Border businesses play important role to promote region as tourist destination

Tourism and business leaders from across the area met in Albury on Wednesday, October 25, to discuss how they can collaborate and innovate to see how the region is already being promoted and be more aware of what brings people in.

Business NSW has revealed the visitor economy contributes around $5.5 million per day to the region and creates 3500 jobs across accommodation, hospitality, food and beverage, tours and attractions businesses.

Corowa Distilling Co managing director Dean Druce said it was important to find ways the Border region could be shared with the world.

"We don't even realise how good we have it on our back doorstep and we've got such a rich environment here, so it's all about how we draw those international people in and showcase and sell ourselves to the broader community," he said.

"It's really putting a spotlight on those people doing extraordinary things in our region, and there are a lot of people doing extraordinary things in this region.

"How do we then go to somewhere like MAMA and get a local artist's artwork on a bottle of whiskey that we sell to the rest of the world? That collaborative approach that's actually tactile, you can touch it, you can feel it, versus the easy recommendation of 'go over there and do that' is what we're looking at."

Albury Precision Engineering chief operations officer Karen Habermann said the experience was "a bit of an eye opener" for her.

"I would have never put the visitor economy and manufacturing in the same room at the same time, but it's opened my eyes up a little bit as to different ways I can be contributing," she said.

"As I'm stepping back, I'm ramping up our community involvement and spending more time giving back. It gives our next gen managers an opportunity to get involved and do things that I've taken for granted over the years.

"We have a lot of suppliers that come to us and generally they're here for a day or two. I can then encourage them to stay longer and make it a collaborative effort.

"Our tool reps are always busy showcasing what they've got and go from engineering company to engineering company. If we can collaborate and get it into a venue where everyone can see it at the same time and ask all the same questions, it's a win-win for everybody."

Business NSW Riverina Murray regional director Serena Hardwick said it was also important to promote the region as a great place to live, work and invest.

"This really is an education piece on the influence and the role our local businesses have to be a part of the visitor economy, directly influencing the value of the industry in our local community," she said.

"As we travel the region, meeting with businesses and being exposed to everything the region has to offer, we have become more aware that not everyone knows what we have in our own backyard.

"I want to share that with our business community and create more advocates for our great region."

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