramalong Valley, which opened on Boxing Day is already proving to be very popular with families with its corn maze and petting zoo, according to owner Peter Engebretsen.
Mick Kilp of AquaFun Aquatic Hire in Avoca Beach, said business was up this year and said that there appeared to be a lot more visitors in the area.

Mary Rayner, General Manager of the Australian Reptile Park said that the Park has recorded excellent visitation.
Warwick O’Rourke of Cedar Park Lavender Farm in the Yarramalong Valley said that large numbers of visitors have enjoyed the special ambiance of the farm.

Glenworth Valley Outdoor Adventures also recorded excellent figures and their activities, such as horse riding, kayaking, abseiling and quad biking, have been the busiest ever, exceeding all previous years, according to Managing Director, Barton Lawler.
Sally Smith from The Australia Walkabout Wildlife Park also stated that it is by far the busiest Christmas and New Year period since she has been at the Park.

Len Birger of Microlight Adventures, who operates flights out of Somersby, said business this holiday season has been excellent so far and, if the weather stays nice, this should continue for some time.

Glenda Thomas of Tour de Long Jetty, a bicycle-hire company, believes that this year the Central Coast has more visitors than in the past, most probably due to the economic crisis as more people stayed closer to their homes in Sydney and visited the Central Coast.

Mr Endrulat said that Central Coast Tourism’s Gateway Visitor Centre at Mount Penang Parklands has been inundated with visitors going through and in December they recorded a 100% increase over last year. On the accommodation front, Michael Hunter from Raine & Horne Avoca Beach said that all accommodation was booked out but remarked that many of their holiday lettings this year had been taken up by the property owners, “Which is quite unusual as they usually take their holidays overseas,” he said. The Coast’s caravan parks have also fared very well with all reporting no vacancies.

Flora Festival receives government grant to boost tourism
The Central Coast’s major annual event, the Australian Springtime Flora Festival, has been the recipient of a $10,000 State Government grant to assist in attracting more tourists to the 2009 event which will run from 10 to 13 September. The Festival is one of 21 events across the State which will receive funding as part of Tourism New South Wales’ Regional Flagship Event Program.

Festival Executive Tony Collits said the funding will help the Festival to inject more advertising dollars towards target markets outside the Central Coast. “The Festival receives wonderful support from the local media each year but it becomes much more difficult to reach outside target markets, in particular wider Sydney and Newcastle. In 2008, 39% of Festival visitors were from outside the region so we have clearly demonstrated the interest in the Festival that already exists”, Mr Collits said. “It’s just a matter of having the additional funds to help us reach more people”.

“Based on survey results from the 2008 Festival, our Committee estimates that over $6 million will be injected into the local economy as a result of overall sales activity and the multiplier effect from tourist visitation. The funding from Tourism New South Wales will help provide an even stronger result in 2009,” he said.

Ray Moore elected Motel Association President
The Central Coast Motels Association has elected Ray Moore as President. Mr Moore is the part owner of Tiarri Motel at Terrigal and has been involved in the accommodation industry for many years. He was elected at the Association’s annual meeting in late November.

At the same meeting David Thompson was elected Secretary. Mr Thompson is General Manager at Country Comfort Motel Terrigal having joined the property in June last year after eight years in New Zealand where he was manager of a number of properties. Prior to that he managed a number of properties for the Ridges Group around Australia. Since his appointment at Country Comfort he has improved the dining option at Breezes Restaurant and taken advantage of their parking facilities which he sees as their greatest asset.

The Central Coast Motels Association represents some twenty-two motels in the region.

Back Send us your comments