Representatives of Kyabram’s tourism industry were invited to attend a networking event co-ordinated by regional tourism chief Mark Francis, who said the town was “doing great work’’ in the tourism space.
Mr Francis, chief executive officer of Murray Regional Tourism, described the three-quarter day conference as an opportunity for Campaspe and Murray River councils’ tourism operators to contribute to a strategic plan for their towns.
The meeting offered an opportunity for Kyabram’s tourism leaders to farewell Echuca Moama Tourism chief executive officer Kathryn McKenzie, who later this month will retire from her role after five years as the district’s “go-to’’ individual in the tourism space.
Mr Francis said a key goal of the Murray Regional Tourism co-ordinated event was the development of local action plans for the region’s tourism towns.
“As part of that process work we are working with Campaspe and Murray River councils to identify busineses in Echuca, Moama, Rochester, Kyabram and surrounds with a tourism focus,” he said.
“The meeting at Echuca followed earlier meetings in Albury-Wodonga and Yarrawonga-Mulwala, while were in Mildura and Wentworth last week.
“It is designed to promote greater engagement as we work with councils to map a way forward.
“We are developing 10 of these plans right along the Murray River, which will work alongside Victoria’s visitor economy master plan.
“What the state has in place will provide a seamless and synergistic result at regional, council and town level.”
Mr Francis said the Campaspe tourism community was much larger than just Echuca and Moama.
He recognised the evolving nature of Kyabram’s thriving tourism space, explaining how the community had built on the foundations laid through the success of the Kyabram Fauna Park.
“I remember community leaders wanting to develop a concept of how to tap into the traffic that was draw through the town by the fauna park,” Mr Francis said.
“Since then there has definitely been an uplift in strategic direction.”
He said Kyabram had gone from a town that attracted people for a single purpose to now an overnight or weekend attraction.
“For many towns it is about growing visitation or overnight stays,” Mr Francis said.
“We discussed the steps that needed to be put in place to achieve that goal.
“From the input of participants in the day we will formulate a document for further consultation with those groups.
“Eventually that will becomes the plan for the next five years, including marketing, events, product development, policy and a whole range of other things.”
Kyabram’s tourism strategy will live within the Campaspe council’s community plan, Mr Francis suggesting a bundling of experiences, better packaging and guided tours could be components of the town plan.
“It will be a very localised plan that goes hand in hand with the state, region and shire vision,” he said.
