FORTY COUNCILS with join Byron Shire Council as part of the new National Tourism Advocacy Alliance.
The National Tourism Advocacy Alliance, which has attracted some of the biggest tourism destinations in the country, will meet for the first time in Sydney next week.
The formation of the National Tourism Councils Advocacy Alliance was initiated by Byron Shire Council, with the aim of bringing together local governments to share their experiences on the impact of tourism on their communities.
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Byron Shire Mayor, Simon Richardson, said councils from NSW, Victoria, South Australia, Queensland, Western Australia and the Northern Territory have signed up to attend the first meeting which is a good indication that Byron is not the only shire struggling with tourism-related issues.
“It is no secret that Byron Shire is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the country and this comes at a price for local residents,” Byron Shire Mayor Simon Richardson said.
The latest statistics from Tourism NSW show that in 2016/17 the Byron Shire hosted approximately 2.1 million visitors.
“Between 2014-2017 our visitor numbers grew by 50% compared to 8% for NSW so the impact on our infrastructure, the environment and our community is absolutely immense,” Mayor Richardson said.
“Byron is not the only shire in Australia dealing with these issues and we thought the formation of the Tourism Advocacy Alliance would be a great opportunity to bring councils together to develop ideas, strategies and solutions for our communities.
“Importantly the Alliance has the potential to be a united voice and there is strength in a loud chorus calling for change rather than Byron Shire Council alone,” he said.
“The Councils interested in joining the Alliance are incredibly diverse – from the City of Sydney and Adelaide to the Torres Shire Council on Thursday Island in far north Queensland.
“Tourism is an important industry for the Byron Shire and one of our priorities is to find ways of recovering costs from visitors to help us manage the impact on our community.
“One of the roles of the Tourism Advocacy Alliance could be to lobby State and Federal Governments to recognise the pressure tourism is putting on some local government areas and the communities they serve,” Mayor Richardson said.
The inaugural meeting of the Tourism Advocacy Alliance will be chaired by Byron Shire Mayor Simon Richardson at the Hyatt Regency on 4 December 2017.
For more information contact Byron Shire Mayor, Simon Richardson, on 0427 076 834.
Hopefully a simple $1 a night per bed BED TAX could fix so many problems where no-one would miss it and it could bring thousands of dollars a day to help improve and maintain the infrastructure in Byron Shire and other areas. The NSW government has refused for many years even considering this as an option – one wonders why?
Also, if we had a regular train service throughout our region the 2.1 million visitors to Byron could move around the rest of the Northern Rivers in comfort and not just choke Byron, day after day, thus supporting the towns in other parts of our region that are struggling economically.
As a start the new Byron Railroad Company train will help things along in so many ways, if only the state government will stop putting obstacles in its way – it’s like they don’t want it to succeed and show what a great way to move around our picturesque landscape that train travel is!
More power to Simon Richardson and the BS Council for taking the bull by the horns and pulling together all the affected councils around Australia who need help maintaining positive lifestyles under the onslaught of massive tourism numbers.