Macleay Valley Coast Tourism Strategic Plan January 2005 ...

Macleay Valley Coast Tourism Strategic Plan January 2005 to December 2009 – Final Draft
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6.3 STRATEGY 3 - Developing the Capabilities of the Hub and
Spoke Network
A hub and spoke network is proposed as a foundation to develop the capabilities of a
powerful tourism network for the MVC that interconnects with the wider region.
The hubs comprise the tourism townships and robust strategic settings of the MVC that
service the tourism needs of an array of market sectors by concentrating tourism attractions
and services at these locales such as accommodation opportunities, visitor information
services, event venues, 'signature' attractions, river and marine access points.
The spokes deliver packaged tourism experiences for an array of market sectors throughout
the MVC. The spokes interconnect the hubs through self-guided drive trails and commercial
guided tours and activities and establish physical and packaged experiential connections with
the wider region.
6.3.1 Desired Outcome
The intended outcome delivered by this strategy is to establish a tourism network throughout
the Shire that:
• Encourages existing Destination Specific Visitors to explore more of the Shire and take
the heat off coastal areas;
• Encourages In-Transit Travellers to move off the Pacific Highway on their journey through
the MVC or return at a later date for an extended MVC holiday experience; and
• Attract 'high yield' experiential markets to the Shire through the provision of a high quality
tourism network that connects with the wider Region.
The hubs will become strategic collection points for visitor markets and the critical mass of
visitor activity in these locales will inject significant economic benefits towards local
economies and remote communities and create economies of scale for local transport and
tourism providers.
The spokes will consolidate a current fragmented tourism industry into an array of high quality
packaged experiences that deliver value-added economic benefits to tourism operators
throughout the MVC.
6.3.2 Objectives
• To facilitate visitor access to the identified tourism hubs of the MVC through signage and
tourist road network measures;
• To concentrate visitor activity at nominated hubs to create a critical mass of demand that
can be commercially harvested by the MVC tourism network and transport operators;
• To develop the event, attraction and service capabilities of the hubs to service an array of
market sectors;
• To enhance bus transport capabilities;
• To provide enhanced river access and marine access infrastructure at strategic hubs to
promote river and marine recreation and tourism;
• To assist local commerce in the hubs by increasing visitor activity and expenditure in
these zones and using tourism as a device to reinstate lost essential services for remote
communities;
• To reduce visitor impacts by concentrating visitor impacts within robust zones and strictly
managing visitor movements and impacts through the spokes;
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