Clyde Coast Tourism - Suggested Guidelines
If it was decided to establish a de facto tourism association, Clyde Coast Tourism (CCT) there are a number of issues and possible guidelines that such a body would need to consider.
1. A Green Agenda
Many people who love our region would not support ANY initiatives to promote tourism to the region. Indeed if most people could have their way in an ideal world, they would rather not have strangers tramping around their special places. However, in order to be able to live in the region, people need to make a living and tourism, if managed properly, is probably the least damaging and most sustainable way to develop a basic economy on the South Coast of NSW.
The rare quality that the Clyde Coast enjoys above most other places on the eastern seaboard is the sense of isolation and remoteness that one can feel when you are the ONLY person on a 5km long beach, on a bush trail or on the top of one of our spectacular mountains. Here is where the conundrum arises. Tourism development, by definition, would seem to need to bring more people to the region and it is that in itself that has the potential to compromise its unique character.
The answer is not however in trying to keep the place a secret and to avoid tourism. That does not work, especially in a place only 4 hours from population centres of around 5 million people. Already, residents are witnessing increasing numbers of visitors who have learned of our 'special places". And whether we like it or not, the salaried Tourism Officers in the Shoalhaven and Eurobodalla will exploit these places if they believe they can increase their visitor numbers as a result. The best example of this is Pebbly Beach - an attractive little place but not really any better than many of the other beaches we are fortunate to have in the region. Someone however took a photo there of a kangaroo in the shallow part of the surf (probably chased in by a dog). This photo was enthusiastically welcomed by the local tourism officer and next appeared on the cover of the widely distributed tourism magazine; then on in-flight magazines on international carriers and so on until foreign tourists were arriving at Mascot and asking the way to Pebbly Beach, the home of the "surfing kangaroos". The changes to Pebbly Beach itself over the last 20 years necessary to handle the enormous increase in tourists have been radical and the place is not the same as it was when Bob Hawke used to camp there in the seventies.
The real answer lies in MANAGED TOURISM DEVELOPMENT where local people keep some level of control over tourism development in the region. Tourism promotion should be undertaken only in full recognition of the needs and interests of the local population. Sure, Australia's Balance of Payments may well improve by increased tourism generally, but most local people are not prepared to sell out the beauty of their local area just for the sake of the Treasurer's Budget.
So, underlying all strategies, proposals and tourism projects undertaken by Clyde Coast Tourism would be the need for those proposals to have minimum impact on the natural beauty and ambience of the region. This should be seen as the Golden Rule which should underpin all activities of Clyde Coast Tourism. Unless this Golden Rule is followed in practice, then all we would be doing would be selling out our neighbours and our beautiful region.
2. Practical Objectives
The most difficult concept for people to grasp is that in the Clyde Coast this means that we need to increase our revenues from tourism without significant increases in the numbers of tourists. How can this possibly be done?
What this really means is that there should not be significant increases in tourists in the region at any one time. While we should strive to increase the total number of tourists, we should be aiming to achieve this increase almost exclusively in the current low seasons of late autumn to late spring (April - October). There should be no attempt to increase numbers in the high seasons as the only results of such promotions are increased infrastructure and more beds to handle higher peak loads only to have more establishments struggling in the off season - and increased compromise of our Golden Rule (to preserve the natural beauty and ambience of the region).
So, objective 1 would be to increase the numbers of tourists to our region in the low seasons of the year in order to improve our revenues overall (see 3. Promotional Focus below) .
The other way to increase revenues without increasing numbers is to limit the supply of beds in the region, so that accommodation becomes a more valuable commodity (especially in the peak season) and can command higher prices. This is more difficult to achieve, as we are not masters of this process. The only way that we could achieve this would be to prepare submissions to the Shoalhaven and Eurobodalla Councils arguing the case for such limitations, on the basis of the Golden Rule and how unlimited accommodation approvals will compromise this. This is where we would need to draw on the support of the local community, as it is their lifestyle and values that we would be protecting as well as our own livelihoods. But the community will only support us if we are genuine in our support for the Golden Rule and we are seen to be true to it. So, objective 2 would be to limit the approval of increased numbers of bed spaces in the region as approved by the local Councils.
In the discussion above, a tourist is assumed to be a visitor to the region who stays here. Another threat to the protection of the quality of the region and its lifestyle is the increased use of the region by day-trippers who stay or live outside the region but are increasingly using it for day trips. These visitors provide very little benefit to the region as they spend elsewhere on their accommodation and most of their meals and other comforts. Yet these, more than any others, have the greatest negative impact on the region. They require parking areas, change rooms, toilets, BBQ areas and also add great loads to local roads. But surely there is nothing we can do about these?
There are some things that we can do to limit the negative impacts of these day-trippers. Firstly, we should resist attempts by authorities to develop new accesses to our special places merely to accommodate or attract day-trippers. We already have many great beaches that can easily be accessed by anybody. So there is no need to create new paths or roads to the more difficult to reach, secluded little beaches that can still offer the sense of isolation that most of us enjoy. Similarly in the fantastic Upper Clyde Valley mountains, we should resist demands to make access easier to these areas. If people really want to enjoy the unique experiences that these difficult to reach and private places have to offer, they should be prepared to make the same effort as everyone else to do so. Day-trippers should be encouraged to visit the established areas in the region and facilities and parking provided only at these places.
Another way to ensure that our visitors really appreciate our special places is to charge entry fees for their casual use. National Parks is attempting to do this on entry to our special parks and we should encourage this. It ensures that the people who do visit are those who are prepared to pay for the privilege and hence those more likely to value their visit and to behave accordingly. Further, the admission costs are used to manage the facility and ensure that it maintains its amenity.
Objective 3 of the Clyde Coast tourism group would be to develop strategies to manage the use of the region by day-trippers and to resist its exploitation for this activity that has little benefit to the local community.
3. Promotional Focus
If we accept that the main objective of our tourism promotion is to attract more visitors in the non-peak time, it would seem that the following themes are important.
the beaches as restful places of solitude during the off-season, (complementing their recreational focus in summer). The image is a beach without another person on it, with the natural sounds and rhythms of the waves, the feel of clean golden sands between your toes etc etc
walking tracks in forest, beach, mountain. Describe the natural environment, the flora & fauna & scenic outlooks to be experienced; access to the walks
recreational activities such as horse riding, canoeing, fishing, bike riding, guided tours {limit promotion of self drive tours to remote parts of the region as this puts pressure on the capacity of forest roads etc}
Koori culture: Encourage development of Koori cultural activities; aim to document Koori cultural history of the region; promote and assist Koori cultural tourism activities
Encourage environmental education and promotional activities such as Coastal Lake Ecology Centre
Promote tourism "packages" to encourage visitors to stay in the region
Arts & craft activities - encourage development and promotion as an important part of the tourism experience
Ecotourism in its purest form - sustainable tourism. In the Clyde Coast this means tourism under the guiding principle of the Golden rule.
4. Code of Practice
In addition to managing tourism development in a way consistent with the Golden Rule, individual operators should also adopt a code of practice that is consistent with the rule. This means that operators should be prepared to, for example
maintain practices that do not damage the local environment in which they operate. For example in waste management practices; respect for national parks and adjoining lands; recycling and reusing policies
actively support community initiatives that help to maintain the amenity of the region
discourage activities of their guests that are inappropriate
and so on
It is suggested that a "Code of Practice" would need to be developed in consultation with environmental groups which would act as a guide to acceptable practice in operating a tourism related business in the Clyde Coast region.
5. Clyde Coast Tourism
If an association such as Clyde Coast Tourism (CCT) is to be successful, it would need to develop operational practices that establish its credibility in the eyes of its community, so that local residents do not feel that their lifestyle and amenity is merely being sold out by avaricious tourism operators.
In practical terms, this means that CCT would need to obtain certain commitments from its members to following certain practices, such as adherence to the Golden Rule and the Code of Practice (see 3 above). This would be an important part of the self-promotion of CCT and in developing the respect and confidence of the broader Clyde Coast population.
In order to give practical value to this CCT would also need to define procedures to ensure that its members do in fact follow these practices, including procedures for expelling members who failed to live up to these commitments.
6. Promotion
Promotion involves two aspects - promotion of the Clyde Coast consistent with the guidelines above AND promotion of Clyde Coast Tourism as a responsible body with an ethical agenda.
5a. Promoting the Clyde Coast as a distinct and unique tourism destination
With the very limited funding that CCT can hope to acquire in the short term, promotion of the Clyde Coast will necessarily be a modest activity with the following projects identified as possible
· creation of a small display card or brochure highlighting the main attractions of the Clyde Coast, a summary map and some sort of contact reference for people wanting more information. These cards would be distributed to people making enquiries, displayed in Tourist information centres where possible, held by participating establishments for distribution to their clients and distributed at trade shows etc.
· support for an Internet presence which can, more than anything else, help to spread the word to the world at large. Morningside Publishing has already developed a substantial web presence for the Clyde Coast (at www.southcoast.com.au/clydecoast ) which is integrated into its South Coast Visitors Guide at www.southcoast.com.au - this being the most widely read tourism product of any kind on the South Coast (presently enjoying a readership of around 1,500 readers per DAY - see www.southcoast.com.au/webstats to verify these figures). Morningside plans to develop this site further to ensure that it provides the Clyde Coast with an attractive presence to the world and in keeping with the Golden Rule described above.
While Morningside would need to keep editorial control over the content of its website, it plans to develop a close working relationship with CCT and would welcome proposals and suggestions for changes or additions to this Internet presence. Advertising on the Clyde Coast website would still be a matter for discussion between Morningside and its clients.
· Other promotion as determined by CCT consistent with its budget and resources. All promotion under the name of CCT would need to be approved by CCT in order to ensure that it is consistent with CCT's ethical principles
5b Promoting Clyde Coast Tourism itself
Some people may see this as a waste of resources as it does not in itself directly result in increased tourism revenues, establishing the credibility of CCT is seen as fundamental to the whole exercise. Unless CCT is seen as a responsible and representative body in the region it will not be accepted by its community or by its membership. Accordingly it is important that CCT develop a statement of what it stands for, what are its goals, its principles and who are its members. These statements should be written down and available to public scrutiny.
Again the limited resources of CCT will necessarily mean that such promotion will be limited. However it may be possible to produce a small summary sheet containing this information to be made available to interested parties. In addition another website should be created that explains these principles and makes such information available to the world. A similar exercise was recently conducted for the Milton Ulladulla Chamber of Tourism & Business and their website can be seen at www.muctab.asn.au
7. Funding
A perennial problem, there are only a limited number of avenues to acquire funds to advance the interests of such an association. The most obvious is by way of membership fees but other methods of raising funds could be examined by the association itself.
8. An Association
Creating and managing an association such as Clyde Coast Tourism would in its full manifestation need to undertake the full process of developing Articles of Association, running regular meetings, office bearers, incorporation etc etc This is an arduous process and would require a substantial commitment from several people but would need to be done if the association is to obtain credibility in the eyes of other groups with which it deals. This is something that should be discussed by interested parties.
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