Sapphire Coast Tourism Board’s first meeting - Bega Valley

First Meeting of the New Sapphire Coast Tourism Board

June 23, 2008

The management of tourism marketing and promotions in the Bega Valley Shire is now under the control of an independent management company called Sapphire Coast Tourism Limited.

The Board of Sapphire Coast Tourism Limited (from left) Geoffrey Morrissey, Grant Webster, Barry Harrison, Bruce Leaver, Tim Shepherd, Gordon Beattie, Adrian Sandrey, Tony Allen and Lyn Mott.

The company’s nine-member board was officially appointed last Friday.

The members are Bruce Leaver (chair), Geoffrey Morrissey (deputy chair), Gordon Beattie, Barry Harrison, Lyn Mott, Adrian Sandrey, Tim Shepherd, Grant Webster and Council representative, Cr Tony Allen. (Biographical details of all Board members are attached)

In recent years Bega Valley Shire Council has implemented a comprehensive restructuring of tourism marketing and promotion based on the premise that the tourism industry is best placed to manage its affairs.

A number of arrangements were put in place with industry bodies to manage aspects of Council’s former Sapphire Coast Tourism operation.

These arrangements were funded by Council and included the operation of Visitor Information Centres in Merimbula, Eden, Bermagui and Bega, Sapphire Coast Tourism promotions and marketing, Cruise Eden and the SCT Booking Service.

Committed work by a number of groups such as the Eden Chamber of Commerce, Bermagui Chamber of Commerce, Bega Cheese and the Bega Valley Shire Business Forum has enabled operations to continue to develop during this period.

The establishment of the independent body was a recommendation from an industry forum held in April, 2007, and agreed and managed by Council and the business forum over the intervening period.

The Mayor, Cr Tony Allen, who is the Council representative on the company’s Board of Directors, said he was delighted with the first meeting of the new company.
“Council has placed the industry in a strong position to move forward positively, building on the past work of Sapphire Coast Tourism staff and, in the last year, the enormous efforts of the Bega Valley Shire Business Forum.

“We are very fortunate to have so many highly credentialed people prepared to give their time to fostering the tourism industry in the Shire,” he said.

“Each member of the Board brings his or her own unique and relevant skills into play and the result was evident at the first meeting.

“There is already action on creating a new website, producing an attractions publication, management decisions about the Visitor Information Centres across the Shire as well as marketing and promotion opportunities.”

The Board was keen to embrace the opportunities provided by the recently announced Wilderness Coast inclusion in the National Landscapes initiative.

Cr Allen said the new company’s articles of association included clear corporate governance guidelines as to how the body should relate to the various elements of the community.

Council will provide $150,000 in the coming budget for the operations of the new body and will hold a further $50,000 in reserve for use by the body if required.

Sapphire Coast Tourism Board

Tony Allen
The mayor, Cr Tony Allen, is the council representative on the Board. He has lived in the Bega Valley all his life and has an extensive history of community service.

This includes 12 years as chair of the Cobargo Co-operative Society; chair of the Southern Area Hospital Board; president of the Bega High School and Cobargo Public School P and C Associations as well as leadership in a variety of sporting and agriculture organisations.

He was elected to the Bega Valley Shire Council in 2002 and has been mayor since 2005.

Gordon Beattie
Gordon Beattie is e director of Arrow Solutions, a consultancy with the theme Making Things Happen by Design, working in the areas of events, conferences and festivals, cultural planning and policy, research, community consultation and cultural mapping, facilitation and change management.

Before settling at Brogo in 2001, he was senior lecturer in Theatre, head of Performance and chair of the Courses Management Committee in Design and Contemporary Arts at the University of Western Sydney.

Mr Beattie has more than 35 years’ experience as a teacher, researcher, consultant and practising artist working and leading major arts projects in Sydney and other areas of Australia.

He is chair of the Bega Valley Regional Gallery Advisory Committee, sits on the board of Fling Physical Theatre and is working with the Sapphire Coast Marine Discovery Centre on strategic planning and the design for its first exhibition space.

He is also a member of the Bega Valley Shire Arts Network, an informal group of professional artists, gallery owners and managers, events organisers and cultural workers, representing a significant number of small businesses working in the Shire’s creative and cultural industries.

Barry Harrison
For the past six years Barry Harrison and his wife Diane have managed Waterview Luxury Apartments in Merimbula.

Mr Harrison is secretary of the Merimbula Chamber of Commerce and Tourism and president of the Australian Resident Accommodation Mangers Association (ARAMA) – South Coast Division.

In his spare time he is a member of the Merimbula Royal Volunteer Coastal Patrol and annually attends the Cowra Wine Show in his position as deputy chief steward.

Bruce Leaver
Bruce Leaver lives near Cobargo and works with the Commonwealth Government’s Parks Australia section. He is currently working on major tourism planning projects for Kakadu and Uluru National Parks.
Mr Leaver has vast experience in natural resource management, nature based tourism and liaison with both government and private sectors.

He is also the co-convenor (with Tourism Australia) of the National Landscapes Reference Committee. The National Landscapes project recently gained national media exposure as iconic landscapes around the nation, including the Wilderness Coast that runs from Bermagui to Lakes Entrance, are identified to be promoted internationally by Tourism Australia.

Mr Leaver is a member of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Tourism Advisory Committee and has worked in protected area management in NSW, South Australia and Tasmania.

Geoffrey Morrissey
Geoffrey Morrissey has been the proprietor of the Bega Downs Motor Inn and Restaurant in Bega since 2003 when he and his wife Rosemary returned to the Bega Valley for a change of lifestyle.
Having grown up in Bemboka and Bega, he considered the Valley as being close to ideal due to its natural facilities.

During the 1980s and 1990s he travelled extensively on business which provided the opportunity to participate in tourism experiences offered by other countries and allowed comparisons with the tourism experiences Australia offers national and international travellers.

Mr Morrissey says the Bega Valley has the advantages of learning from the development paths undertaken by other communities but needs to develop its own tourism industry that is based on the special and unique attributes of the region rather than attempt to emulate tourism business models of other regions.

He is a member of the Bega Chamber of Commerce and Industry executive committee; Bega Valley Shire Business Forum; Bega Valley Shire Economic Development and Tourism Committee; and was on the 2007/08 BVSF Tourism Management Committee.

He has a background in engineering, events merchandising, marketing exporting and large scale manufacturing.

Lyn Mott
Lyn Mott and her husband Michael bought the Regatta Point Caravan Park and moved to the Bega Valley in 1997.

Since arriving in the Shire Mrs Mott has been actively involved in many business and community organisations.

These include secretary of the Bega Valley Shire Business Forum; secretary of the Wallaga Lake Tourist Association; chair of the Wallaga Lake Affected Landowners Group; secretary of the Bermagui Area Committee; secretary and president of the Caravan and Camping Industry Association – Sapphire Coast Region; Secretary of the Bermagui Area Chamber of Commerce and Tourism; secretary-treasurer of the Sapphire Coast Caravan Parks Association; and voglunteer guide to the Montreal Goldfields at Wallaga Lake.

Most recently she has been a member of the Bega Valley Shire Business Forum management committee looking after tourism in its transition year.

Mrs Mott wants the new board to develop meaningful networks with local businesses, regional and State tourism organisations to promote and strengthen a vital industry for the Shire.

She brings significant skills to the board in the areas of research, mentoring business management and financial monitoring.

Adrian Sandrey
Adrian Sandrey is the publican at the Great Southern Inn in Eden. He and his family moved to the Bega Valley Shire eight years ago, having spent five years working and running a landmark hotel at The Rocks in Sydney.

In addition to extensive management experience in the hospitality and tourism industry, he is a qualified chef and is passionate about quality and preparation of local seafood and produce.

Mr Sandrey is very active within the Eden community and has been a driving force behind the ongoing development of the Eden Whale Festival. He has a solid record for getting on with the job.

After attending several board meetings of the South Coast Regional Tourism Organisation he recognised the potential value of a local board and is prepared to put in the hours to this project to make it work.

Mr Sandrey has a broad understanding of community need and wants to help to develop economic growth within the Shire.

Tim Shepherd
Tim Shepherd has been the regional manager for National Parks for the Far South Coast, based in Merimbula, since 2000.
His region extends from the border to Batemans Bay and inland to Braidwood and Bombala and includes 30 National Parks and other reserves that cover an area of about 450,000ha.

Before taking on that role he worked in a range of jobs with National Parks based in Sydney and Queanbeyan.

He also spent a number of years working in National Parks ski resort management, based near Jindabyne.

That involved the environmental management of major tourism developments and planning for the future of the ski fields.

Mr Shepherd sees National Parks as being really important now and in the future for tourism on the Sapphire Coast and looks forward to working with the Tourism Industry.

Grant Webster
Grant Webster is manager of the Merimbula News Weekly and has lived in the Bega Valley Shire since March 2006.

He came from a small business background and gravitated to a career in advertising and journalism with Riverina Media Group in western NSW before establishing a communications consultancy in 2002 based mainly around the irrigation industry.

Mr Webster’s experience extends to all aspects of communications and public relations, from copy writing and graphic arts to event co-ordination and communications and media strategy development.

He played a pivotal role in the 2004 United Nations International Year of Rice, including the co-ordination of displays and media liaison for the IYR launch at Parliament House, Canberra.

He has also maintained a long-standing relationship with Sapphire Coast Marine Discovery Centre, publishing the centre’s newsletter for some time before moving to the area.

Mr Webster has been successful in initiating and facilitating national media exposure for a number of his communications clients and has developed relationships with numerous media representatives throughout Australia.

He brings to the board his insight into the media and communications fields and a desire to contribute fresh ideas to assist the Bega Valley take full advantage of its immense natural resources and tourism potential.