Tourism chiefs impressed with Southern Gateway Centre

Wollongong's tourism industry will grow if the industry continues to work together, according to Tourism NSW chairman Les Cassar and Regional Reference Group chairman Phil Hele.They made the comments during a Tourism NSW board visit to the region yesterday to inspect the Southern Gateway Centre, Wollongong Science Centre and Illawarra Fly. Board members were so impressed with the use of technology in the Jumbulla Discovery Centre at the Southern Gateway Centre that they did not want to leave.They previewed shows that are taking the use of projection technology to a new level."The whole construction and concept is great," Mr Cassar said. "I think this is a leader in tourism in Australia." At the Science Centre they saw an iDome which takes visitors inside the cutting-edge world of research. They noted the Innovation Campus' business tourism potential and the 8000sqm set aside for a hotel-conference centre.They visited the Illawarra Fly, which is expecting its 150,000th visitor soon.Mr Cassar said it was a challenging time for tourism, but the South Coast still enjoyed eight million domestic and international visitors a year who spent $1.9 billion and stayed 12.8 million guest nights.Mr Hele acknowledged the role Tourism Wollongong's Greg Binskin had played in driving the industry - which supported close to 30,000 jobs in the region and 4500 jobs in Wollongong."It is fantastic to think of where the region was five years ago and see how people have come together and are thinking about tourism, understanding the value of the local economy, getting behind it and working as one. The South Coast is probably one of the better RTOs (regional tourist organisations) in the state in that they have joint regional tourist organisations that have joined together all the way down to the Victorian border and they are talking as one," he said.The board noted the considerable recent investment in infrastructure and believed that would generate more jobs."Once you get to that critical mass it all comes together," Mr Cassar said. "You have got the accommodation, you have got the activities and things to do, you have got a beautiful coastline and wonderful natural resources in terms of foods, wines and a brewery as well."Mr Cassar expected the Southern Gateway would attract more infrastructure.Tourism Wollongong chairman Jim Eddy said the new centre would make a real statement for the South Coast and give the industry a chance to showcase attractions and assess what visitors wanted.