Politicians give false hope of stimulus to Blue Mountains tourism industry

Locals be wary of politicians doing the rounds spruiking empathy for struggling business owners, garnering ideas to help, offering empty promises of recovery, jobs, ‘funding stimulus packages’, ‘evidence based solutions’, ‘SWOT analysis’  and community outreach.

They’re just talkfests that swallow community input and spirit, waste taxpayers’ money, invariable end up going nowhere besides some internal report that never sees the public light of day.

Since the thrice Declared Christmas Bushfire Emergency from November 2019 that catastrophically  saw the 80% of the Blue Mountains World Heritage Area allowed to be incinerated by the New South Wales Rural Fire Service, Blue Mountains businesses relying upon tourism have suffered severely.

The NSW Government shut down all visitation to the region, the Mountains were blanketed in suffocating wood smoke from all the greenhouse gas emissions (burnt trees), trains from Sydney were cancelled and the two highways closed in both directions for weeks.

Woodsmoked white-out vista from Echo Point during the RFS bushfires

Then came the torrential rain in February 2020 associated with forecast La Niña weather pattern causing local landslips including on the Blue Mountains Rail Line at Leura.  Then came the dust storm predicted from excessive land clearing outback.  Then came the man made China Virus Pandemic effectively having shut down Australia’s borders to international tourism ever since – for the past year so far.

We then copped three East Coast Low torrential rainfall events over multiple days.  That also impacted adversely on business and domestic tourism.  Many Blue Mountains retail and hospitality businesses have since closed down, else are up for sale.

Polly Lockdown Talkfest #3

So on 21st April 2021 into town rides Milton Dick MP from Brisbane who’s touring the country on a taxpayer funded travel junket to supposedly “shape tourism policy into the future”.  But he’s not in government; he’s just shaping future policy.

Federal Member for the Blue Mountains and adjoining Hawkesbury regions (Macquarie electorate), Susan Templeman MP joined up with her party political colleague Milton Dick to host tourism industry forum dubbed ‘Labor’s Pandemic Jobs and Industry Taskforce [LPJIT].

Mr Dick is Taskforce Deputy Chair focusing on local jobs and local manufacturing post-pandemic with a brief to prepare opportunities for Labor to take to the next Federal election sometime in 2022.  Oddly, Mr Dick has no tourism or marketing background and this taskforce is in no hurry or capacity to come up with solutions to help local Blue Mountains businesses.

The advertised purpose of the ‘hearing’ (forum) was “What do you think governments need to do to help the (Blue Mountains tourism/hospitality) sector locally, both now and into the future?”

Much tourism research can be garnered and probably has already been done , and it would ideal for Tourism Australia to fund this, but there seems to be a disconnect between government and the tourism industry.  Such research is not shared, so local tourism operators are not aware of the results and so not able to benefit.

It is the third recovery talkfest by politicans and bureaucrats enticing local Blue Mountains tourism businesses to ‘engage’.

Susan Templeman MP told the ‘hearing’: “Blue Mountains and Hawkesbury businesses had clear messages for the Pandemic Recovery Taskforce today – they want policies to attract and retain skilled workers, and strategic marketing plans that help them grow and thrive.

A clear message?

The first talkfest took place in late January 2020 at the Fairmont Resort and Spa in Leura, also hosted by Ms Templeman.  This was timed soon after the Bushfire Emergency and optimistically more than two hundred Blue Mountains business owners went to hear the polly promises.

A second talkfest took place dubbed the Blue Mountains Council’s ‘Adventure Operator’s Meeting at the Katoomba Cultural Centre on Wednesday 20th February 2020.  There were just twenty local tour operators present and an equal number public servants who mainly just listened in.

Nature Trail attended all three talkfests, contributed business concerns and government economic stimulus suggestions.  All three local tourism industry forum have been big wastes of time, but worse, served to only generate false hope.  Nature trail did secure a bushfire compensation of $10,000 stimulus grant funding from the Federal Government but it is uncertain what role any of these forums played to initiate that.  That funding mostly went into acquiring and fitting out our tour vehicle.

Proposed ‘Business Pandemic Recovery Loan Scheme’

There is nothing preventing any political party or government/industry body from developing a tourism recovery policy/strategy/action plan.   Nature Trail’s Tour Director proposed at this forum a financial solution that a no interest HECS style loan be made available from the Federal Government to eligible local small businesses adversely impacted by the government economic lockdowns imposed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, so denying customer revenue.

Loan Specifications:

  1. The Federal Government be the lender of this loan scheme
  2. Loan amounts to be available in increments of $10,000 up to a maximum of $50,000 per eligible business
  3. Loan terms to be nil interest and only payable on a ATO-reported Assessable  Income basis, with the annual threshold being $50,000 before any loan amount is repayable, thereafter at the rate of 5% of the loan principal per annum

I am pleased that 15 pages of notes were taken at the industry forum on 21st April 2021.  Good meeting protocol would be to have had an agenda and minutes or notes/action items distributed to those who attended and who else gave apologies.  I would appreciate a copy please.

We’re all affected by a depressed industry due to the dearth of international visitation (the cream of the market – the ones that stay for multiple days), and this looks like being the status quo for years.

This is a revenue crisis, and many businesses dependent upon international tourism are set to shut down.  The urgency of the problem does not seem to realised by those on publicly funded incomes – stimulus initiatives need to be ‘shovel ready’ now if many businesses are to survive.  Commercial leases in hospitality in the Blue Mountains are more apparent: Check Theo Poulos Real Estate website for Commercial Leases in Katoomba for instance: https://www.theopoulos.com/listings/?post_type=listings&count=20&orderby=meta_value&meta_key=dateListed&sold=0&saleOrRental=Rental&paged=1&type=commercial&beds=&baths=&cars=&externalID=&order=dateListed-desc

Funding initiatives that seek to increase day tripper visitation will result in little value add to local tourism operators (accommodation providers, hospitality, tour operators and wellness providers, etc.).  Yet Blue Mountains Council with NPWS for instance are embarking on a multi-million dollar upgrade of more than a dozen lookouts https://yoursay.bmcc.nsw.gov.au/southern-escarpment-masterplan This reflect the chasm of disconnect between government and local industry.

Michelle, your link to National Recovery and Resilience Agency’s ‘Black Summer Bushfire Recovery Grants’ is not yet open.  The funding is ironic, because the government funded RFS allowed 80% of the world heritage area to be burned over Christmas 2019, and now government is funding the damage and impacts.  If the remote fires were quickly detected and extinguished by standby Erikson Air cranes – the negative impacts and total costs would be minuscule.

The NSW Government co-ordinates its tourism marketing for the Blue Mountains bizarrely out of its Destination Sydney Surrounds North (DSSN) branch located in Gosford.  Of a $500 million grant funding out of the Regional Flagship Events funding programme, the Blue Mountains received just $36,000 and it went to Scenic World?