- Title
- 2020 refresh of Central NSW tourism strategy: CNSWJO visitor economy strategy 2021-2026
- Creator
- Hunter Research Foundation Centre
- Relation
- https://www.newcastle.edu.au/research/centre/regional-futures
- Publisher
- University of Newcastle
- Resource Type
- report
- Date
- 2020
- Description
- The Central NSW region is unique in NSW. It is an area of high agricultural value and also has potential to develop its visitor economy by creating new opportunities and attractors for additional regional jobs outside the agricultural sector. This helps to diversify the industry base and create more sustainable communities. The region is to some extent divided between the growing, larger regional centres in the east of the region, closer to Western Sydney and other local government areas which are harder to reach and may experience lower rates of overall visitor economy growth in the future. However, careful regional planning can minimise regional disparities and achieve regional economic growth from the visitor economy. The current federal and state government policy environments strongly support regional growth and funding for infrastructure and economic development. In this climate, short to medium term investment in the regions could be instrumental in meeting the clearly articulated needs of regional communities. In addition, the Covid-19 pandemic has severely restricted overseas travel for Australians and this creates opportunities if the Central NSW can quickly respond to demand for a quality product and deliver a strong, tactical visitor experience within the next 12-18 months. The Covid-19 pandemic has also increased interest for nature-based tourism in safe and open spaces and again, there is an opportunity for the region to take advantage of this change in visitor preferences. Building a new market is a challenge but investing in product now will pay dividends in the future with repeat business from domestic and the visiting friends and relatives (VFR) market. Destination Country and Outback NSW (DNCO) lacks the funding to effectively support this vast region of NSW so the Central NSW Joint Organisation (CNSWJO), in conjunction with its ten member councils can provide a strong starting point for a CNSWJO visitor economy strategy. In addition, many of the towns have the opportunity to attract business investment and this should be encouraged, particularly investment in the visitor economy, whilst at the same time ensuring sufficient housing and other service provision as people re-locate to the region in response to lifestyle choices, work or business potential. There are several key opportunities which are important considerations in the development of the strategy. Critically, they involve thinking regionally around communities of interest instead of locally and ensuring that there is alignment with federal, state, regional and local strategies. It is also important to recognise the relative local and regional strengths for the visitor economy and explore the potential for cross-council collaboration to develop linked experiences, itineraries and hold visitors in the region post a major anchor attraction or event. Finally, re-positioning ‘tourism’ as ‘visitor economy’ will bring different thinking into the strategy. It will create more nuanced understanding about the visitor economy as a viable regional value proposition and will hopefully sharpen the focus by all levels of government (and the community) on the key direct and indirect impact visitors have in both small and larger places within the region. Recognising the economic, social and environmental value of the visitor economy to the region is critical, especially at elected member and business levels. This consistent support about its value is a key enabler for intergovernmental collaboration for policy and funding and elevates ‘tourism’ to something of added value which is a broader driver of community sustainability. Overall, there is a significant opportunity for the regional visitor economy to play a key role in delivering outcomes for communities in the region, in line with the CNSWJO Strategic Plan. The starting delivery point is to design a refreshed regional visitor economy strategy with agreement of the purpose, objective and priority actions. The strategy is dependent on key success factors, most notably funding, capacity and an enduring collaborative network model, not only between the members of the CNSWJO but also its key collaborators and stakeholders. Prepared for the Central NSW Joint Organisation 11 March 2021.
- Subject
- tourism; tourism policy; econimic development; community sustainability; Institute for Regional Futures; Central NSW Joint Organisation; SDG 8; Sustainable Development Goals
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/1482928
- Identifier
- uon:51049
- Rights
- © The University of Newcastle 2020. Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act no part may be reproduced by any process without the permission of the publishers.
- Language
- eng
- Full Text
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Goal 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth
Institute for Regional Futures
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