Tassie towns quick off the mark to market
Ian Cole investigates what the Dickens places like Sheffield and Derby are on about when they reinvent themselves
SOME Tasmanian towns have been very proactive in reinventing themselves for the betterment of their community and their residents.
Charles Dickens’s character in David Copperfield, Wilkins Micawber, spent his life waiting for “something to turn up”.
Many Tassie towns have done the opposite of waiting for something to turn up by actively changing their persona to attract visitors, who hopefully will spend time and money there.
Sheffield has been the shining light in this regard by developing its image as a town of murals and with its associated mural art competition.
Campbell Town, it could be argued, reinvented itself by establishing conveniently based toilets on the Midland Highway.
More and more motorists stopped and gradually more coffee and snack outlets grew to cater for the passing traffic.
Derby with its world class mountain bike site has done likewise and Maydena is presently on the cusp of doing the same with its unique rail track riders and proposed mountain bike track.
Quite a few other towns in Tasmania have been actively resourceful in creating an image to attract visitors.
Towns and cities worldwide may need an attraction to maintain visitor numbers, but some do not.
People will automatically visit Sydney, London or New York for many different reasons whereas some places need a single reason for people to come.
Take Pisa in Italy for example. One can only wonder how their visitor numbers would fall if the Leaning Tower took a fall.
People would be unlikely to fly there just to get a plate of Italian spaghetti. A plate of spaghetti is a great “as well as” while in Pisa, but hardly an “instead of”.
Spin-off effects to a town that has a major attraction can be enormous.
A good example of this is Mt Rushmore in South Dakota in the US where the entrance roads to the stone monuments of the presidents are full of peripheral shops, eateries and activities that thrive off the existence of the grand main attraction.
Likewise, some Tasmanian areas do not need to create an image as they have a natural blessing such as Wineglass Bay or Cradle Mountain or they have a historical background like Port Arthur or Richmond.
However, some others not so naturally blessed, have cleverly not followed Micawber’s mantra of waiting for something to turn up.
Those towns that have reinvented themselves probably acted decisively and without delay, coincidentally by heeding Micawber’s more positive advice which he gave to a young David Copperfield, when he pointed out: “procrastination is the thief of time.”