An interview with Hank van Apeldoorn,
Manager Economic Development,
Balranald Shire Council, NSW
With five rivers, two national parks and a World Heritage Area in his Shire, Hank van Apeldoorn knows well the challenges of managing tourism.
While tourism has traditionally been supported by most councils in regional Australia through the promoting of what it is they have to offer, that is, the providers’ perspective, there is limited understanding of the nitty gritty of tourism and the market consumers’ perspective.
Hank van Apeldoorn believes that councils are starting to accept that tourism is effectively a sub set of Economic Development and that a key result area for tourism is the creation of jobs.
He quoted Norm White from Advance Tourism in saying, “Tourism contributes to a local economy when businesses have sufficient customers to enjoy good profit levels, and investors can be attracted because they are confident a satisfactory return on an investment can be anticipated due to good growth and good yields.
“Customers are the cornerstone of success and should be the primary consideration.”
Hank van Apeldoorn said one of the major challenges facing tourism and economic development is the traditional mindset of communities.
In a recent feasibility study for a new Balranald Visitor Information Centre, it was summed up by one local as follows:
“Balranald is not a tourist town like small towns in Tasmania which are welcoming tourists. To achieve what has occurred in Tasmania requires a refocusing of effort by all.”
There are many other examples of tourist towns across Australia that are like Tasmania and more oriented to visitors than Balranald. However, generating a different mind set is in part related to how much income is earned from visitors in these towns.
“Even though a council might identify that the mindset is not right, it can be overcome when a ‘tipping point’ is reached in terms of economic benefit for the local economy,” Hank van Apeldoorn said.
“There is a greater appreciation of the need to provide great service and we need to work towards delivering this outcome. For example, one of the Yarra Valley towns east of Melbourne is well known for its wineries and scenic drives. However, a number of years ago all the stores on its main street closed around 5.00pm.
“Hence, when visitors had finished their day trips and visits to local attractions, they were travelling back to Melbourne through a town that was closed. “Fortunately this situation has changed and there are now many retail outlets and other services that cater specifically for visitors.
“The earlier quote from a local suggests that Balranald may have had a similar situation and needed a change in approach.
“An essential component of the solution is giving people a reason to stop or to stay a little longer – and the provision of clean toilets is one of the essential parts of delivering the necessary infrastructure.”
Hank said that councils can also play a role in encouraging store owners to have colourful umbrellas, chairs, tables, signs and window displays to encourage visitors to spend money and help businesses recognise that visitors can become key customers crucial to their survival.
“We must give tourists every opportunity to spend their money in our towns,” he said. “To encourage them to take on, or expand into tourism, local businesses need to be supported with business planning, tourism business acumen and a customer service focus so as to reposition their services and products to those sought by visitors seeking a truly memorable visit to the area.
“This approach is sometimes referred to as ‘tourism capacity building’ and Balranald Shire Council has a planned approach to achieve this end.
“The underlying need is to make it easy for people to stay and spend, and that requires the right signage and information to ensure that whatever the town has to offer is presented in the best way possible. Potential visitors also need to know what is in a town before they arrive so that there is a degree of anticipation and looking forward to making the stop.”
Hank van Apeldoorn said websites are crucial, as is a regional approach in terms of marketing and promotion to inform the travelling public before they leave home.
Balranald’s E-Strategy will be delivered at the regional level. For example, the Outback NSW Regional Tourism Organisation has an excellent website, within which Balranald is presented as part of Outback NSW.
Hank believes that being part of a regional approach provides much greater advertising and marketing buying power, and much broader opportunities for advertising and promotion.
“For example, around 7,000 copies of the Outback NSW Holiday Planner, which includes information on Balranald, are distributed to accredited visitor information centres each month.
“A further 30,000 to 50,000 copies of the Holiday Planner are distributed through the Outback NSW Tourism stands at the Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane Caravan and Camping Shows.
“In addition, the Outback NSW Regional Tourism Organisation has also developed and implemented other strategies and promotions, such as the award winning Darling River Run touring route.
“Individual towns, communities or local tourism associations don’t have the capacity to distribute their brochures and promotional material on the same scale, and certainly don’t have the ‘reach’ of the regional tourism organisations.”
