We are Open for Business – Out of the Dark….. into the Light

The first meeting of the Gympie Regional Tourism Task Force took place in Gympie last week with representatives from the four local Chambers and Gympie Regional Council.

Members from Gympie, Rainbow Beach, Mary Valley and Tin Can Bay Chambers plus Mayor Glen Hartwig; Gympie Region Councillor for Tourism, Cr Jess Milne; Tourism Development Manager, Andrew Saunders; Manager of Gympie Futures, Lynne Banford; members of the Gympie Regional Council Communications department and the media.

The meeting, organised by the Gympie Chamber of Commerce, invited committee members from the region’s Chambers, to form a taskforce to address the need for urgent post-Covid marketing.

While a Tourism Strategy and Brand Story have been created by the Futures Team in conjunction with Gympie Tourism, the chamber members voiced their frustration at the lack of  apparent action taken to promote the region.

The representatives of each chamber communicated the distress and devastation business owners are experiencing and the need for urgent and effective marketing action to bring tourists back to the Gympie Cooloola Coast Region from June 12, once overnight accommodation opens back up.

With other drive destinations already in the marketplace promoting their assets, the mix of 4WD beach driving, surfing, food escapes, access to Fraser Island, diving, whale watching, dolphin feeding, country weekends, Borumba Dam and the abundance of freshly caught seafood is what Queenslanders are craving right now – and we have it all.

The outcome of the meeting was more open collaboration, sharing of resources, a need for one message, the commencement of an urgent marketing campaign to the 250 radius drive market, and a unified approach to begin immediately.