AS THE weather warms up, excitement about the upcoming summer period is starting to build with tourists already flocking to the Blue Lake city to see what it has to offer.
Despite only a few days of warmer temperatures, there has been no shortage of people out and about taking in Mount Gambier’s beautiful natural landscape.
Winter is now in the rear-view mirror and Tourism Mount Gambier chair and Centenary Tower caretaker Ben Deering said Mount Gambier was the place to be during October and beyond.
Mr Deering said a mountain of work had been completed by City Council and other community bodies to ensure the natural beauty of the crater lakes precinct was maintained and cherished for tourists and locals to enjoy.
“We are an eco-tourism destination and this area around the lakes has always been important to people, so there’s been a rolling maintenance schedule to make sure it is up to standard and I think the council does a pretty good job,” he said.
“A lot of the tracks themselves have been cleaned up to make them safe to walk on and around nine months ago the trail up to the tower was re-paved.”
Mr Deering, who volunteers in his tourism role, said he was excited for the upcoming period, starting this weekend with a packed schedule of events.
“We have got the long weekend starting tomorrow and of course you can come for a hike and the tower will be open, but on top of that we have got a mountain bike race, BrickGambier is happening and there’s the Roman exhibition,” he said.
“There is all this stuff happening in the hope people stay here longer and that’s going to continue right throughout the spring and summer period.”
Mr Deering said this weekend’s Inside Line Downhill Mountain Bike Club racing event occurring in the city was just one example of an event capitalising on the unique environment that Mount Gambier has to offer.
“The actual starting point is the tower and they rip down the track – I think they go from the tower down to the Brownes Lake in under two minutes, so it will be a great spectator event,” he said.
“They are using one of the many amazing bike tracks we have around here and I guess one of the ideal goals would be to have a bike-only loop where you can get all the way around the lakes precinct.”
The sporting events do not stop there with Mount Gambier to host the Australian Disc Golf Championships in early November.
Mr Deering said this event would attract competitors from all over the nation as well as a small number of international participants.
“In terms of registrations I have heard it might tip-over as the biggest disc golf event ever held in Australia,” he said.
“There’ll be some people wondering what disc golf is, but that’s the beauty of it, we have a lot happening and some of it may be a bit niche, but it’s also accessible, because you can borrow free discs from the visitor centre to go and play on the course or you can get a bike to ride those trails.”
Last summer, the city’s key stakeholders started to see the fruits of their labour, with some of best tourism numbers on record.
While a probe is currently under way into the development of a “signature” tourism attraction at Mount Gambier’s iconic crater lakes precinct, the area’s natural beauty is still attracting impressive numbers.
“We have had an increase in length of stay and spend and last summer was our busiest and all the indicators are that this summer will beat that,” he said.
“Four out of five people in capital cities are still saying ‘where’s Mount Gambier?’ and for me that’s a massive upside, because if we are at our busiest at the moment when most people have not heard of us, then that’s awesome we have still got that many people to attract to our beautiful city.”
Mr Deering said there was always some anxiety about what the warmer period might hold in terms of tourism numbers, but he was is filled with confidence.
“With a seasonal cycle, when it’s a bit quieter, you think I know it will be good, but there’s still that bit of uncertainty,” he said.
“But then I come here to the tower this week on a random morning and the car park is full and I realise it’s going to be fine.”
