MILDURA’s Don Carrazza believes now is the perfect time to promote the region as a prime tourist destination.
“There’s so much for people to do in this region,” he said.
“Mildura can certainly say it has the best weather conditions in the world. I feel we’ve got to do something about it because Mildura is lacking tourism now and this is a great opportunity to reintroduce tourism.”
Mr Carrazza has been involved in the region’s tourism industry since it started and believes; with cheap fuel prices, a thriving airport, beautiful weather and fears for overseas travel, now is the best time showcase what Sunraysia has to offer.
“The word tourism didn’t exist in the 50s but Mildura was one of the places that started tourism,” Mr Carrazza said.
“With Australians now so cautious about travelling overseas, we can make the most of this time to promote what’s interesting and exciting on our own doorstep, just as they did before going overseas became so common.”
From the 1950s to the 1970s, Sunraysia was a thriving hub, known for its food, wine and, of course, the river.
Across the 1970s more than 30 hotels were built to accommodate the influx of tourists but gradually the boom died off.
Mildura Regional Development (MRD) chief executive officer Brett Millington said a lot had changed in the decades since with people now more likely to pay for a trip to Bali rather than holiday in their own country.
Mr Millington said although Sunraysia was in a prime position next to the Murray River so were Swan Hill, Echuca and Albury-Wodonga.
And they were all promoting similar things like food and wine.
“Food and wine is not a differentiator anymore, food and wine is an expectation,” he said.
But Mr Carrazza has some ideas of what should be done to promote the region.
Ideas include educating locals on what their region has to offer so they can promote it to their friends and families in different parts of Australia.
“The local can be the greatest ambassador to their own region,” he said.
“People don’t realise how important locals are in promoting their own areas.”
According to Mr Millington, 40 per cent of the region’s tourists are visiting relatives or friends.
He agreed locals could play an important role in promoting their home and it was up to MRD to show locals what the region had to offer.
Mr Carrazza also said key tourist locations such as Lake Mungo National Park, the Perry Sand Hills, the Australian Inland Botanic Gardens and the Pink Salt Lakes needed to be promoted better.
Local celebrities such as Stefano de Pieri could also be utilised as a marketing tool.
“Stefano is recognised, why don’t we make use of the man?” Mr Carrazza said.
A Gondala on the Murray has returned to SBS with Mr de Pieri starring in the 13-episode television show.
Mr Carrazza said it would be wonderful to see signs at the entrances to Mildura that referred to the city as the “Gondala City” and commercials about Sunraysia while the show aired.
Mr Millington said they were investigating the possibility of having these signs at Mildura’s entrances and also planned to advertise with SBS while A Gondola on the Murray was airing.
As far as attracting more tourists, the outlook is positive.
“All the ingredients are here in terms of what we can offer people,” Mr Millington said.
“It’s just how do we adapt all those things and that’s part of what we’ve been doing at MRD over the last couple of years.”
