That other close to Sydney regional tourist destination, the Blue Mountains, does far more to promote itself to visitors, and to make itself accessible to them, and to target its market.

There are tourism trained, creative, innovative, ideas people out here waiting to have a go. It's a shame that such resources aren't being used.

I can think of several projects to boost tourism in the area that I'd love to see implemented. The opportunities are glaringly obvious.

Is local tourism development just about giving out brochures to visitors and giving road directions? Or long term innovation and vision?

Unfortunately, it seems the former.

Even his Taipan Ride according to a recent article in What I'm Hearing stated that the new ride averaged 2500 people per hour. But of course it didn't say which hour or how many hours per week the average was worked out.

His ideas are typical of not showing off the Illawarra's natural scenic wonders but wanting people to stay inside buildings. For some reason, he thinks this is what attracts people.

And he wants 727s and the A320 to come to Albion Park Airport. How pie in the sky is this! Certainly no concern for the residents over the noise.

All these wonderful ideas from people to attract tourists. People who are not prepared to spend the money themselves on the facilities, but are prepared to take the money it brings.

This is not a lack of vision, just a lack of common sense.

With not having a building there at all, the first magnificent view of the Illawarra, a living scenic view is absolutely breathtaking as one comes upon it on the F6.

This is a priceless view, worth more than building. A 24-hour living advertisement.

Why have people stop there when we want them down in the Illawarra to spend their pennies?

Ratepayers barely benefit from this tourist trade, only the business sector, yet ratepayers are expected to pay for it.

Here are the things that I beleive Wollongong and its region really needs:

1. A Heart of the City. Wollongong is very spread out. It needs to have a Central CBD with some high-rise towers (both commercial and residential) where it can become a focal point where people meet and conduct business. Having people presence in the city will encourage residents to spend more time outdoors afterhours and this will help detract from crime and anti-social behaviour that is common in Wollongong nowadays. Also by having a CBD, businesses could take advantage of close proximity to each other generate employment within its heart rather than having business move out in the suburubs. Having extra people around in the city will make the area more appealing to tourists and visitiors alike.

2. We need to further capitalise on our foreshore. Up until recently the areas along the foreshore (From WIN Entertainment Centre right up to North Beach Wollongong) was lacking "something". Although Wollongong City Council has recently invested money by constructing a path-way, there is much more that could be done to make this area a proper tourist attraction. We need to move away from this mentality that we should not over-develop the costline. Well just about every costal town in Australia boasts about its natural beauty. Yes Wollongong has it to but why cant we do something a little more adventurous to make ourselves standout. How about we widen the footpaths along the foreshore, pave them with something nice with patterns (instead of boring cement) and plant some lovely palm trees on each side to give it a "tree-lined effect" and finally encourage small scale development in sections along the footpath such as small restraunts, cafes, ice-cream parlours etc. Its these types of developments that attract people. The Blue Mile proposal goes some way to address this but I think there needs a little more vision. Go check out coastal towns on the Meditteranean and see how many people they attract with these facilities, and ask the businesses what they think. I think you know what they would say!

3. Improve our entry points into the city. Our entry points into the city look pretty ordinary. With weeds growing in cemented median strips on our roads or overgrown grass in grass strips all add to make it rather unatractive. The grass and trees that line the freeways are overgrown with weeds, full of rubbish and look very unappealing, especially for tourists. Im not sure if this is Council's responisbility or the RTA's, but the council should at least try and do something with this. How about we place some nice trees, landscaped plants on the strips and with Cement strips, stencil crete them to make them a little more appealing. And why not remove all the grass that lines the sides of the freeway, replace it with bark and plant some native grasses that need very little attending. First impressions count so there should be more done in this area. Other towns and cities in Australia have done this, why have we not?

4. The Airport at Albion Park needs expanding. Why settle for an airport thats only capable with DASH-8 aircraft. Strengthen the runway and upgrade the terminal so that larger A320's and Boeng 767's can land and take off from. Low cost airlines use these aircraft because its the most profitable for them. We will not attract many low cost airlines to the area because of the current state of the airport. We are missing out on a huge tourist trade because we dont have a sufficient airport. Cant anyone see the benefits of upgrading the airport? Just imagine the benefits to our region if we open up the skies to other cities around the countr. Newcastle has and its airport is undergoing even further expansion...We are seriously being left beind here.

I hope that our authorities take note of this and do something that will bring our region to the forefront!