‘Business & Tourism – A Future Focus’
Held on the 13th June the Regional Council of Goyder Business Breakfast was well attended, having some 60 booked in to the Eudunda RSL Rooms. Visitors from as far as Hallett and Burra also attended, giving a very good cross section of the region.
L-R: Deputy Mayor John Neal (Robertstown Ward), Ali Uren (Guest Presenter),
Cr Debbie Hibbert (Eudunda Ward), Cr Bill Gebhardt (Burra Ward),
David Stephenson (CEO – Regional Council of Goyder).
Special guest presenter Ali Uren from Kiikstart spoke about how she has been in touch with our Councillors
“I have done some research on what has been put ‘out there’, what the state of play is, what are the realities, what are some of the opportunities, what are some of the roadblocks and created the presentation that will allow us to get to know what has to happen to really execute those ideas.
“If we are going to create a really strong region (not just Burra, although important), but an actual regional response across that region what do we need to consider and what do we need to get right, which will be much more valuable moving forward… to be creative, smart”
Statistics collected from three Burra tourism outlets shows that the main visitation to Burra is divided three ways, with Victoria, NSW and South Australia, less than 5% were from Overseas, this was from 100 surveys so far. Of the surveys 65% used Caravan and RV Parks. 50% knew Burra from ‘Word Of Mouth’ and 91% of respondents were 51 years and over.
Ali suggests, ‘Before we develop any product, service or experience, we need clarity on some questions. First one is “What does the region stand for? What is it’s values? What do you value?
In your opinion what would be a valuable tourism experience or product that you want to take to the market?
What do your guest value? Why do visitors want to make a trip to this region? What is the Benefit? Regions are like a business, we have to be able to answer that. Regions have to adopt that sort of ‘enterprise mindset’. What would we suggest as a top five reasons for people to move though the region, and spend money; what would that look like? We need a strong Regional Brand (already touched on), but its important to think about it from an individual perspective as well. Discussion was also about connecting the Northern and Southern regions, an ongoing topic.
Ideas from the attendees were positive and constructive, with suggestions of highlighting the great motorcycle rides in this district being one that, surprisingly the region had lost focus on promoting over the years, another of our “Hidden Treasures” just waiting to be picked up again.
There was much more discussion, and a video of the event is available if you wish to hear the full story. It would be well worth it if you are interested in Tourism in our region. Contact Peter Herriman for a copy on 0429 811 958.
Sadly Ali ran out of time to deliver what she had set out to do at the beginning, and discussions will be held at the next ECBAT meeting this coming Tuesday night about continuing the conversation with our ECBAT members and the community and to help with the next Business Breakfast.
A very brief mention was also made of the forthcoming project by the Southern Goyder Working Party to make a Business Directory to help local businesses and also that the Eudunda Community, Business and Tourism Committee (ECBAT) will have an AGM soon, and members are asked to renew thier membership to support ECBAT and thier efforts.
A big thanks to our local businesses, Kooky’s Kafe and Catering supplying the great breakfast and the Eudunda Bakery for the hot drinks to keep up warm and awake. Also a big thank you to the Regional Council of Goyder for funding the event and especially Barb Button who coordinated the event, and also to the Australian Government “Building Our Future” fund for sponsoring the event too.
