Summary of Tourism Performance 2003/2004 The Cradle Coast region has enjoyed a successful year from a tourism perspective, benefiting like Tasmania in general from increased visitor numbers and extended stays in the region. Whilst most anecdotal feedback confirms there has been an extension to the high season and the shoulder seasons, there have been pockets of the region that have reported a less than average winter season and the issue of seasonality still remains an issue. With respect to the tourism role of the Cradle Coast Authority throughout this period there have been a number of highlights and they include; 1. The continual development of the tourism specific staff structure within the Cradle Coast Authority with the full time employment of a Regional Events Coordinator and more recently, a full time Regional Arts Officer. These positions will allow the Authority to broaden it areas of impact within the region and create strong links between events, arts/culture and tourism. 2. The implementation of the Touring Route Strategy has been, and remains a priority for the Authority, and the support that has been generated through the region’s tourism industry and local government has enabled us to make significant progress with regard to this strategy. a. Stage 1 of the Touring Route Signage has now been installed throughout the region and we are monitoring the success of this infrastructure with a proposed 2nd round of signage, including the repositioning of current signs and installation of new signs planned for 2004/2005; b. The University of Tasmania has completed the first stage of a comprehensive Touring Route Research program, which provided some interesting data and has created some benchmarks on which future research will be measured; c. A comprehensive public infrastructure audit has been commissioned for all touring routes and once this is completed a program will be implemented to address all identified infrastructure gaps on the touring routes; d. Marketing plans, originally proposed for the three touring routes, have been modified to produce a single marketing strategy for the entire Cradle Coast
region and this has now been distributed throughout the local tourism industry for consideration and endorsement; e. Promotional collateral specific to the touring routes is under review. Tear off maps have been produced for many of the hubs along the routes and individual touring route brochures are been considered. The Regional Touring Guide is now focused specifically on the touring route strategy. 3. Communication between the Cradle Coast Authority and the tourism industry has been an issue since the merging of the Cradle Coast Authority and Cradle Coast Tourism. This has been addressed by the formation of the Cradle Coast Tourism reference group, which includes representatives from all local government municipalities and/or LTA’s in the region. This structure has overseen the implementation of the Touring Route Strategy and is now taking on a more comprehensive role in the development and promotion of the regions tourism industry. a) Communication at State level is now much improved from previous years with a excellent working relationship established between the three RTA’s (Agfest and the production of the family of Regional Guides evidence of this partnership) and between the RTA’s and Tourism Tasmania, both parties making a commitment to enhance this partnership. b) Communication channels have been established between all Visitor Information Centres in the region (accredited or not) and this network has provided a great opportunity for the sharing of ideas and the development of a regional approach to TVIN issues. The strength of these partnerships has flowed through to Tourism Tasmania via the TVIN Reference Group. 4. The Sustainable Regions funding program has allowed the Authority to initiate and contribute to a number of projects throughout the region over the past twelve months including: • • • • • • • • • •
West Coast Council Tourism Industry Capacity Building $165,000 Kentish Council Cradle Mountain Centralised Sewerage Scheme $55,000 Cradle Coast Regional Touring Route Strategy $110,000 Mersey River Precinct Study $13,200 Burnie Tourism Development Plan $22,000 Devonport Gateway Project $55,000 Leven River Precinct Study $44,000 Stanley Tourism Precinct Plan $44,000 Dismal Swamp Visitor Centre and Maze $467,500 Cradle Coast arts@work project officer $127,325
The Sustainable Regions contributions identified above have on all occasions been matched or exceeded from contributions from the tourism industry, all levels of Government and/or other key industry stakeholders.
These projects have collectively had a positive impact on the development of tourism experiences within the Cradle Coast region and established a strong foundation for future growth and development. 5. Marketing/Promotion remains an area of concern for the Authority as there is an expectation from all industry sectors that this is a primary role for RTA’s and one that the Authority is not addressing in a comprehensive manner. Budgets are now been reviewed with the aim of securing sufficient funds to employ a full time Cradle Coast Marketing Officer. However, these concerns aside, the Authority has produced the Cradle Coast Regional Touring Guide for 2003/2004 which was a 54-page production (increased from 36 pages) and 120,000 copies were produced (compared to 65,000 for the previous publication) and this guide has been widely distributed. This particular publication included a visitor survey, which has provided some significant local data, and certainly reinforced the credibility of these tourism publications. Media and Trade Famils have been strong to Cradle Mountain and Strahan but limited to the remainder of the region. Dismal Swamp may assist to address this issue. 6. An extensive and broad reaching training program has been developed through the Environment Tourism Training Program and this has been specifically targeted to meeting the identified needs of the local tourism industry. These programs have been well received and will have a positive impact on the professionalism of the local industry. 7. Branding of the Region/Touring Routes/hubs etc remains one area that must be addressed and it is one that the Authority will address throughout 2004/2005. Ian Waller Regional Tourism Development Manager Cradle Coast Authority December, 2004