Cleland Wildlife Park redevelopment on top of tourism wishlist

A $150m redevelopment of one of SA’s major visitor drawcards is at the top of the state’s peak tourism body’s election wishlist.

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Kickstarting a $150 million redevelopment of the Cleland Wildlife Park tops the local tourism council’s federal election wish list.

SA Tourism Industry Council chief executive officer Shaun de Bruyn told the Sunday Mail funding to begin development at the Adelaide Hills attraction — including a cable car and boutique accommodation — was the state’s number one tourism priority.

“It is an iconic tourism site for our state and desperately needs new investment,” Mr de Bruyn said.

Cleland Wildlife Park artist impression for $150 million upgrade. Picture: Supplied

“Another key priority right now is additional infrastructure for Outback SA, in particular with water flowing into Lake Eyre, the tourism opportunities for our state are massive and the infrastructure to accommodate visitors’ needs is sorely lacking.”

The State Government is exploring options with the private sector to turn the concept for Cleland Wildlife Park, first spruiked by the former Labor government, into a reality.

Both the federal Liberal and Labor parties told the Sunday Mail they would increase tourism grant programs that could help fund projects like Cleland.

SA Senator and federal Tourism Minister Simon Birmingham said the Liberals had pledged far more than Labor on tourism spending.

“We’ve backed in SA tourism through our $85 million commitment to the Aboriginal Art and Cultures Gallery, $9 million for the new Heysen Gallery, $3 million for Carrick Hill, our $11 million zoos package that will help transform Monarto (Zoo) and $1.5 million to help protect the wildlife that ensures Kangaroo Island is a major tourism drawcard,” Senator Birmingham said.

Cleland Wildlife Park artist impression for $150 million upgrade. Picture: Supplied

Labor’s Tourism spokesman Anthony Albanese vowed to honour the Liberals’ tourism commitments — launched as part of Adelaide’s City deal — for the art galleries.

“We will (also) boost Tourism Australia’s budget by $25 million, part of which would go towards domestic marketing,” he said. Mr de Bruyn said investment in marketing should be a strong priority for the next government.

“The most important priorities for SA are investment in marketing and supporting industry to build their business capability through the Quality Tourism Framework which will ultimately ensure visitors receive outstanding visitor experiences,” he said.

Figures released in March showed foreign visitor numbers to SA, and their expenditure, both dropped 3 per cent in the 12 months to December.

The figures prompted calls from Mr de Bruyn for the state’s marketing budget to grow from up to $35 million a year to $50 million.