BURDEKIN TOURISM STRATEGY Prepared For Burdekin Shire Council | August 2018 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ............................................................................................... 1 1.1. Introduction ........................................................................................................................................................... 1 1.2. Definitions .............................................................................................................................................................. 1 1.3. Visitation to the Burdekin ................................................................................................................................. 2 1.4. Challenges for growing the visitor economy ............................................................................................... 3 1.5. A vision for the visitor economy ..................................................................................................................... 4 1.6. Activating the visitor economy ....................................................................................................................... 5 1.7. The Priority Projects ........................................................................................................................................... 6 1.8. Concluding Remarks ........................................................................................................................................... 6 ABOUT THE TOURISM STRATEGY ........................................................................... 9 2.1. Methodology ........................................................................................................................................................ 9 2.2. Consultation ......................................................................................................................................................... 9 ABOUT THE BURDEKIN ............................................................................................. 11 3.1. Location ................................................................................................................................................................ 11 3.2. Population ............................................................................................................................................................ 12 3.3. Visitation .............................................................................................................................................................. 13 3.4. The visitor economy ........................................................................................................................................ 20 3.5. SWOT analysis .................................................................................................................................................... 21 PRODUCT AUDIT ....................................................................................................... 23 4.1. Accommodation Audit ..................................................................................................................................... 23 4.2. Experiences/Attractions Audit ...................................................................................................................... 26 CHALLENGES ........................................................................................................... 30 5.1. Product & Supporting Infrastructure Challenges ..................................................................................... 30 5.2. Marketing and Destination Awareness Challenges ................................................................................... 33 5.3. Governance and industry collaboration ...................................................................................................... 34 5.4. Other Challenges ............................................................................................................................................... 35 THE DESTINATION VISION ...................................................................................... 37 ACTIVATING THE VISITOR ECONOMY ................................................................. 39 7.1. Activation Area 1: Attractions, Experiences and Infrastructure Development ................................... 39 7.2. Activation Area 2: Destination Awareness, Branding and Visitor Services ....................................... 46 7.3. Activation Area 3: Events Diversification & Development ...................................................................... 52 7.4. Activation Area 4: Governance, Collaboration & Support ...................................................................... 54 THE PRIORITY PROJECTS ...................................................................................... 60 ACTION PLAN ........................................................................................................... 62 SUPPORTING DOCUMENTATION ........................................................................... 71 Accommodation Audit........................................................................................... 71 Product Audit ......................................................................................................... 73 Figure 1: Definitions ............................................................................................................................................................................... 1 Figure 2: Visitation to the Burdekin .............................................................................................................................................. 2 Figure 3: Challenges for growing the Burdekin’s visitor economy .................................................................................. 3 Figure 4: The vision for Burdekin’s visitor economy ............................................................................................................. 4 Figure 5: Activation opportunities for the Burdekin’s visitor economy ........................................................................ 5 Figure 6: The priority projects........................................................................................................................................................ 6 Figure 7: Map of the Burdekin ......................................................................................................................................................... 11 Figure 8: Historic population (2007-16) ..................................................................................................................................... 12 Figure 9: Population forecasts (2016-36) .................................................................................................................................. 12 Figure 10: Visitation to the Burdekin (based on three-year averages from 2009/11 – 2015/17) ........................ 13 Figure 11: Visitor type to the Burdekin (average from 2009-17)...................................................................................... 13 Figure 12: Motivation for visitation to the Burdekin (average from 2009-17) ........................................................... 14 Figure 13: International Visitation (2016) ................................................................................................................................... 16 Figure 14: Domestic overnight visitation (2016) ..................................................................................................................... 17 Figure 15: Domestic day visitation (2016).................................................................................................................................. 18 Figure 16: Total visitation (2016) ................................................................................................................................................... 19 Figure 17: Top 15 Sectors by Output in the Burdekin (2016) ........................................................................................... 20 Figure 18: Top 10 Sectors of Employment in the Burdekin (2016) ............................................................................... 20 Figure 19: Burdekin Accommodation Mapped ....................................................................................................................... 24 Figure 20: Accommodation gap assessment ......................................................................................................................... 25 Figure 21: Burdekin Attractions Audit Mapped ...................................................................................................................... 27 Figure 22: Product gap assessment ............................................................................................................................................ 28 Figure 23: The Burdekin’s destination vision and activation areas ............................................................................... 37 Figure 24: Cane fire in progress................................................................................................................................................... 40 Figure 25: Cromarty Wetlands birdlife ....................................................................................................................................... 41 Figure 26: Traditional caravan park