By ERWIN CHLANDA
Patrick Bedford, now the longest serving – five years – chairperson of Tourism Central Australia, will be calling for “new thinking” when he is addressing the Tourism Towards 2030 conference tomorrow.
He told the Alice Springs News that for too long the region has been portrayed in the media and online platforms as a war zone or a crime capital and keyboard warriors are telling the world not to visit our region.
Yet this summer has been the best in recent memory, and while there is still crime “what we do have is a window of opportunity”.
The town needs to go on the offensive “rather than being on the defence over the past five years”.
The upcoming Stories from the Heart campaign will amplify the positive and drown out the negative.
Mr Bedford says the biggest voice we need to hear from is that from tourists themselves: “The best form of marketing is word of mouth.”
TCA will continue to press the NT and Federal governments to seal the Mereenie Loop Road.
“I know we have had some dark days,” Mr Bedford told the News.
“We need to make Central Australia known not for what people have heard in recent years, but what is in all our hearts. Something truly special.”
PHOTO: Mr Bedford in July 2020 in Todd Mall with tourism industry supporters calling for the sealing of the Mereenie Loop Road. Nearly five years later much of it is still a dirt track.
I remember the days when tourists would line up just outside The Gap to get an ionic pic of the Ghan leaving on its way south to put on the mantlepiece.
And what would a small viewing platform cost and used as a promotion?
I also spent time on Anzac talking to visitors. On one occasion I took friends up there and was explaining the geology to them. That’s unique but ignored.
Very soon I had an audience of around 20 listeners. No explanations from any of the tourism bodies of what they were looking at. It occurred to me that a picnic table or two on the slope might be a nice attraction to watch the sun go down.
It’s little personal experiences within the town in keeping with our nature that have been missed.
Twice I have sat at the Welcome Rock South and counted people and I challenge the tourism bodies to do the same.
The first time I counted 102 people photographed on that rock. I asked myself where are the welcoming tourism people? That’s our target market!
The second time last year at the rock, the tally was 67 including three interstate tourism buses. All in the time a plane landed! Again I asked where is the reception and information?
Watching TV and their tourism ads, I see a big banana, a big pineapple a big orange, a big lobster but looking around here I see a big nothing to grab attention.
Aileron has this. We do not. And camels? I almost daily I see them as the centre of attraction in the airport paddock but never portrayed as a feature of life here.
I would like to see a big Indigenous family, an Afghan cameleer and a pioneer standing proudly alongside one another, and demonstrating the nature of our community, with a diversion road to the National Transport Hall of Fame – a wonderful national icon grossly underused, with Ted singing “A town like Alice ” or “Going to Alice on the Ghan” just as Winton does with Waltzing Matilda.
Other centres are planned around vehicle access. Ours relies on passing retail trade. There was national publicity recently on the value of the performing arts where it was claimed to be more valuable than the chicken industry (Radio National).
If that is so why is our Red Hot Arts centre stuck in a backstreet?
The major infrastructure roads etc may be necessary but let’s include the small special personal things that make the place special.
It’s the small things that have been missed in the thinking and planning, which seems not to be evidence based.