Tourism’s $10m boost

By Tania Martin
A LOCAL tourism operator has labelled a campaign to get visitors back to the area as the region’s great hope.
Dandenong Ranges Tourism Information Centre’s Michael Axel said something big was needed to regenerate the industry.
Mr Axel said that although the Dandenongs were not directly affected by the Black Saturday bushfires it had left the region bereft of visitors.
“It was like a ghost town in many parts of the ranges,” he said.
The Yarra Valley and Dandenong Ranges campaign – Amazing as Always – was announced last week.
It will culminate in a 10-day Easter festival, from 9 to 19 April, in a bid to get visitors back to the region.
It will run in all the major tourism centres affected by the downturn, from the Dandenongs to the Yarra Valley, Nillumbik and Murrindindi regions.
Tourism Victoria has injected more than $260,000 into all four regions to make the campaign a possibility and Yarra Ranges Regional Marketing is helping to run the event.
The idea for the campaign was raised at a meeting of the Bushfire Response and Recovery Committee several weeks ago.
But it wasn’t until the cash was made available that it became a reality.
Yarra Ranges Regional Marketing spokeswoman Heidi Crundwell said the campaign would help emphasise that the region was open for business.
“We want people to know that we can offer a high-quality experience for visitors,” she said.
“The funding (Tourism Victoria) gave us the opportunity to go out to the market and further promote the region to the local and interstate markets.”
Mr Axel said many tourism operators were hoping the campaign was not a one-time deal.
“We will be pushing for it to be a yearly event,” he said.
Mr Axel said that although no direct fire damage was felt in the Dandenongs there had been a massive drop in visitors.
“There has been a lot of collateral damage for us,” he said.
“We are seeing a reduction in the number of people up here and not only that, they are restricting the amount of time they stay.”
Mr Axel said the event was an attempt by Tourism Victoria to get people back into the area. He hoped the campaign would repair the damage the fire threat had done to the region.
It is similar to an event Dandenong Ranges Tourism tried to get going several years ago, but failed. It tried to organise a travelling festival highlighting tourism in the hills but didn’t have the cash or the resources to do it.
This campaign comes as the State and Federal governments announced on Tuesday 17 March a joint $10 million grant for tourism bushfire recovery.
Premier John Brumby said the two governments would support regional tourism operators as part of both their commitment to rebuild communities affected by this summer’s devastating bushfires.
“Rebuilding local economies is crucial,” he said.
“That’s why our governments are helping tourism operators rebuild trade with this $10 million package.”
Mr Axel said he hoped this cash would provide some comfort and relief to those directly impacted by the fires and who had lost their businesses and families.
He said it was also great to see the government giving the Dandenongs assistance even though they were not directly impacted.
Find out more about the Yarra Valley and Dandenong Ranges campaign by visiting www.yarravalleynow.com.au