WOLLONDILLY DESTINATION MANAGEMENT PLAN Prepared For Wollondilly Shire Council | November 2018 Cover images: illuminARTe 2018, Picton NSW, Brett Atkins Bargo Valley Produce, Bargo NSW NSW Rail Museum, Thirlmere NSW Please note, all images are owned by Council unless individually referenced. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ............................................................................................... 1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................................................... 1 Definitions .............................................................................................................................................................. 1 Key Findings ......................................................................................................................................................... 2 Wollondilly’s Visitor Economy ......................................................................................................................... 2 Barriers to Growing Wollondilly’s Visitor Economy ................................................................................... 4 The Vision .............................................................................................................................................................. 5 Opportunities for Activating Wollondilly’s Visitor Economy ................................................................... 6 The Game Changer Projects ............................................................................................................................. 7 Summary................................................................................................................................................................ 8 SITUATION ANALYSIS ............................................................................................. 10 About the DMP ................................................................................................................................................... 10 Methodology for Completing the DMP ........................................................................................................ 10 About Wollondilly .............................................................................................................................................. 11 Demographics ..................................................................................................................................................... 12 Visitation to Wollondilly .................................................................................................................................. 14 PRODUCT AUDIT ....................................................................................................... 22 Accommodation Audit ..................................................................................................................................... 22 Attractions & Experiences Audit ................................................................................................................... 26 BARRIERS TO GROWTH.......................................................................................... 30 Product & Supporting Infrastructure ........................................................................................................... 30 Marketing & Destination Awareness ............................................................................................................. 32 Governance & Industry Collaboration .......................................................................................................... 34 Other Challenges ............................................................................................................................................... 35 THE VISION ................................................................................................................ 38 ACTIVATING THE VISION ....................................................................................... 40 Activation Area 1: Product & Infrastructure Development ..................................................................... 40 Activation Area 2: Destination Awareness & Visitor Services ................................................................ 55 Activation Area 3: Events Development ......................................................................................................61 Activation Area 4: Governance & Support ................................................................................................. 64 THE GAME CHANGERS ............................................................................................ 68 The Game Changer Projects ........................................................................................................................... 68 Visitor Forecasts ................................................................................................................................................ 69 IMPLEMENTATION PLAN ......................................................................................... 72 SUPPORTING DOCUMENTATION ........................................................................... 82 Figure 1: Wollondilly’s visitor economy (summary) ............................................................................................................... 3 Figure 2: DMP vision and activation areas ................................................................................................................................. 5 Figure 3: DMP opportunities summarised .................................................................................................................................. 6 Figure 4: The game changers for Wollondilly .......................................................................................................................... 7 Figure 5: Map of Wollondilly and surrounding LGAs ............................................................................................................. 11 Figure 6: Historic Population (2007-16) ..................................................................................................................................... 12 Figure 7: Population Forecasts (2016-36) ................................................................................................................................. 12 Figure 8: Historic visitation to Wollondilly LGA by segment (3-year averages, September YE) ..................... 14 Figure 9: Purpose of visit .................................................................................................................................................................. 15 Figure 10: Total Visitation Comparison (3-year average, 2015-17) ................................................................................. 17 Figure 11: Domestic Day Visitation Comparison (3-year average, 2015-17) ................................................................ 18 Figure 12: Domestic Overnight Visitation Comparison (3-year average, 2015-17) .................................................. 19 Figure 13: International Visitation Comparison (3-year average, 2015-17) ................................................................ 20 Figure 14: Share of property type ................................................................................................................................................ 22 Figure 15: Accommodation spatial audit................................................................................................................................... 24 Figure 16: Accommodation gap assessment ........................................................................................................................... 25 Figure 17: Share of product type .................................................................................................................................................. 26 Figure 18: Attractions & experiences spatial audit ................................................................................................................ 27 Figure 19: Product gap assessment ............................................................................................................................................. 28 Figure 20: Wollondilly’s destination vision and activation areas ................................................................................... 38 Figure 21: Example of a bike skills park ...................................................................................................................................... 41 Figure 22: Examples of bike hubs/centres ................................................................................................................................ 41 Figure 23: ARTBIKES ......................................................................................................................................................................... 42 Figure 24: Traditional caravan park examples ....................................................................................................................... 42 Figure 25: Destination holiday park examples ....................................................................................................................... 43 Figure 26: Evening Activities ........................................................................................................................................................