We’ll get people there (once I know what’s there myself)
THE new head of Tweed tourism, Robbie Cornelius, admits he needs to learn a lot more about the region before starting a new campaign.
Mr Cornelius is co-founder of Dr Tourism, a Hervey Baybased company that has been awarded a $950,000-a-year council contract to drive tourism in the Tweed for the next four years.
The contract has an option to be extended by a further four years, totalling $7.6 million.
The Bulletin
Mr Cornelius started asking about well- known tourism sites on the Tweed such as Jack Evans Boat Harbour, Duranbah and Mt Warning before he interrupted: “We don’t want to pretend we know everything yet. We have spent a little bit of time in the Tweed leading up to the contract but there is a huge amount more we want to know and need to explore.
“However, in broad terms, the Tweed is not all that dissimilar to the Fraser Coast where it has strong coastal offerings and very strong hinterland offerings.
“We are absolutely looking to employ local staff and putting in a general manager in that role that has a strong connection to the region.
“That person is from the region and is very keen to get back to the region.”
Mr Cornelius said he hoped the general manager would be announced in coming weeks.
The decision to award Dr Tourism the contract ends almost 25 years of Destination Tweed promoting the region.
Destination Tweed was created by the council as Tweed Tourism in 1994 and had the contract sewn up until legal advice in 2011 directed the council to take the contract to tender once the previous agreement expired.
Destination Tweed, Dr Tourism and the council met last week to begin the handover process.
Tweed Shire general manager Troy Green said the parties met in an “amicable” way.
“While no agreements were reached at this initial meeting as both entities needed to refer options to their respective boards, council was pleased with the professional attitude of both parties,” Mr Green said.
“There was an ‘in principle’ agreement to work together to produce a smooth and positive transition in the best interests of the tourism industry and the community.”