At the moment four Visitor Information Centres, Merimbula, Eden, Bermagui and Bega share $90,000 a year.
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The bottom line is that is simply not enough.
The money has been the same for some years now but of course all costs have increased.
Tourism is important to the shire because of the economic benefits its brings. Whether you are in the business or not, somehow you will get a benefit from tourism.
Recently councillor Robyn Bain asked what did Mr and Mrs Pensioner get from tourism.
Because tourists like to visit we have clubs offering good quality entertainment, restaurants with a wide selection of food and plenty of cafes. Support for tourism puts money in local pockets which in turn helps to support activities or events enjoyed by us all.
So why defer a decision on something so clearly needed.
This shire is not the only one trying to grapple with the concept of capturing more people or businesses in an SRV for tourism.
It is without doubt complex.
Doing the numbers, or sorting out how it is applied in monetary terms is the easy bit. The bean counters can run the scenarios once they know who they are targeting.
The complex part is about who is targeted but that’s something everyone concerned has known from day one.
So why was this matter left until an October meeting to be discussed when it is patently clear that not only is it complex but considerable time is needed to consult with the community before making the formal application to IPART (Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal).
IPART requires any application for an SRV to be accompanied by indication of how the community was consulted and its response.
The Visitor Information Centres have been warning about their fragile financial situation for at least 18 months and the need to increase the tourism fund and yet it was not brought to council until a time when it was clearly impossible to achieve for the 2019/20 rates.
A motion was agreed to apply for the SRV in the 2020/21 rates. The Visitor Information Centres want consultation with council and have even offered to help in any way they can. Let’s hope this motion comes back to council for action considerably earlier than October 2019.
