From left, Opposition spokeswoman for tourism Wendy Lovell, Liberal By Tania Martin
TALKING to tourism operators in the Hills about how best to market their businesses will be a focus for Opposition spokeswoman for tourism Wendy Lovell if the Liberals are voted in at the November State elections.
Ms Lovell visited some of the tourism icons in the Dandenong Ranges last week including Sky High Mt Dandenong, Tesselaars, the Rhododendron Gardens, The Cuckoo Restaurant and Puffing Billy.
She also spoke to tourism operators to find out what they would like to see happen with tourism if she was elected in November.
Ms Lovell said a Liberal tourism policy was released earlier this year and that she would be working to build on that policy.
She said one of the main aspects of the policy was to find out how tourism operators in the hills would like to promote their businesses.
“Whether it is by marketing or implementing infrastructure improvements it is important that we find out what the tourism operators want from the Government,” she said.
One of the issues that Ms Lovell said that tourism operators had made apparent was that they felt that the marketing campaign run in the Yarra Valley wasn’t beneficial for the Hills and something was needed specifically for the Dandenong Ranges.
However, Monbulk MP James Merlino said that the Run Rabbit Run campaign for the Yarra Valley had led to a seven per cent increase in visitation in 2005 compared to the previous year.
Mr Merlino said the State Government was now focusing on a Dandenong Ranges specific campaign which was announced last month and that Labor had announced $150,000 funding for the project.
“We (State Government) have invested comparatively more in this region than any other area in Victoria which has led to bigger increases in visitors than another other area in the state,” he said.
Mr Merlino said the Labor Government was serious about tourism as a big economic driver in the state, which goes beyond talking about two local areas who are competing against each other such as the Yarra Valley and the Dandenong Ranges.
