Cowra Tourism is working with their members and the community to develop a three year Destination Management Plan for tourism in the Cowra region.
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Chair of Cowra Tourism, Erin Watt, said the plan would outline a tourism vision, goals and objectives for the region and when complete the plan would sit under the recently released Destination Central West Destination Management Plan.
"Our goal is to collaborate with the community and our Cowra Tourism members to enhance our visitor experience and continue to make Cowra 'The Great Escape'.
Anyone wanting to participate in the development of the plan can attend in-person consultations at the Nguluway Room at the Cowra Library at 3.30pm on Monday, February 27.
They can also talk to the team at the Cowra Visitor Information Centre on 63424333 or email Cowra Tourism Manager, Kurt Overzet on manager@cowratourism.com.au.
Ms Watt said Tourism brings 313,000 visitors to Cowra annually estimated to add $58m to the local economy.
"The average length of stay for a visitor is three days. One of the main goals of the Destination Management Plan and our ambition as Cowra Tourism, is to enhance the visitor experience for these visitors and extend the average stay.
"A key example of how we are implementing this is through the 'Winter Wonderlust' in 2022 where we worked with our members to host a number of events around the Cowra Wine Show, from our ticketed events alone this brought in an estimated $15,000 - $20,000 to the local economy.
"Excluding coastal regions, Cowra region tourism is the second biggest tourism economic region behind the NSW Ski Fields.
"We have an outstanding amount of people visit Cowra each year to learn about our history and visit our spectacular sites like the Japanese Gardens, Peace Precinct and Wyangala Dam.
"What we want to do is ensure that while they are here they can access our varied community and tourism offerings from learning about the history of the local Wiradjuri community, to enjoying our fantastic local food and wine and, enjoying our local artistic talent."
"Cowra really does offer the great escape."
"Tourism affects us all, from our hospitality and retail, to our service industries helping to build understanding of agriculture and encouraging people to move to Cowra to help our industries with employment."
Ms Watt said the draft Destination Management Plan has six strategic themes.
- Putting the visitor first - enhancing the visitor experience through collaboration, digital innovation and tailoring our offerings to our current and target visitor markets.
- Data-driven destination marketing - sourcing useful data to inform tourism offerings and marketing campaigns
- Facilitation and Advocacy - support and promote Cowra Tourism Members through collaboration and advocating for our region to governments and stakeholders.
- Turning our opportunities into strengths - support the development of new and growing tourism product including First Nations Tourism, cycle tourism, village tourism and agri/ecotourism.
- Enhancing and showcasing our strengths - lead with our strengths of rich history and heritage, stunning natural assets, arts scene, sustainable wine region and established events.
- Event tourism - build upon our regions strongest events to encourage longer stays and increase visitor spend. develop new flagship events to support event venues to reach untapped markets.
Ms Watt said as the Chair of Cowra Tourism Corporation she does not participate as a Councillor but as "a representative from Fred Fahey Aerial Services and we donate my time to help support Cowra as a community to thrive."
Debbie Evans
I was born in Cowra and grew up in the region as part of a farming family. I've had extensive careers both in Journalism and Local Government. I'm passionate about supporting and advancing the local communities of the region and have a keen interest in the current affairs affecting residents. I love being outdoors and I live on a small rural property just outside Young. My spare time is spent with family and friends, camping, fishing, gardening, looking after my small flock of merino sheep and being with my companion dogs. I love to travel and I have been to New Zealand, Europe and Canada. I hope to travel more broadly in Europe in the coming years.
I was born in Cowra and grew up in the region as part of a farming family. I've had extensive careers both in Journalism and Local Government. I'm passionate about supporting and advancing the local communities of the region and have a keen interest in the current affairs affecting residents. I love being outdoors and I live on a small rural property just outside Young. My spare time is spent with family and friends, camping, fishing, gardening, looking after my small flock of merino sheep and being with my companion dogs. I love to travel and I have been to New Zealand, Europe and Canada. I hope to travel more broadly in Europe in the coming years.
