From the CEO
On behalf of the tourism industry, we provided a submission and statement to the public hearing for the Parliamentary Inquiry into the redevelopment of the Mon Repos Turtle Centre.
With 50 years of extraordinary turtle research and conservation work at Mon Repos, along with a contribution of approximately $8.5 million to the regional economy each year through tourism, the $22million Mon Repos Turtle Centre redevelopment presents a once in a lifetime opportunity for the Bundaberg Region to build a world class, year round ecotourism experience.
For those of you that have visited the new Centre already, I'm sure you'll agree, its spectacular! The buildings architecture and the enhanced interpretative design is truly remarkable and a welcomed addition to the wonderful work delivered by the Rangers and volunteers on the beach for the Turtle Encounter tour. Our submission to the inquiry focused on the other important elements in delivering a world-class visitor experience, including the need for carparking, a cafe/dining experience and collaborative partnerships for long-term sustainable management of the Centre - to drive social, cultural, environmental and economic benefits for the region.
We now look forward to the outcomes of the inquiry and continuing to work with the Queensland government and local stakeholders to ensure continued success of Mon Repos.
With the bushfires, flash flooding and Coronavirus giving us an unprecedented reminder of the importance of Crisis preparedness, we are working with QTIC and Earthcheck to be delivering the CrisisReady workshop in Bundaberg next Monday 17th. If you haven’t registered already – please do.
Leaving the workshop, you will have: access to the CrisisReady App (a personalised disaster HQ for the palm of your hand), a set of business continuity templates, an enhanced understanding of crisis planning and management AND access to the CrisisReady toolkit. Hope to see you there!
Our Marketing team are coming to the end of the Summer campaign activity and have shared some positive results already in increasing destination awareness and driving conversion for industry. The Visitor Services team have had a busy summer season managing the turtle bookings and assisting many happy visitors through the three VIC's. All hands are on deck over the weekend ahead to assist on the ticketing gate at the Velodrome for Cycle Fest International and we're looking forward to seeing the cycling action from local and international teams.
In closing, we want to share our congratulations to Larine and Nikki from Crush Communications on the launch of Bundaberg’s new premium, bi-annual magazine – CRUSH, for visitors and locals to soak up all of the food, style, leisure and arts that the Bundaberg Region has to offer!
Yours in tourism,
Katherine
#teambundaberg
