The Port of Eden Marina (POEM) group has expressed its disappointment at the Eden Snug Cove Development Plan not being included in the official program for the upcoming Tourism FUTURE 14 summit, but the organising committee says it is not yet at the stage where it warrants a standalone presentation.
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The event will be held at the Oaklands Event Centre and Four Winds Festival site on October 8-9, featuring presentations from Tourism Australia, Carnival Australia, Canberra Airport, VisitCanberra, MyTravelResearch and Bothfeet.
POEM says the announcement earlier this year of the NSW Government’s $10million in funding to construct a wave attenuator is just the gateway to potential private investment of over $100million in future years.
Their eventual plans include the construction of a private marina and resort, which it believes will prove to be major tourist attractions for the town.
POEM secretary Robert Bain said the group was surprised to learn that the Sapphire Coast Tourism and Bega Valley Shire Council, who are organising the summit, did not wish to include a presentation on the project.
“We believe it’s one of, if not the biggest, tourism projects in the shire,” Mr Bain said.
“The feedback that we’ve had from [Sapphire Coast Tourism chairman] Bruce Leaver is that it’s useful infrastructure, but not a tourist attraction in itself.
“You’ve only got to look at the Bermagui or Batemans Bay marinas to see that they are [attractions]; I think the waiting list is around two years long in Bermagui.
"We've also had very positive feedback from the boating fraternity right across Australia.
“Carnival Cruises are featured at this conference, and we have no problem with that because they should be, but we feel that this project should be there too.
“You get the opinion that they’re saying that a person who steps off a cruiseliner is a tourist, but a person who steps off a private boat in the same place isn’t.”
Mr Leaver did not return the Magnet’s calls on Tuesday.
Bega Valley Shire Councillor Michael Britten, who is also part of the summit’s organising committee, said the project is not yet at a stage where it can be presented as a standalone item.
He said POEM representatives are more than welcome to attend the event, and take advantage of the networking opportunities available.
“The presentations are really about, ‘What does the shire offer right now’,” he said.
“Until someone comes along and says ‘I’m funding this marina’, I don’t think [POEM] can take centre stage and do a presentation.
“At this point, it’s still something that’s in the works, and I hope POEM can attend and bring the investors they say are interested so they can speak to the banks that will be there, and take the opportunity to network.
“We will certainly be speaking about Eden during the workshops and the project will be mentioned and referred to as part of that; it just won’t have its own presentation.”
But Mr Bain said that without a place on the list of speakers, POEM will not be attending.
“Some of the investors that have expressed interest in the project are international firms, and if we were to say, ‘Come to this place to network, but we don’t warrant a place on the program’, we turn ourselves into a laughing stock,” he said.
For more information on Tourism FUTURE 14, click here.