The negative headlines about rising rural crime is, understandably, sparking a significant level of angst amongst tourism operators and organisations.
The last thing visitor-dependent small towns wants is to find grey nomads and other travellers being ‘frightened off’ by a barrage of stories about ongoing youth issues.
The ABC reports that, at a community crime forum in Toowoomba in south-east Queensland last week, tourism chief, Peter Homan, admitted that – to a large extent – the reputational damage had already been done.
“People quickly forget natural disasters, more so than they do violence and crime,” the chief executive of the Southern Queensland Country Tourism (SQCT) said. “It’s about branding.”
Barbed wire fences in paradise! Youth crime is an issue in many regional areas. PIC: Cizza
Mr Homan told the ABC that, from a tourism perspective, the most important thing now was to focus on pushing positive messages rather than dwelling on the issues.
“When we were right in the grip of that drought there were some people who wanted to utilise the drought as a reason for people to travel,” he said. “It’s just the wrong message … I think you’ve got to underline the great assets and the reason why people want to travel, whether that be walking tracks or nature tourism.”
Mr Homan said the widespread nature of the negative coverage meant ‘we’ve got a big job ahead of us’.
“It’s a matter of getting those good stories out into the market as well, and try to get them in front of any bad publicity,” he said. “We’re coming into events season like the Chinchilla Melon Festival … those memories of watermelon dripping down your chin and spitting out the seeds really helped overcome any negativity issues for us.”
The ABC reports that Mr Homan remains confident the region’s reputation could bounce back … provided state and local government stepped up to the task.
“Where councillors provide the best investment for tourism is in parks, gardens and walking tracks, they’re probably the biggest players in tourism,” he said. “It’s also a matter of the state government putting the right plans in place, the right legislation, to control that crime.”
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So it comes down too .. When you come back from seeing the sights and topping up your shopping,fuel and gas cylinders only to find that your caravan has been broken into and ransacked.. Cupboards of provisions and clothes thrown on the floor and the bedding wet from urine.. Yep .. Sucking on a watermelon will fix that.. The police will tell you that they will have more cases of that being reported and there is not much they can do.. But strange enough when Albo when to Alice to fly over the rock the good fok of Alice bussed the mainstream trouble makers out of town only to return after the plane leaves for the tennis.. Crime in these outback town has gone unpunished as there is no law that is applicable to them because of their terrible upbringing and lack of respect…IF they do have to go to court then they are repersented by the best lawyer that the A.L.S.can muster.. So all you good people who plan on travelling the west coast.. Bring plenty of watermelon..
What positives. Seems to me the only positive is when the little angels give the high 5 outside of court after being let off for being a thief, while the law-abiding citizen is left out of pocket cleaning up after this trash.