Mayor Bob Abbot commented on the new tourism organisation for the Hinterland Times. He believes the new Destination Management Organisation (DMO) will provide opportunities for each of the four regions to leverage off each other’s marketing programs, without detracting from
the overall product. He also thinks Council should stay out of tourism marketing.
“For example, let’s take the Glasshouse Mountains. This area is a significant product in itself, but in the past it hasn’t had the capacity, or the ability to leverage off anything else. It has had to go it alone, with only a limited amount of money allocated to tourism. The Glasshouse product just hasn’t had the opportunity to target markets. but now there is a chance to jump on board with the ‘Montvilles’ and ‘Malenys’ that have are well known brands.
I believe the Sunshine Coast Council is the biggest investor in tourism in the region. This Council invests millions of dollars in developing the tourism product – we provide parks, streetscapes, beach showers, accesses, toilets and roads. That’s our commitment to the tourism industry, because the things we do every day affect the business community’s ability to market the product.
You have to remember with this Council’s tourism investment, it’s not the Council’s money we’re investing, it’s the community’s money. I think you’ll find that the community is willing to invest in developing that product because they can share in that investment. What they’re not willing to do is to spend large amounts of ratepayers’ money on marketing when that should be going into services.
The aim of these reforms is to give the industry control of its own destiny and deliver a truly regional approach, that also recognises and supports recognises and celebrates the region’s diversity.
When the new structure is implemented from July 1, we will have a more strategic approach that will deliver a bigger slice of the tourism pie for the Sunshine Coast and ultimately, a stronger, more resilient local economy.”
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