vibrant tourism in victoria’s high country...and experiential and that they are not currently...

VIBRANT TOURISM IN VICTORIA’S HIGH COUNTRY

SUBMISSION TO PARLIAMENTARY INQUIRY

INTO HERITAGE AND ECO TOURISM

TOURISM NORTH EAST | JULY 2013

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Submission no. 38 Received 27 August 2013

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TOURISM NORTH EAST SUBMISSION | PARLIAMENTARY INQUIRY INTO ECO AND HERITAGE TOURISM

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Executive Summary

Tourism North East (North East Victoria Tourism Board Incorporated) is an independent non‐profit organisation that took over the role as the peak regional tourism body in Victoria’s High Country on 1 July 2011. Local government, alpine resorts, Tourism Victoria and Parks Victoria are financial stakeholders in the organisation, providing structural funding to underpin its operations. During the preparation of this submission Tourism North East has consulted with in region local government, alpine resort management and tourism industry operators. Three key information sources were used to prepare the submission ‐ travel trend research, the North East Product Gap Analysis quantitative research (n=500+) and a Tourism North East industry survey (n=80). Industry, local government and the peak tourism organisation in North East Victoria believe that both eco and heritage tourism are vitally important to the local economy and community social fabric with eco‐tourism also providing opportunities to deliver strong environmental conservation outcomes. The industry is enabled to grow in both areas. Growth in both these areas is and must continue to be sustainable, viable and mutually beneficial to tourism and eco/heritage conservation. Numerous opportunities exist to grow both tourism segments. Opportunities centre around the need to invest in further facilitating the nature and eco‐tourism experience for visitors to deliver a rich and immersive tourism offer that generates significant economic impact to regional communities. The rich nature based and cultural heritage fabric of North East Victoria is widely recognised by the tourism industry as under capitalised on. Authentic and highly relevant cultural heritage stories are not being told in a visitor centric manner. Nature based tourism opportunities frequently rely on the visitor self‐facilitating their journey. Key barriers to growth of eco and heritage tourism are:

‐ Lack of funds to invest in comprehensive marketing communication of regional tourism offerings in the cultural and eco‐tourism space;

‐ Lack of funds to maintain heritage assets;

‐ Issues with access to public land;

‐ Attracting ongoing public sector infrastructure funds behind game changing projects;

‐ Challenges associated with creating an appealing investor environment, reducing the barriers to invest at all steps of the process.


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Table of Contents Page

Executive Summary 2

Submission Body

1. Tourism North East Overview 4

2. Submission Evidence Base 5

a. Traveller Trend Research

b. North East Gap Analysis

c. Industry Survey

3. Tourism in Victoria’s High Country 12

a. Tourism Growth Potential

b. Nature Based Tourism

c. Cultural Heritage Tourism

Definitions and Contacts 16


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Tourism North East Overview

Tourism North East (North East Victoria Tourism Board Incorporated) is an independent non‐profit organisation that took over the role as the peak regional tourism body in Victoria’s High Country on 1 July 2011. Local government, alpine resorts, Tourism Victoria and Parks Victoria are financial stakeholders in the organisation, providing structural funding to underpin its operations. The organisation is governed by a stakeholder and skills based Board of Directors and supported by a small and dedicated management team based in Beechworth.

The shareholder organisations are:

‐ Alpine Shire;

‐ Benalla Rural City;

‐ Indigo Shire;

‐ Mansfield Shire;

‐ Rural City of Wangaratta;

‐ Towong Shire;

‐ Falls Creek Resort Management Board;

‐ Mt Buller Resort Management Board;

‐ Mt Hotham Resort Management Board;

‐ Parks Victoria;

‐ Tourism Victoria.

Our Vision

The vision of the organisation is: Collaboratively and sustainably driving the development and promotion of innovative and ever evolving Victoria’s High Country tourism experiences.

Our Mission

1. To act as the peak Regional Tourism Board for the North East Victoria marketing region focusing on the development and growth of the tourism industry in the region, strategic tourism development and advocacy for the region.

2. To consolidate the strategic direction of the tourism industry for the entire North East Victoria region and communicate with key partners such as Local Government, Tourism Victoria, the Alpine Resorts and other relevant tourism industry stakeholders.

3. To perform the following functions for the North East Victoria region: tourism industry development, tourism product development, regional marketing, strong advocacy and united voice for the region, effective coordination and communication, skills training, leadership and mentoring, networking, identifying investment/infrastructure opportunities, and managing tourism sustainability.

Strategic Priorities 2013/2014 – 2015/2016

In line with its mandate, there are five key goals for Tourism North East to develop strategies to address:

- Increase year round visitation through a focus on visitation conversion;

- Drive repeat visitation and advocacy through enhancing the visitor experience;

- Grow yield through visitor services development;

- Ensure a sustainable industry;

- Adopt a destination management planning approach and maintain a vibrant peak tourism organisation.


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2.0 Submission Evidence Base

During the preparation of this submission Tourism North East has consulted with in region local government, alpine resort management and tourism industry operators. Three key information sources are tabled:

1. Travel trend research

2. The key evidence base was drawn from the North East Product Gap Analysis.

3. Tourism North East conducted a focused industry survey in the lead up to preparation of the submission to ensure industry views are clearly presented.

- 80 industry submissions were presented to Tourism North East;

- Six local government tourism and economic development departments were consulted;

- Three alpine resort management boards were consulted.

2.1 Traveller Trend Analysis

For time poor individuals, travel with family and friends remains a critical reconnection focus for those that can prioritise the investment in it. Many seek to get away from built up urban areas and may look to rural Australia as an accessible and often nostalgic holiday destination. Immersive, authentic, behind the scenes experiences that are highly personal are on trend and actively sought by key target markets. Though with the accessibility of international travel, the increase in petrol prices and the rise of low cost domestic airfares intrastate holiday destinations need to be incredibly motivating offerings to ensure they remain competitive.

Tourism North East engaged The Future Laboratory to research and present their Leisure and Hospitality Futures report at the 2013 Tourism North East Industry Conference and tailor this information to the High Country. The Future Laboratory presented the following themes for the region that strongly supported the major tourism trends from their report and tie into the areas of nature based tourism and heritage tourism:

a. Use the beauty of the location to create awe & wonder.

Key Trend: Contemplative Culture – information overload and stuffocation means consumers want a psychological as

well as physical space. They are finding this in extreme, unique and isolated retreats.

Key Trend: Paradise Pods/Unique Accommodation – consumers are wanting a sense of isolation & privacy, but luxury and

everything at their fingertips.

Key Trend: Star-gazing – the final frontier in consumer escapism is star & galaxy-gazing from your accommodation.

b. Bring farming and foraging to the table

Key Trend: Rurbanism & Farm to Fork


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Key Trend: Far-flung foragers – Rurban enthusiasts are keen to expand their knowledge of horticulture, foraging takes

nature tourism one step further letting visitors interact with the land. Give classes & experiences by experts.

c. Cycling is not just for the serious, create playful and stylish options

Key Trend: Pedal Power – the cycling culture has become mainstream, cycle retail is exploding and tourist bike rental is

blossoming.

2.2 North East Product Gap Analysis:

Tourism North East also conducted the North East Product Gap Analysis1 in mid‐2012 involving stakeholder consultation and traveller research (quantitative study n=500+). This research provided an evidence based approach to prioritise investment into new tourism product within the region. Six key perceived gaps were identified by travellers and tourism stakeholders with five of them particularly relevant to this inquiry:

Unique Accommodation in Sympathy with Nature

Visitors seek accommodation that is more than a functional requirement but adds richness to their stay. Accommodation that helps them to feel closer to nature is seen as a fit for the region. Operators that are able to deliver a quality experience among the unique forested environments, near water or showcasing the night sky should be rewarded with strong custom.

Nature Based Facilitation

The changing nature of the visitor to the North East means that a traditionally self‐guided or facilitated nature experience in the region now calls for assistance from an operator at times. There is little guided walking, boat hire, fishing tutelage or the like available to assist lifestyle leaders in their desire to experience the full nature based offer of the region. This gap will be driven by private sector businesses and in pockets the need is already being met.

Cycle Facilitation

The breadth of cycle infrastructure available to access for tourists is appealing yet there is unmet demand for transport solutions, hire options, facilitated tours and guiding. This gap is rapidly being filled by the private sector but there is still capacity to increase the prevalence of these offers. Transport solutions remain limited.

Experiential Cultural Heritage

While the history of the region is rich few operators or institutions have moved beyond the traditional interpretation of cultural heritage through museums, galleries and interpretive signage. Visitors want their immersive experiences to include rich and often interactive/experiential interpretations of the stories and legends of the past. Many of the horse riding operators in the region that tell the Alpine Cattleman’s history, the Kelly story and the Man from Snowy River legend come closest to delivering this pillar in a modern and relevant way. There is potential to enhance the region’s offer in this area. The North East Product Gap Analysis reinforces that these experiences must be immersive, memorable and experiential and that they are not currently meeting expectation.

Transport Connectivity – Intra‐state and Intra‐Regional

The North East depends on a self‐drive tourism market as public transport connections to the region and within the region are poor and often unreliable. There is little ability for public transport to cater for remote nature based tourists or the cycle tourism audience. Some private sector operators are starting to fill public transport gaps in select locations but these services are often seasonal.

1 SGS Economics and Planning and Quantum Market Research, 2012. n = 500+


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2.3 Industry Submission Feedback:

Eco Tourism

Industry feedback suggests industry values nature based tourism highly in the region2.

Industry Survey: Ecotourism is Critical to North East Victoria

Industry commentary associated with the statement of importance included:

- Accessibility ‐ Making it more accessible, more often for those visitors is the key to our successful ecotourism offering;

- Escapism ‐ City dwellers who are surrounded by concrete, congestion and constant noise need to experience our clean air, wonderful seasonal changes, vast skies, the mighty Murray with its wealth of bird life and native vegetation plus walking, camping/caravanning and cycling possibilities ‐ they can come and hear the bees at work, witness dawn breaking or lie and admire the stars!

- Connection with Nature ‐ Travelling public are looking to reconnect with nature, to have an authentic experience. They are also looking to do so in comfort, with all the modern conveniences;

- Ecology ‐ As we become increasingly urbanised we lose touch with our ecological and rural environment. NE Vic is ideally placed to provide close encounters with those environments that people are beginning to realize are critical for our survival;

- Power of Education ‐ When international visitors are educated, advised, guided effectively they are surprised at the biodiversity in the NE; plants and animals feature but also the amount of snow.

There is a consistent industry view that eco‐tourism still has significant opportunity for growth in North East Victoria.

Industry Survey: What level of potential is there for further eco‐tourism development?

.

2 Tourism North East Industry Survey, July 2013. N = 80.


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Key industry themes associated with potential for further development of eco‐tourism are:

- Facilitation ‐ Growth potential exists in facilitated experiences with demand from visitors for high yield niche opportunities to access nature;

- Accessibility ‐ Everyone should be given good access to what we have from a nature based point of view;

- Partnership ‐ Tourism and conservation partners need to work more closely together over the coming period to ensure commercialisation opportunities in National Parks and on Crown land are realised with the greatest opportunity to deliver economic, social and environmental outcomes;

- Accreditation ‐ Accommodation facilities, tour operators and guides can become eco‐accredited giving a more consistent high quality experience;

- Infrastructure investment ‐ If ecotourism in the region is to progress and best capitalize on the available natural assets, then investment in infrastructure that allows tourism customers to both access and immerse themselves in the environment is essential. This includes everything from sustainable mountain biking and walking tracks through to environmental friendly, semi‐permanent wilderness accommodation. Once this type of infrastructure and development is in place, then the region will be better positioned to attract quality ecotourism operators who can develop and grow sustainable and viable nature‐based businesses. The greatest opportunity sits with mountain biking, trail running, and iconic short/long walks.

- Wildlife ‐ Wildlife is one area that we have an abundance of but have not promoted greatly, Koala’s and Kangaroos are common place to locals but for metro and international visitors they are a significant attraction. Bird watching undercapitalised.

- Eco tourism and heritage tourism ‐ Product that visits areas that indigenous or early settlers lived and survived in isolation and managed the environment. There is significant potential to highlight indigenous flora and fauna values surrounding existing tourism infrastructure;

- Retreats ‐ Eco lodges situated in remote wilderness areas potentially including spa, accommodation, activities, health retreat, education and dining. The beautiful tranquillity of lush green valleys, distant vistas of rolling hills, flowing vibrant waterways, abundance of nature and wildlife to encourage people back to nature;

- Sustainable Living ‐ Eco accommodation, show off‐grid, no pollution, fully recyclable, responsible water use and still comfortable living/building ‐ tapping into the increasing market of people who are interested in sustainable diversity. There is strong Landcare participation in regional areas and an ability to cross over to tourism, clean green food production ‐ farm gate, farmers' markets, food from source;

- Winter ‐ Winter Snow sports, back country ski touring, camping, snow shoeing.

- Summer ‐ Summer bush walking, cycling, camping, 4 Wheel driving, fishing.

Best Practice Eco Tourism

- Storytelling aspects strong, respect and authenticity

- Remote access to pristine nature with great facilitation.

- Sustainability & preservation of habitat. Low impact and sustainable plus education.

- Eco lodges of Australia, Phillip Island Nature Park, Cradle Mountain and Denali Wilderness Lodge in Alaska are examples of excellence in the built form of eco‐ tourism

- Best practice would be around developing ethics, certification programs, commercial engagement without commercialisation, and foster amongst current operators eco‐tourism strategies. Develop product that inspires and educates visitors through participation such as tour guides, interpretation etc.

- Accommodation which enhances ones experiences ‐ could be eco ‐ accredited. Townships and villages that enhance the rural experience ‐ safe access to paths and cycling tracks and loops to the rail trail. Proper signage ‐ maintenance and upkeep of tracks in National Parks‐ up to date village and small township public amenities.

- High quality yet simple and unpretentious in all facets of any ecotourism focus ‐ building and interior design elements, food, customer service.

- A balance between visitation and conservation of environmental values;

- "Glamping", bike trails, interpretive sites, self‐guided tours.


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Heritage Tourism

Industry feedback suggests industry values cultural heritage tourism highly in the region3:

Industry Survey: Heritage tourism is critical to North East Victoria

Industry commentary:

- Visitor Centric Experiences ‐ Heritage Tourism is an untapped opportunity for North East Victoria as currently we have a poor and out‐dated execution. There is much unrealised potential with opportunity to grow if the experience is right for the visitor. A private and public investment in delivering experiential visitor relevant offerings will be critical. Important, but tourists should be directed to visit actual sites rather than static museum displays and street parades!

- Authenticity ‐ The North East region is steeped in heritage due to its long history of indigenous and pioneering settlement through to the gold era. With much of the heritage infrastructure and buildings still visible in many towns and villages across the North East it creates the ambiance and theme for many of the tourism destinations. North East features many authentic iconic Australian heritage icons worth tourism development and promotion. Man from Snowy River, Ned Kelly, gold mining, well preserved historic townships, early ski industry pioneers, accessible high country heritage huts and Australian Alps, Murray River – there is so much on offer;

- Link to Eco Tourism ‐ In the horse riding sector it is important link to our early settlers, gold miners, bushrangers and more recently the Man from Snowy River movie;

- International Appeal ‐ Many visitors, both Australian (mainly City) and overseas visitors are interested in Australian history and "what Australian life was like in the past" ‐ the stories, buildings and heritage museums etc appeal and is all part of the experience;

- Link to Education and Tourism ‐ It is important to continue educating the public in our history to keep the 'spirit alive' and pass on our stories to generations to come.

Industry also puts a view that there is significant further opportunity to grow heritage tourism:

Industry Survey: Opportunity for Further Development of Heritage Tourism?

3 Tourism North East Industry Survey, July 2013. N = 80.


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Key industry themes associated with growth potential of cultural tourism in North East Victoria are:

- Grow Interpretation ‐ Interpretation of geographic areas of historical importance, such as adding heritage values to existing tourism infrastructure such as walking tracks, visitor nodes;

- Change the Nature of the Experience ‐ Experiential hands on experiences. Relevant and modern interpretations;.

- Access – Many of the richest cultural heritage stories are remote, improvements in public transport are required to improve access;

- Guiding – There is very little professional guiding in the North East to tell the rich stories of the past. Touring guides to direct visitors to places of cultural and historical significance.

Best Practice Heritage Tourism Industry Feedback regarding best practice heritage tourism includes key themes of:

- Storytelling ‐ Clear and concise message. Identify the principal historic themes of an area. Themes that are unique to specific locations, or have potential to tie into broader regional or State themes. Authenticity. Relevance and immersive. Authenticity of experience and visiting significant places of interest and interacting with local people Warm open and honest hospitality, with a willingness to be happy to serve. Consistency of message and practice is essential.

- Maintenance and Preservation ‐ Preservation of stories, sites & building from our past. Ensuring the quality and authenticity of the sites or experiences, making sure they are relevant to the North East and not over commercialised. Ensuring adequate planning and preservation is in place to ensure the protection of site degradation but also cultural beliefs. Most of all stakeholder engagement. Active management including cyclical maintenance of heritage tourism sites vital. Identification and assessment audit required throughout the NE of heritage tourism potential sites. Allocation of resources, protection of sites, presentation of sites considered on tourism merit. Keeping our street scape heritage values are important.

- Indigenous Cultural Heritage ‐ Aboriginal history needs more focus.

- Education Sector ‐ An educational approach to tours and development in the understanding of cultural implications.

- Guiding ‐ The ability to have well trained guides, available on 24/7 basis with a sound knowledge of the area. Able to provide all weather tours, at short notice for large and small groups.

Examples presented ‐ Puffing Billy, Eureka Centre and Sovereign Hill Ballarat, living history (e.g. Sovereign Hill) has shown by its success and participation by school groups to be one of the better forms of teaching people about our heritage by giving them an experience they will never forget. Re‐establishment of the former fabric (infrastructure and landscape) of the sites that were involved in important aspects or our past history provides a better experience than a few billboards of information;

The industry within North East Victoria believes it is equipped to further grow tourism within the region.

Industry Survey: The tourism industry is sufficiently advanced to manage increased tourism.


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Industry feedback themes regarding barriers to realise growth potential are:

- Transport ‐ Possibly the lack of public transport linking regional centres. On‐going issues with the country rail system ‐ buses not being appealing or suitable for many ie cyclists/walkers etc. The rail system to North East is ‐ at best – sporadic;

- Public land – use of public land is limited in some areas of regional Victoria but offers so much potential from a tourism point of view;

- Insurance ‐ Mounting insurance costs make operating some tourism businesses unsustainable financially.

- Bush fire – ongoing crisis events without follow up communication investment at government level may lead to long term decline of summer visitation;

- Public Infrastructure investment ‐ Telecommunication in remote areas, many of the roads to this area (and within) do not handle heavy traffic well, or allow for overtaking;

- Zoning ‐ Limitations of zoning;

- Staff ‐ Lack of skilled hospitality staff inc chefs, front of house managers;

- Quality of accommodation ‐ Quality of accommodation in regional Victoria needs a boost in many destinations;

- China Ready ‐ Lack of cultural awareness particularly with the growing Asian market;

- Volunteer Sustainability ‐ Continuing reliance on volunteers in varying roles in tourism will have a strong impact on various tourist attractions as the volunteer body ages;

- 24/7 Industry ‐ Getting shops to stay open on weekends and holidays in rural areas, availability of staff and tour guides 7 days a week limited.


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3.0 Tourism in Victoria’s High Country

Victoria’s High Country received 2.5m visitors to year end December 2012 with average annual growth over the past five years sitting at 2.1%. Domestic overnight visitation makes up 44% of visitors with domestic daytrip visitation driving 56%. International visitation makes up less than 1% of the region’s visitors. Of the region’s domestic overnight visitors 77.5% were from intrastate and the balance interstate. On average overnight visitors to the High Country spent $156 per night up 14.1% versus year end December 2011. Domestic daytrip visitation expenditure is strong at $110 per person to year end December 2012.

3.1 Tourism Growth Potential

The regional tourism industry in the North East is dominated by small to medium businesses without a huge capital base to draw upon to make change and communicate. Collectively the industry delivers nearly a quarter of local gross product in the region but at an individual business level they are quite small players. It is critical that Government, across all levels, work together to create an appealing investment environment. Reducing red tape barriers to invest and public sector infrastructure investment contribute to stimulating private sector investment. Federal funding grants (TIRF and TQUAL) have been very successful at stimulating private sector investment into regional tourism businesses. Increasing public private partnerships or public sector investment in infrastructure that stimulates private sector investment will be critical to growth moving forward. In a climate of restricted government investment across all levels of government this proves challenging. It is critical that game changing tourism projects in regional Victoria continue to receive investment funding. The North East has a strong track record of private sector investment being stimulated by public sector investment. With over 250 km of public sector funded safe off road rail trails in place we now have a cycle tourism industry worth millions of dollars annually and dedicated cycle tourism private sector businesses across the region. The alpine resort environment has also seen strong public sector investment and planning deliver private sector investment, with the Mt Buller Master Plan being a prime example of this. A new multi‐level accommodation and retail precinct development in the village was delivered over the past 12 months of the back of the master planning work undertaken by the resort management board. The recent release of the National Parks Guidelines was welcomed by the tourism industry, particularly those focused on eco‐tourism. There is a significant focus on private sector investment within the guidelines, but to achieve true commercial outcomes there may well be a need for public sector investment into key priorities to stimulate private sector investment. There has been significant grant funding available over the past decade for infrastructure funding in regional Victoria with key projects like rail trail and walking trail upgrades completed through this period. Once these critical infrastructure pieces are in place private sector businesses are able to activate the tourism offering and create rich and immersive experiences for visitors to engage with. The key barrier to growth for these small tourism businesses is a lack of awareness of the tourism offering. Marketing communication investment has rarely followed significant infrastructure investment to ensure ongoing return on investment.


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3.2 Product Strengths – “The Pillars”

Victoria’s High Country currently has five key tourism product pillars,

1. Snow ‐ Alpine winter experiences;

2. Cycling – road, trail and mountain biking;

3. Food, wine and beer;

4. Nature based experiences –alpine and non‐alpine walking, horse riding, water sport, fishing;

5. Cultural Heritage.

Four of these product strengths are focused exclusively on nature based tourism and cultural heritage tourism:

3.2.1 Nature Based Tourism

Success in the nature based tourism space relies on a critical partnership between land management and tourism. Conservation and tourism working together can create meaningful outcomes socially, environmentally and economically for the communities of interest.

Nature based tourism offers a significant opportunity to deliver an appealing product to the international visitor. Tourism Australia research suggests that the international experience seeker’s number one motivator in visiting Australia is a nature experience. With domestic tourism predicted to be flat or declining over the coming decade the international audience will be key to delivering sustainable tourism destination growth.

The North East has a strong track record of turning natural assets into economic drivers for example with the three major alpine resorts based in the North East, 22.4% of the Gross Local Product in Alpine Shire is driven by alpine resort tourism and 23% of Mansfield Shire’s.

North East Victoria is part of the Australia Alps National Landscape, one of only sixteen landscapes identified by Tourism Australia and Parks Australia as the best of nature in Australia. These landscapes showcase the partnership of tourism and conservation at its best and cooperatively develop internationally relevant experiences to promote tourism on a landscape scale.

A: Snow

The Victorian alpine resorts are visited by more than one million people annually and in winter generate $570 million in Gross State Product and approximately 5,800 jobs. The alpine resorts are a major contributor to the State’s economy and to their surrounding regions, where much of the economic benefit and many of the jobs accrue. With the three major alpine resorts based in the North East, 22.4% of the Gross Local Product in Alpine Shire is driven by alpine resort tourism and 23% of Mansfield Shire’s.

Opportunities for Growth

The traditional snow market was driven by skiing and snowboarding but there is an emergence of experiences such as snow shoeing, sled dog rides, spa indulgences and food and wine experiences available at Victorian resorts. The alpine snow experience presents a motivating offer for the growing international visiting friends and relatives of Indian and Chinese visitors segment. These new markets present an opportunity for growth within this critical component of nature based tourism in Victoria. Ongoing investment into accommodation and infrastructure is critical to maintaining the strength of this industry in Victoria.

Barriers to Realise Potential

Maintaining the strength if the Victorian alpine resorts into the future will require on‐going public and private sector investment. The changing nature of the visitor will require additional investment into snow play facilities and beginner options. The increasing dependency on snow making is placing pressure on some water storage facilities. Providing a true village atmosphere and safe routes through alpine resorts are also key priorities.


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B: Recreational Cycling

Recent market research illustrates that there is the potential to grow North East regional tourism income by $2.5 – 5m per annum through increased visitation (10 – 20% increase) by influencing awareness of the rail trail related cycle tourism offer. The appeal of the cycle offer is driven by the rich cultural heritage, food and wine and nature based tourism offering along cycle routes. State‐wide Victoria is well positioned to own cycle tourism on a national scale and the North East is positioned to lead from a regional perspective. The High Country is the acknowledged lead destination in the Victorian Cycle Tourism Action Plan.


The key opportunity for growth in cycle tourism is increasing participation through creating market demand. Communication funding will be the major catalyst to realising this opportunity.

Further public sector investment in key trail infrastructure is also vital.


Beyond marketing communication budget constraints there are no barriers to growth. Private sector facilitation businesses are in place to service growing demand and public sector funded infrastructure is world class.

C: Nature Based Experiences – Fishing, Bushwalking, Water sports etc

The North East’s unique alpine environments and rich fertile valleys make it a popular nature based tourism destination with world class fishing, bush walking and boating opportunities abundant. The Falls to Hotham Alpine Crossing is acknowledged as one of four icon walks in Victoria with further potential to enhance the walk infrastructure/facilitation likely to raise this to international best practice. The views to and from the mountains and high quality mountain roads are popular with motorcycle and road touring enthusiasts. Niche adrenalin focused experiences such as micro‐lighting, abseiling, caving and gliding are also strongly represented. The nature based experiences in the region have traditionally been self‐facilitated/guided.


The North East Product Gap Analysis research was conducted in late 2012 and identified the need to invest in further facilitation of the rich nature based offering within the High Country to make it truly best practice. Supported tours, rich experiences, hire services and unique accommodation in sympathy with nature are all critical aspects of delivering on this gap within the tourism offering.


The implementation of changes to private sector investment into National Park environments and rural land use planning will be critical to realising the opportunity for further unique accommodation in sympathy with nature.

The cost to develop in remote nature based locations can be cost prohibitive yet the provision of further access to unique natural environments would provide significant tourism growth potential. State Government must continue to invest in assisting regional areas to make nature base investment projects investor ready.

Insurance and registration costs for small guiding companies can be cost prohibitive.

3.2.2 Cultural Heritage

The rich gold mining history, the legend of Ned Kelly and the story of the Man from Snowy River are all iconic cultural heritage aspects of the region. Visitor perception research4 confirms that visitors to the High Country have a high expectation of what the region will deliver in terms of cultural heritage based tourism experiences but are currently disappointed with the offering. The North East Product Gap Analysis reinforces that these experiences must be immersive, memorable and experiential and that they are not currently meeting expectation. Aboriginal cultural heritage stories and connections are rich along the Bogong High Plains and around the Winton Wetlands area and Parks Victoria has relationships with Traditional Owner groups in the region. From a multi‐cultural point of view the Chinese miner history is rich but largely under represented from a tourism point of view. The Italian migrant connection to the Ovens

4 Tourism Research Australia, Destination Visitor Survey, Visitor Profile and Satisfaction Report – Victoria

Victorian High Country, 2010.


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and King Valley has become increasingly relevant for tourism with wine and food operators championing this cultural heritage story.


There is significant opportunity for the education and cultural heritage tourism sectors to work closely together to grow education outcomes and cultural heritage business sustainability. Indigenous cultural tourism is an unrealised opportunity but needs long term support from public and private sector and assistance with engaging communities of interest.

Delivering a cultural heritage experience that fulfils the rich experiential needs of the experience seeker audience will present opportunities for expenditure and visitation growth.


The significant heritage assets that are generally in need to maintenance to generate an authentic experiential cultural heritage experiences require significant investment. Local government is often tasked with maintaining these assets with little ability to invest for growth. State Government support in these areas would be prudent. Heritage Victoria grants that were historically available were critically important to assisting custodians maintenance of heritage assets.

4.0 Summary

Industry, local government and the peak tourism organisation in North East Victoria believe that both eco and heritage tourism are vitally important to the local economy and community social fabric with eco‐tourism also providing opportunities to deliver strong environmental conservation outcomes. The industry is enabled to grow in both areas. Growth in both these areas is and must continue to be sustainable, viable and mutually beneficial to tourism and eco/heritage conservation.

Opportunities exist to invest in further facilitating the nature and eco‐tourism experience for visitors to deliver a rich and immersive tourism offer that generates significant economic impact to regional communities.

Key barriers to growth centre around funds to invest in comprehensive marketing communication of regional tourism offerings in the cultural and eco‐tourism space and the challenges associated with creating an appealing investor environment, reducing the barriers to invest at all steps of the process.


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Definitions

Eco tourism – for the purposes of this submission Tourism North East has assumed that eco‐tourism is aligned to nature based tourism.

Heritage tourism – for the purposes of this submission Tourism North East has assumed that heritage tourism is aligned to the North East tourism pillar of cultural heritage including both indigenous and settler heritage.

Contact

Any queries related to this submission may be sent to:

Tourism North East

Chief Executive Officer

Sara Quon

vibrant tourism in victoria’s high country...and experiential and that they are not currently...

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