Texas goes the extra mile to attract grey nomads

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October 15, 2020

With regional Australia struggling with the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, many communities quickly identified grey nomads as a potential economic lifeline … and they’ve been pulling out all the stops to attract more travellers.

While offering a free or budget camp is the obvious starting point, some towns are looking beyond that to see what ‘extra’ they can offer.

Just south of the Queensland town of Texas, the Dumaresq River Camping Area has long been a hit with grey nomads … but it’s about to get even more traveller-friendly.

Goondiwindi Regional Council has just announced it is to build a new footpath connecting the free camping area to the Texas CBD.

Peter Worthy, the President of the Texas Queensland Inc organisation which has lobbied for the construction of the new footpath, said it would be a major boost.

“This has been a big win for us … camping has already proved so popular at the Dumaresq site, and it’s such a pleasant walk into town from there,” he told the Goondiwindi Argus. “We really hope that the new walkway will encourage those campers to stroll into town and explore some of the wonderful local shops and businesses we have here in Texas.”

The Dumaresq River rest area is a free overnight campground with plenty of riverfront grassy sites. The site is a popular local fishing spot.

The walkway, which will primarily be gravel, will join the existing town footpath at the Texas Historical Museum and run down Flemming Street, towards the Dumaresq River rest area.

Council has secured $100,000 from the Australian Government’s Local Roads and Community Infrastructure (LRCI) Program Grant towards the project.

“We have already seen how the Dumaresq campground in particular is increasingly becoming the location of choice for campers and domestic overnight visitors,” said mayor, Cr Lawrence Springborg. “Council is doing everything it can to support domestic tourism in the Goondiwindi region, and to encourage visitors to stay an extra night and explore what our local towns have to offer.”

• Which other communities do you think are going the ‘extra mile’ to look after grey nomads? Comment below.
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