Council ditches bid to join iconic tourism strip
The Glenelg Shire Council in far southwest Victoria is blaming state and national marketing campaigns for not including their region.
Despite not being on the Great Ocean Road itself, the Glenelg council had been paying $80,000 a year to be part of the Great Ocean Road Regional Tourism Board.
In a statement on the council website, posted earlier this month, the council says it is time to cut the chord.
'From 2015, Glenelg Shire Council have been a member of the Great Ocean Road Regional Tourism Board (GORRT),' a spokesperson said. The Glenelg council area doesn't actual fall across the Great Ocean Road. Picture. iStock Credit: istock
'Council has found that although GORRT have been strong in their advocacy and attempts to link the Glenelg Shire to the Great Ocean Road, the Glenelg Shire is simply not officially recognised by our state and federal partners as being part of the Great Ocean Road.
'We are regularly omitted from marketing, tourism campaigns and strategies.'
The Great Ocean Road generates $1.9bn of economic activity each year, the state government says, creating 9800 local jobs.
Tourism Australia launched its new major campaign last week, and the only Victorian location featured was the Twelve Apostles, which is on the western half of the tourism strip.
The Glenelg Shire is west of the actual Great Ocean Road, despite paying $80,000 a year to the road's tourism board. Membership gives businesses and organisations access to marketing on tourism websites. The only Victorian spot included in Tourism Australia's newest major campaign is the Twelve Apostles. Credit: News Corp Australia
'Council has chosen not to continue with GORRT, instead redirecting the $80,000 per year membership fee to directly invest in tailored opportunities that better align with the unique needs and potential of our region,' the council spokesperson said.
The Glenelg Shire will instead focus on promoting its nationally recognised Kelpie Festival, and the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Budj Bim Cultural Landscape; the first place in Australia to be recognised solely for its Aboriginal cultural values.
A state government spokesperson said Great Ocean Road Regional Tourism Board was in charge of tourism for the region.
'We will continue to work with Glenelg Shire to encourage visitors to visit southwest Victoria and experience the best of the Great Ocean Road,' the spokesperson said.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Age
13 minutes ago
- The Age
Real estate underquoting: Industry leaders back calls to reveal auction reserve prices after report
He also said if a vendor insisted on a higher price than an agent recommended, this should be published too. 'Essentially, it turns the process into a private treaty one and will take longer to sell. Once the property has been on the market for long enough, and if it's unsold, then the auction process can be introduced once the price gap has narrowed.' McGrath Estate Agents founder and chief executive John McGrath strongly supported any changes that created greater transparency, but said sellers should retain the right to accept or reject any offer. 'The real issue isn't reserve pricing, it's agent compliance with existing price guide regulations,' McGrath said. 'If agents follow a straight bat with current quoting rules, transparency issues largely disappear.' On Monday, Premier Chris Minns said he reserved the right to look at legislation that would force agents to publish the vendor reserve before auction, but there were no immediate plans to do it. Premier Chris Minns at Burwood Park on Monday. He has not ruled out a look at publishing reserve prices. Credit: Steven Siewert The NSW Office of Fair Trading is looking at potential industry reforms by way of a series of roundtable forums with stakeholders. Key among those measures are increased penalties for underquoting and a similar model to Victoria that offers better pricing guides for buyers. Tim McKibbin, chief executive of the Real Estate Institute of NSW, is among those working in the background with Fair Trading on the reform process. 'What I can say is that we are committed to finding a solution, everything is on the table and some encouraging progress has been made,' said McKibbin. McKibbin's industry lobby group chief counterpart in Victoria, Jacob Caine, revealed on Sunday that the institute would support the introduction of reserve price disclosure as well the adoption of a new model that would provide free building and pest reports to prospective home buyers. The rules around property pricing are tighter in Victoria than in NSW. Victorian legislation makes price guides mandatory on marketing, and price estimates must be accompanied by a statement of information showing comparable sales that inform the estimate. In NSW, Liberal leader Mark Speakman said he would consider the issue of whether vendor reserves should be published, but as yet the party hadn't committed to a position. Start the day with a summary of the day's most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.
The Age
13 minutes ago
- The Age
Victorian underquoting laws: Expert calls on Allan government to release review
The Victorian Greens said they would this week introduce a bill to parliament requiring the reserve price of a property to be disclosed before auction day, in a bid to stop buyers unwittingly forking out thousands of dollars on inspection reports for homes they can't realistically afford. The REIV is calling on the government to start fresh consultation on how to improve fairness in the property sector. The peak real estate lobby group is also now backing mandatory pre-auction disclosure of reserve prices by sellers, in a significant policy pivot announced on Monday. Premier Jacinta Allan earlier this month. Credit: Eddie Jim 'Reserve price disclosure isn't just backed by consumer advocates, even the Real Estate Institute of Victoria and leading property industry figures support it,' said Greens public and affordable housing spokeswoman Gabrielle de Vietri. 'With the public and industry on board, Labor has no excuse to delay.' Premier Jacinta Allan said she would seek advice on that proposal and also the merits of a model that would result in those selling their home providing prospective buyers with a free pest and building inspection documents. 'We are open to looking at what we can do to make the property market fairer for everyone,' Allan said. She described underquoting as a 'pretty shabby practice, which is why we're cracking down on it and made it illegal'. Enzo Raimondo, pictured in 2014 when he led the REIV. Credit: Fairfax Raimondo said he couldn't disclose the recommendations made by him and his property market review co-author, consumer advocate Carolyn Bond, due to a confidentiality agreement. But he confirmed the 2022 report did include recommendations he believed would reduce the prevalence of underquoting. 'We spent months on it. We interviewed consumers, we interviewed industry groups, we interviewed agents, and there's some, I think, excellent recommendations on the issue of reserve price [disclosure],' he said. 'It's odd that the review, which is meant to assist, hasn't been released … I can only speak for myself and not the other panel members, but I was certainly disappointed that it wasn't released and at least debated openly on what should occur.' When asked if there was any reason not to make the report public, Allan said the report was a cabinet document, and she was more focused on 'acting now, leading the nation in cracking down on illegal underquoting'. Raimondo said the review received fairly consistent feedback from the public that agents were providing price guides that were off the mark. He said while agents would use the excuse that they're not property valuers, they generally worked in the same sector for a long period and should know their market. The use of three comparable properties to justify price guides was being manipulated by agents and the criteria around this needed to be tightened up, Raimondo said. 'In Victoria, it's not a bad system. It's just that it's not being used correctly,' he said. Start the day with a summary of the day's most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.
Sydney Morning Herald
13 minutes ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
Real estate underquoting: Industry leaders back calls to reveal auction reserve prices after report
He also said if a vendor insisted on a higher price than an agent recommended, this should be published too. 'Essentially, it turns the process into a private treaty one and will take longer to sell. Once the property has been on the market for long enough, and if it's unsold, then the auction process can be introduced once the price gap has narrowed.' McGrath Estate Agents founder and chief executive John McGrath strongly supported any changes that created greater transparency, but said sellers should retain the right to accept or reject any offer. 'The real issue isn't reserve pricing, it's agent compliance with existing price guide regulations,' McGrath said. 'If agents follow a straight bat with current quoting rules, transparency issues largely disappear.' On Monday, Premier Chris Minns said he reserved the right to look at legislation that would force agents to publish the vendor reserve before auction, but there were no immediate plans to do it. Premier Chris Minns at Burwood Park on Monday. He has not ruled out a look at publishing reserve prices. Credit: Steven Siewert The NSW Office of Fair Trading is looking at potential industry reforms by way of a series of roundtable forums with stakeholders. Key among those measures are increased penalties for underquoting and a similar model to Victoria that offers better pricing guides for buyers. Tim McKibbin, chief executive of the Real Estate Institute of NSW, is among those working in the background with Fair Trading on the reform process. 'What I can say is that we are committed to finding a solution, everything is on the table and some encouraging progress has been made,' said McKibbin. McKibbin's industry lobby group chief counterpart in Victoria, Jacob Caine, revealed on Sunday that the institute would support the introduction of reserve price disclosure as well the adoption of a new model that would provide free building and pest reports to prospective home buyers. The rules around property pricing are tighter in Victoria than in NSW. Victorian legislation makes price guides mandatory on marketing, and price estimates must be accompanied by a statement of information showing comparable sales that inform the estimate. In NSW, Liberal leader Mark Speakman said he would consider the issue of whether vendor reserves should be published, but as yet the party hadn't committed to a position. Start the day with a summary of the day's most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.
