Liberal candidates look into tourism

By Kath Gannaway
TOURISM operators in Yarra Glen and Healesville have called for greater input at local and state level into the future direction of the industry.
Liberal shadow spokeswoman on tourism, MP Wendy Lovell said concerns about the way tourism was controlled from the top down was the main issue raised on a tour of the region with endorsed Liberal Party candidates, Christine Fyffe, John Lithgow, Simon Wildes and Mike Dalmau last week.
“What the industry is looking for is more control over its own destiny.
“They want to have some say in how tourism is marketed in Victoria and how the Yarra Valley area is developed,” she said.
Ms Lovell had a tour of the region with Mrs Fyffe which included meeting with operators, including John Lithgow as owner of Yarra Glen’s Grand Hotel, and with Healesville operators at the Healesville Tourist Information Centre before meeting with Yarra Ranges mayor Monika Keane and CEO Rob Hauser.
Mr Lithgow, speaking as one of Yarra Glen’s longest serving tourism operators, said one of the issues raised was the number of organisations operating under the tourism banner in the Yarra Valley and the belief that there needed to be a more collective approach, particularly where funding was concerned.
“There is also a belief that the Yarra Valley needs to stand alone as a destination, that we need to undo the jigsaw puzzle for Victoria,” he said.
A meeting between operators and Yarra Ranges Shire this week will look at how operators can have more input into Yarra Valley Brand as a regional body representing tourism.
Ms Lovell said the operators she met were very positive about the industry and their local place in it.
“They are wanting their expertise to be valued and taken notice of rather than people who have no real knowledge of local industry making all the decisions,” she said.
On the Liberal Party policy on tourism and her predecessor’s labelling of the region as second and third level regions, Ms Lovell said she had inherited a policy which was already written but had insisted on a change of that particular terminology.
“I think the Yarra Valley is a first class tourism destination, only an hour out of Melbourne it is the jewel in the crown of destinations on the fringe of Melbourne,” she said.
She also wanted to put the record straight on her party’s policy on tourism funding saying funding announced was in addition to what is already being spent.