Wollongong's success in setting itself up as an event-driven tourist destination will suffer if cuts to the events and tourism budget recommended by council’s controversial citizens panel go ahead.
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The panel has recommended slashing the tourism marketing budget by $100,000 a year, cutting one fireworks night to save $20,000, and axing $50,000 from the funding given to the Viva la Gong festival.
The latter proposal has not gone down well with the arts community, given Viva la Gong is the city’s main arts festival.
Wollongong City Council on Wednesday said the event cost ‘‘about $200,000’’ a year to run.
Regular Viva la Gong performer and former Circus Monoxide artistic director Tamara Campbell said such a cut would have a ‘‘massive effect’’ on the festival.
‘‘It doesn’t have a huge budget anyway,’’ she said.
‘‘It’s a fantastic opportunity for people to showcase what they do, all across the arts and different genres – music, dance, theatre.
‘‘I think it’s important that Wollongong has a vibrant identity, not just a consumer-driven identity, and Viva la Gong is a very important part of that.
‘‘If you take that away it starts to eat away at the soul of a place.’’
In recent years Wollongong tourism leaders have focused on drawing visitors to a series of major events held in the city, with the It’s On in the Gong campaign. And it worked – Destination Wollongong visitor numbers showed 3.6million domestic day trippers had visited the Illawarra in the 12 months to March, up 10per cent on the previous year.
Destination Wollongong chief Mark Sleigh did not want to comment on the proposal to cut tourism marketing.
But he said he was pleased the panel saw the value of tourism assets.
‘‘When Destination Wollongong was established, Wollongong City Council made a significant strategic statement about the importance of tourism to the region,’’ he said.
‘‘We will continue to work with Wollongong City Council to ensure that as much funding as possible is made available for marketing Wollongong as the premier regional destination in NSW.
‘‘Importantly, the community consultation panel recognised the importance of investing in key tourism assets.’’
The citizens panel said another $50,000 could be saved by ‘‘integrating’’ the management of the Illawarra Performing Arts Centre and Wollongong Town Hall.
The town hall is managed by Sydney company Pegasus Venue Management.
The Sydney firm chosen to manage Wollongong’s town hall had come in with a ‘‘significantly lower’’ price tag than the tender from the Illawarra Performing Arts Centre.
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