Everyone should be an ambassador for Tenterfield, taking up the mantle left by the late, great Aub Gillespie who rarely passed a stranger in the street without leaving them with more than they ever needed to know about Tenterfield.
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This was one of the sentiments discussed at the Activate Tenterfield workshops at the Tenterfield School of Arts on Thursday night and Friday morning where 53 and 23 keen citizens, respectively, came together to offer and discuss their ideas.
The ultimate aim of the project is to filter all the ideas into a number of options to be presented to Tenterfield Shire Council, with one idea to be progressed with grant money received for that purpose. The ambassadorship option was fleshed out with suggestions for an accreditation process for local businesses, and an online training facility incorporated into the induction process for new employees, to ensure accurate information and a consistent message is being disseminated to visitors.
“What do we need to do to bring Tenterfield to life,” project coordinator Linda Tillman asked on opening the workshop.
We have to take it from a ‘tea and wee’ stop to a destination.
- Linda Tillman
“This place has so much to offer: amazing attractions, features and assets. This is not about developing ‘products’, it’s about getting people to come and enjoy what’s already here.
“We have to take it from a ‘tea and wee’ stop to a destination.”
Workshop facilitator Anna Stephenson said she had noted a reservoir of pride in the the town, and said the people of the community are its biggest asset.
While the town’s location on the intersection of two major highways means tourists naturally funnel through Tenterfield, Di O’Connor of Tenterfield Lodge Caravan Park said business income could be doubled or tripled by encouraging people to extend their stay from overnight to two or three nights, and that’s the goal of her business.
It is important that the first visit to Tenterfield to be special, Ms Stephenson added, arming the visitor with enough information to plan a return visit, suggesting that locals also play tourist and take themselves on a visitor’s experience.
A multitude of ideas were presented to encourage that return visit, including cultural walks, a Peter Allen ‘lane’, businesses leveraging more off those that are excelling in the tourism area (such as the Tenterfield Golf Club), an AB Butler photography museum incorporating federation dress-up and photo opportunities, a King of Mt Mackenzie footrace, and taking the warm Tenterfield welcome to people where they live be it on the coast, southeast Queensland or elsewhere.
Ms Tillman considered the paddock-to-plate movement a massive opportunity, with urbanites eager to experience life on the farmand possibly completing the experience with a meal of local produce, as demonstrated by the recent High Country Table event at Sunnyside Hall. A farmers’ market was suggested as another way to tap that sector.
The issues of shops not opening on public holidays and poor levels of customer service when they are open were again raised, along with parking and ‘for sale’ signs in numerous shop windows. (Ms Stephenson noted, however, that from her wide travels the occupancy rate in Tenterfield’s CBD is ‘amazing’.)
Tenterfield Pizza Shop’s Simon Hicks said no-one has ever walked into the store and said ‘tell me more about Henry Parkes’ Federation speech’, so perhaps that shouldn’t be the main attraction promoted on town entry signs. While that aspect of the town’s history remains important from an educational perspective (potentially supporting education tourism), Mr Hicks suggested it should no longer be the headliner, making the current dissection of the Tenterfield ‘brand’ timely.
Tenterfield Chamber of Tourism, Industry and Business Vince Sherry was keen to give shop owners a reason to open, possibly by better coordination between event organisers and the business community to bring events and festivals into the main street.
Rather than a talkfest the workshops (and other feedback sent directly to Ms Tillman by those who couldn’t attend) have a concrete goal with outcomes required in the next three months as the grant money has to be spent by June 30. Ms Tillman said she will be collating the input into several structured project options to present to council for its consideration within the next couple of weeks.
For those who couldn’t be there, here is video of the breakfast session (in two parts):
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