Eurobodalla and NSW business chambers have welcomed a statewide regional tourism strategy to lure the conference market.
The Tourism Division of the NSW Business Chamber, the state’s peak business organisation, said the announcement of the NSW Government’s regional conferencing strategy was “long awaited” and would bring great benefits to regional NSW.
Batemans Bay Business and Tourism Chamber also supported the move.
Executive Manager of the NSW chamber’s Tourism Industry Division, Dean Gorddard said the combination of the regional conferencing unit set up at Destination NSW, the website portal to facilitate leads, and the grant funding program provide a strong platform to grow the market in regional NSW.
“This fulfils one of the actions from the Visitor Economy Industry Action Plan and an item of ‘unfinished business’ which we identified as a priority in our recently released mid-term report card,” Mr Gorddard said.
“What we’ve seen since the opening of the International Convention Centre in Sydney is that there is a clear opportunity for satellite conferences, off the back of large international events, to disperse in key regional destinations.
“The new regional conferencing unit is well positioned to work closely with industry on collaborative marketing activities to increase mid-week overnight residential conferences in regional NSW to supplement the much sought-after leisure short-breaks market.
“This is an incredible opportunity to increase interstate market share of the association and government markets; as well as small to medium corporate events,” Mr Gorddard said.
Batemans Bay chamber president David MacLachlan agreed.
“The regional conferencing strategy is a great opportunity for regional NSW destinations which are looking for a wider business events experience, and highlights the importance of local destination development – particularly with provision of infrastructure and engagement with the local business communities to ensure its success,” Mr MacLachlan said.
