Bega Valley Shire Council Press Release

June 17, 2008: The official launch of the National Landscapes initiative in Perth at the weekend spells good news for South East Australia, according to Bega Valley Shire Council mayor, Cr Tony Allen.

Cr Allen said the selection of the area from Bermagui to Lakes Entrance as one of the seven initial "landscapes" was acknowledgement that the region had one of Australia’s most distinct and rich environments, making it a highly desirable visitor destination.

"Designated the Wilderness Coast, the area has been identified as having the various attributes that appeal to ‘experience seekers’," he said.

"These are the people who travel to experience difference and like to ‘get off the beaten track’ and immerse themselves in local culture.

"Importantly, the experience seeker also stays longer and travels more widely than other visitors – bringing greater benefit to the whole community."

Cr Allen said a landscape went beyond individual National Parks or iconic visitor attractions.

"It also is not about shire or State boundaries. Instead, it is united by its topography, environmental or cultural significance.

"The National Landscapes initiative aims to capture and promote the best of Australia to achieve conservation, social and economic outcomes for Australia and its regions."

"The Wilderness Coast contains the only large tract of undeveloped coast left in eastern Australia and this vast coast is, in the main, protected in a series of National Parks, nature reserves and Marine Parks.

"From Lakes Entrance in East Gippsland to Mimosa Rocks near Bermagui, this area is chiefly unspoiled.

"However, it is also an area that is extremely accessible to those highly sought-after international tourists," Cr Allen said.

Cr Fraser Buchanan and three members of the Bega Valley Business Forum, Geoff Morrissey, Graeme Wykes and Barry Harrison, attended the launch in Perth to promote the Wilderness Coast to tour operators.

Chair of the Bega Valley Shire Business Forum Robert Heyson has congratulated those Community members appointed to the new Sapphire Coast Tourism Ltd Board.

Robert congratulated Gordon Beattie, Barry Harrison, Bruce Leaver, Geoffrey Morrisey, Lyn Mott, Adrian Sandrey, Tim Shepherd & Grant Webster whom along with Councils representative Mayor Toney Allen will make up the new Board.

Mr Heyson said that the BVSBF have been the interim managers of   Sapphire Coast Tourism and Sapphire Coast Tourism Booking Service since the end of July 2007, and the Merimbula Visitor Information Centre since the end of September 2007.  

Mr Heyson said Our management [BVSBF] role will draw to a close on 30^th June after which time the new board will take control.  He also said He would like to thank those members of the Forum that have worked hard to ensure a successful transition from Council and now to the new SCT Board.

The BVSBF will produce a “handover” business paper prior to the meeting scheduled for 20^th June to allow new board members to have some understanding of the most urgent items that will need to be addressed prior to our hand over.

Robert Hayson
Chair

BVSC Press Release 11th June 2008

Bega Valley Shire Council Press Release

March 17, 2008:  An independent body will be established in the Bega Valley Shire to manage Sapphire Coast Tourism and the accommodation booking service.

Councillors resolved this week to endorse a proposal from the Bega Valley Shire Business Forum (the combined chambers of commerce) to register a new incorporated organisation to manage the tourism industry in the shire.

This follows a Council decision last year to phase out its involvement in tourism promotion and management.

It entered a number of management agreements for the operation of Sapphire Coast Tourism, the SCT booking service, four visitor information centres and the Cruise Eden program.

A six monthly report was presented to this week's Council meeting, and council staff recommended that the structure proposed by the Business Forum should commence immediately so that the new organisation would be operational from July 1 this year.

Council will call for expressions of interest from the community for appointment to a seven-member board of directors for the management body.

The board will comprise seven members - a chairperson who is independent of council or industry affiliation; a council representative; three community representatives without industry or council qualification; and two experienced industry representatives.

The Business Forum will be invited to review the expressions of interest and make recommendations to council regarding appointments.

Council staff will help draft a constitution and/or articles of association which will include clear corporate governance guidelines as to how the tourism management body should relate to the various elements of the community.

The new body will take on management of the Merimbula Visitor Information Centre.

Councillors resolved to provide $150,000 in the coming budget for the operations of the new body and to hold a further $50,000 in reserve for use by the body if required.

Council will obtain a valuation for the Sapphire Coast brand and the booking service.

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The ‘Wilderness Coast' region that stretches from Lakes Entrance in Victoria, to Bermagui has taken a significant step closer to achieving international status. 

The Wilderness Coast Steering Committee Member Geoff Brookes [SERTEC] said he was pleased to announce that the Wilderness Coast will be one of an initial seven natural sites to be included within the National Landscapes Program. He said the official announcement would be made at the Australian Tourism Exchange international exposition in Perth in June.



NPWS Far South Coast Regional Manager Tim Shepherd said that it was an acknowledgement of what has been known locally for years. "The scenery and experiences are superb and the local tourism industry is world class," he said.



"The Wilderness Coast contains the only large tract of undeveloped coast left in eastern Australia. This vast pollution-free wilderness coast is, in the main, protected in a series of national parks, nature reserves and marine parks.

"From Lakes Entrance in East Gippsland to Mimosa Rocks on the Far South Coast of NSW this area is chiefly pristine. However it's an area that is extremely accessible to highly sought after international tourists."

Merimbula Chamber of Commerce & Tourism Executive Member Tony Ingram said "Our region will now officially have the same status as iconic Australian places that include Uluru, Kakadu, the Great Barrier Reef, the Australian Alps and the Great Ocean Road.

Mr Ingram said the next stage of the process was a destination branding project plus an exercise to audit the tourism and natural experiences in the Wilderness Coast that make it an ideal fit for the Brand Australia international marketing program.   

"These projects will be conducted by Tourism Australia and the steering committee and all local stakeholders in the Wilderness Coast region will be invited to participate," Mr. Ingram said.  "With two official National Landscapes regions [Wilderness Coast & Australian Alps] now closely linked to our area, this will ensure that our local economies will benefit  enormously whilst at the same time the very natural attractions that put us on the world stage are protected and managed to ensure they are conserved for future generations." 

Mr Ingram paid a particular thanks to Senior NPWS Ranger Robyn Kesby for the work she had contributed to the project.

TOURISM CHALLENGE

With the Bega Valley Shire Council withdrawing from its role of managing tourism in the shire the Bega Valley Shire Business Forum has accepted the challenge of managing this industry, which is very important to the economy of the shire. The following extracts from white papers on Australian Tourism seem to epitomise the two vital challenges facing the BVSBF as it takes up the mantel of managing the future of tourism in the Bega Valley Shire.

There are many connected with regional tourism that may have a misunderstanding. Some regard promotions as marketing. One important part of marketing is that it is not marketing unless there is a financial transaction at the end of the process when some-one collects payment from a sale to the customer. If marketing does not include a selling function then it is only promotional activity. Many promotions that do not target business results are not really marketing with a commercial outcome but promotions or publicity usually to improve awareness.Norm White, Director Advance Tourism Melbourne

Q. - How has destination management and the concept of the (tourism) destination moved on in the twenty first century.A. - By delivering experience-based products!In the experience economy, changing values from older to younger generations' mean that consumers are seeking new meaning and self-actualisation in their tourism consumption patterns as they move beyond material possessions and services to experiences.In this new approach to delivering the tourism product, ‘experience providers' sequence and stage carefully choreographed activities, personal encounters, and authentic experiences, designed to create long-lasting memories, engaging travel, and increased customer loyalty.Chris Cooper Foundation Professor of Tourism School of Tourism The University of Queensland

These papers also propose that the very concept of Australia's Tourism Industry is undergoing fundamental change. They put forward that the way tourism will be ‘managed' and what ‘tourism' will be in the next few years will be very different to how it is being managed now and what will bring future tourists into the Bega Shire.

Traditionally tourism management has been an arrangement of concurrent but discrete activities of Destination Promotion funded by the public purse and Marketing of tourism businesses generally being commercially owned and managed for profit. Whilst Marketing has been heavily reliant on Destination Promotion there has been very tenuous fiscal accountability between the public purse expenditure and the resulting revenue generated in the context of the Return On (the Public Purse) Investment. With this lack of ‘bankable' ROI it seems reasonable that the managers of the public purse, in our case the Bega Valley Shire Council, should be carefully reviewing their involvement in the funding of tourism.

If all other tourism businesses expect to receive a ‘bankable return' on their investments it seems reasonable for the shire's community to expect a bankable return on funds it might invest in tourism on its behalf. If the Bega Valley Shire Council was receiving a ‘bankable' return on its investment of shire community funds in tourism it may have elected to increase its investment in the tourism industry on behalf of the shire' community.

Because tourism is such an important contributor to the economy of the Bega Shire, the Bega Valley Shire Business Forum has taken up the challenge of building the business enterprise that will develop and manage the promotion and marketing of this new tourism ‘experience' so as to deliver revenue and profit to those who invest in tourism. Robert HaysonPresident