THE State Government’s plan to develop a vision and shared plan to grow heritage tourism in South Australia has received the tick of approval from the Beachport National Trust Museum.
The museum is recognised as a South Australian heritage site and the building is a Colonial-era wool and grain storage facility.
“The museum started in 1971 and the building is owned by the Wattle Range Council and locally supported,” museum secretary Elaine Donaldson said.
“We have the best volunteers and many locals bring their visiting friends or family to come and see the museum – it’s a unique building and it’s one of the town’s best assets.”
Another unique feature of the museum is it still has the railway line from Rendelsham within the building.
The museum is part of the heritage trail that is along the Limestone Coast, starting at Port MacDonnell and linking with Robe, Kingston and Cape Jaffa.
Ms Donaldson recently attended a Robe District Council meeting where stakeholders spoke about how to enhance heritage tourism in the region.
“It’s not that we do not talk to each other but we can become focused on our own towns and projects and it was fascinating to hear about what other people are doing and to think about how to work with each other going forward,” Mr Donaldson said.
Environment and Water Minister David Speirs hopes the State Government’s Heritage Tourism and Strategy and Action Plan will help grow the state’s visitor economy to $12.8b by 2030.
“There is significant potential to unlock South Australia’s heritage places to create experiences that showcase our state’s distinctive history,” Mr Speirs said.
“To guide this the government is collaborating with key heritage tourism stakeholders to develop a strategy and action plan.
“A number of workshops are being held in partnership with the Tourism Industry Council South Australia across the state this month to gain input from tourism industry, the heritage sector, local government, Traditional Owners and those with an interest in progressing heritage tourism.”
Mr Speirs said the government was keen to hear ideas but also for people to identify examples of standout heritage tourism and experiences in South Australia and elsewhere.
“Heritage already underpins many South Australian visitor experiences – such as staying in heritage accommodation, visiting a museum or tasting wines produced from 150-year-old-vines – and these are the types of experiences we want to expand on.”
Submissions to the government close on October 7 with a draft Strategy and Action Plan to be made available for comment and feedback in early 2020.
