Wollongong’s tourism boss Mark Sleigh has welcomed a $43 million overhaul to regional tourism from the NSW Government.
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The reforms, announced on Tuesday, will divide the state into six new “destination networks”.
Once part of a huge “Sydney surrounds” region that encompassed the Hunter Valley and Blue Mountains, the Illawarra will now be grouped with the Southern Highlands and Shoalhaven as part of “Destination Sydney Surrounds South”.
Destination Wollongong, which is funded by Wollongong City Council, will remain a separate entity and work with the larger regional tourism network.
Mr Sleigh commended the government on a “strategic approach” to encouraging visitors to different parts of NSW. He said Destination Wollongong looked forward to working with other tourism groups to encourage people to “turn south out of Sydney”.
“One of the fantastic things about the South Coast is the range of different experiences which can be enjoyed by visitors of all ages as you travel along Grand Pacific Drive and we look forward to working with the Destination Network to grow these reasons to visit over the coming years,” he said.
He also highlighted the creation of a “long overdue” regional conferencing unit as a boon to the region, saying it would have huge benefits for the city’s growing events market.
“With the recent investment undertaken at the Novotel Northbeach to improve the quality of accommodation, we have seen a major increase in enquiries and conversions for business events over the last six months,” Mr Sleigh said.
He said the new unit would allow Wollongong to attract more major events, and could also add to the case for WIN Entertainment Centre to be turned into a convention and entertainment space.
The tourism reforms accompanied a funding announcement of around $43 million over the next four years. Minister for Trade, Tourism and Major Events Stuart Ayres said the new networks would improve industry engagement and better development of visitor experiences and products.
“Destination NSW is the state’s expert body in tourism campaigns, marketing and programs and their assistance in building the new regional networks will make a positive difference,” Mr Ayres said.
“By investing around $10 million a year in support of the new regional initiatives we aim to bolster our efforts in attracting visitors to regional and rural NSW.”
Other initiatives include an increase a pool of regional visitor economy funding ($3.5 million) and to the regional flagship event funding ($4 million).