Tourism push for crater lakes

A PROBE is under way into the development of a “signature” tourism attraction at Mount Gambier’s iconic crater lakes precinct, which will canvass the viability of a zip-line, glass bridge or other asset.

Tourism Mount Gambier and the City Council have swung their support behind the fledgling investigation in a move to drive tourism experiences and visitors numbers.

While the Limestone Coast is the state’s most visited destination by international visitors outside of Adelaide, it lacks commercial tourism platforms to fuel spending.

Prominent tourism operator Kent Comley – who is now deputy chair of the city’s peak tourism group – told a business breakfast meeting yesterday the city must foster commercial tourism.

He said a priority was the development of a “hero” tourism experience at the crater lakes precinct.

“We are pleased council is looking to investigate this further and we have allocated funds to support a feasibility study into what that hero experience might be,” Mr Comley said.

“Whether it would be a zip-line over the lake, a glass bridge or whatever, we need a signature experience that creates a further compelling reason to drive tourism growth.”

He argued a key challenge was retaining visitors longer by providing more activities and experiences.

“With amazing natural assets, one of our weaknesses is that visitors can experience many of these without spending a cent,” Mr Comley explained.

“Tourism and the visitor economy is critical to the economic growth of our region.”

The Limestone Coast’s robust tourism sector has recorded “significant growth” over the past five years with the visitor economy now worth $357m.

“As I keep reminding the South Australian Tourism Commission and the State Government, the Limestone Coast is the most visited region by international visitors in South Australia,” Mr Comley said.

“Surprising it may seem, we receive more international guests than Kangaroo Island, The Barossa and the Fleurieu Peninsula.”

But he warned the growth in international visitors was now showing more modest trends.

“Political factors may be dampening the demand from China and there are inherent risks for our industry if the US and China trade war really heats up,” the tourism leader said.

Mr Comley said the region needed continued investment from the State Government to “keep driving tourists into South Australia.”

“The great benefit of tourism is that tourism dollars represent new dollars being injected into our economy from outside the region into labour intensive industries, creating benefit for the region as a whole.”

Mr Comley said the tourism market was competitive and many tourism destinations worked in collaboration to attract visitors.

“We must continue to work together to drive tourism growth,” he added.

He said Tourism Mount Gambier had worked “strategically and collaboratively” to develop industry plans to fuel growth.

“The strategies set out in the first and second plans have largely been completed. Much of the activity in these plans were based on communication.”

This activity included developing and enhancing online and social media platforms, which resulted in the Discover Mount Gambier website.

A new strategic plan is expected to be released next month, which focuses on further promotion and developing experiences.

The development of a Youtube channel and the creation of tourism videography competition is also mooted.

“The power of social media cannot be under-estimated,” Mr Comley said.

A recent Discover Mount Gambier post on Facebook – that captured an incredible shot of the Cave Garden after heavy rainfall – had a reach of more than 165,000 and an incredible 23,000 engagements.

Moreover, the Discover Mount Gambier website now has a live chat feature.

Mr Comley thanked Mount Gambier City Council for its shared tourism vision and its $500,000 contribution over three years for its strategic plans.

“This partnership between the tourism industry is unique and is the envy of other regions,” he said.

Tourism Mount Gambier – a sub committee of the Mount Gambier Chamber of Commerce – held its annual general meeting yesterday.

This coincided with the Chamber of Commerce annual general meeting.