South Australian Government in talks with Victorian Government to develop Adelaide-Melbourne bikeway

THE SA Government will team up with its Victorian counterparts to boost tourism in Australia’s two biggest cycling states through a new Adelaide-Melbourne bikeway.

VICTORIA has hopped on board with SA’s plans to construct a major new bikeway from Adelaide-Melbourne, joining talks with the Marshall Government.

SA Tourism Minister David Ridgway revealed he was in “on-going talks” with his Victorian counterparts over the bikeway, which Steven Marshall announced as a centrepiece of his tourism policy in the weeks leading up to the March State Election.

Mr Ridgway on Thursday told a briefing of about 100 tourism industry figures at the Adelaide Town Hall he was in talks with his Victorian counterparts to hammer out some of the details.

“The Victorians thinks it is a very good idea and want to work collaboratively on it,” Mr Ridgway said.

“It won’t be a new Amy Gillett-style dedicated bikeway. It is more about joining up existing routes and some work on the highway,” he said.

“We are the two biggest cycling states. We have the Tour Down Under and Victoria has the Herald-Sun Tour and the Cadel Evans (Great Ocean Road) Race.

“There are benefits for both states.”

The bikeway, dubbed the “Great Southern Bike Trail” would be about 1000km long and, Mr Marshall said at the time, would be “a mecca for serious cyclists looking for a challenging and safe route” to experience Australia’s southern coast.

The SA Government has revealed it is in “on-going talks” with the Victorian Government to build a new bikeway between Adelaide and Melbourne.

The government believes the bike way would inject millions of dollars into local businesses, including restaurants, wineries and adventure tourism operators.

In its 2015 survey of cycle tourism, Roy Morgan found that five of the top nine areas for cycle tourism in Australia were in South Australia including the Adelaide Hills, the Riverland, Flinders Range, Clare and McLaren Vale.

In 2017 the Tour Down Under brought 43,000 interstate and overseas visitors to SA, generating $65.5 million worth of economic activity.

Thursday’s tourism workshop was the first of 19 meetings across the state outlining the new government’s agenda.

Peak industry tourism group the SA Tourism Industry Council (SATIC) is hosting the forums, which include Q&As with the minister and panel discussions, in every region of the state.

In an upbeat briefing, which gave some credit to the former Labor Government, Mr Ridgway noted the visitor economy was now worth $6.6b and was on track to reach the target of $8b by 2020.

He stressed the importance of events and conventions and said SA was keen to host the 2021 World Water Ski Championships to showcase the Riverbank precinct, quipping ‘if (former Premier) John Olsen can waterski barefoot on the Torrens, there is no reason we cannot win it.”

The SA Government is pushing on with plans for a major new bike way between Adelaide and Melbourne.

Mr Ridgway said SATIC’s regional ‘Meet the Minister’ events over the next two months would be important for him to hear from tourism operators and other industry stakeholders firsthand.

“I firmly believe the best way to grow the tourism sector is to work collaboratively with local tourism businesses, operators and other stakeholders who have skin in the game and are at the coal face,” he said.

“That’s why I’ll be getting out into the regions over the coming months to get a better understanding of how the State Government can help address some of the challenges that the tourism sector is facing as well as how we can maximise the enormous opportunities that exist.”

SATIC chief executive Shaun de Bruyn said the events would promote discussion and help tourism operators from across the state to discuss the key challenges, priorities and opportunities facing their industry with Mr Ridgway.

“We are looking forward to continuing SATIC’s strong working relationship with Minister Ridgway and the State Government to unlock the full potential of tourism within South Australia,” Mr de Bruyn said.

“The state’s tourism industry currently employs over 36,000 South Australians with the visitor economy now worth a record-breaking $6.6b.

“As the peak body for South Australia’s tourism industry, SATIC is committed to its role as an industry advocate and leader, contributing to the sustainable growth of profitable tourism businesses.”