LETTER: Tourism spend not producing results

FORMER tourism boss slams Clarence Valley Council's latest tourism strategies.

Yamba beaches from the sky. Picture: Adam Hourigan

CLARENCE Valley Council representatives have recently been seeking media attention for major increases in visitor numbers to this area due to the Pacific Highway upgrades and the Jacaranda Festival.

However they keep very quiet about their plan to close the South Grafton Visitor Information Centre (VIC), transfer the tourism staff into the council chambers and then place this valuable real estate on the market.

For decades local tourism services were administered by a committee of leading local business people working in partnership with council and it was one of the most successful in Australia.

Land for the VIC was obtained from the state government; the centre was built with community, state and council funding; award-winning tourism books and maps were fully funded by advertising and were distributed via all local motels and caravan parks as well as the centre itself.

In 1990-91 our local commercial ratepayers agreed to pay a Special Rate Variation (SRV) to help fund seven-day staffing at the VIC and this was paid in lieu of membership fees to the Tourism Association.

This SRV was not paid by pensioners, farmers or residential ratepayers. It was collected by councils from commercial ratepayers and passed on to the Tourism Association.

In 2013 our council sacked the business people who had volunteered their time to manage local tourism services so successfully for so many years and council took direct control.

It's been a total disaster.

Visitor numbers to the VIC have nose-dived, the printed material council offers is ineffective and costs local ratepayers thousands of dollars.

Council has installed expensive touchscreen hubs at various locations but who goes there? Council has introduced a 'membership' scheme for local tourism operators, costing thousands of dollars per year, and tried to set up tourism advisory committees, which have both failed. Council proposes to use staff in pop-up information booths and to send staff on the library bus some weekends to try to locate visitors on local beaches (I'm assured this is not a joke).

Council proposes to transfer information staff to council chambers where there is no adequate parking or visitor facilities. In nearly five years, council has not developed a local tourism app for a smart phone or tablet.

The list goes on and on, and so do the costs. Huge increases in costs to the local ratepayer for dramatically less results for local tourism.

But wait, council has a solution: continue to collect the old tourism SRV but now spend it however council sees fit. Plus introduce a new SRV and make everyone pay it including pensioners, farmers and residential ratepayers.

It seems crazy that a council unable to manage its finances now suggests to its ratepayers that if they pay even more rates this same council will suddenly become competent and efficient. Tragically, our council is addicted to spending without regard to anyone's ability to pay their rate bill.

I urge all local people to get ready to contact IPART after this council makes application for the latest SRV.

Bill Day

Former manager CRTA

Former councillor Maclean Shire Council

Originally published as LETTER: Tourism spend not producing results