Published on Tuesday, 28 June 2022 at 9:00:00 AM
The City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder Council has signalled its ongoing support for the social and economic benefits of the tourism industry by unanimously supporting to extend funding for the Kalgoorlie-Boulder Visitor Centre to 2025 .
The approved partnership between the City and the Kalgoorlie-Boulder Visitor Centre includes $355,000 of boosted funding to support the Centre’s new Visitor Servicing Strategy, extension of trading hours, and general operational costs.
Council received a report outlining the outcomes achieved by the Visitor Centre over the last three years of funding. A particular highlight was the significant number of visitors serviced, exceeding 86,000 in 2021, as the tourism economy rebounded from the impacts of COVID-19.
As part of the new funding proposal, the Visitor Centre outlined intentions to expand its servicing strategy such as enhancing industry collaboration through increased partnerships and broadening the geographical reach beyond the City’s central business district.
City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder Mayor John Bowler said the funding and MOU between the City and the Visitor Centre is an integral part of a larger mandate to position Kalgoorlie-Boulder as a tourism destination in the Goldfields region.
“The Visitor Centre has an accomplished track record in providing core services to visitors and prospective tourists,” he said.
“I’m pleased to see funding in place for the next three years, which will be critical in supporting our Tourism Strategy and sharing our region with new tourism markets.”
“We want to grow tourism in our region to help boost and diversify our economy. The City put a significant amount of money into funding our Visitor Centre and have seen the results of extended and repeat visitation.”
At Monday night’s Ordinary Council Meeting, Councillors commended City staff on recent tourism achievements as part of the City’s Tourism Strategy; expressing it was fantastic to see Kalgoorlie-Boulder recognised as an outstanding tourism destination, highlighted by the recent successful bid to host the 2023 Perth Airport WA Regional Tourism Conference.
Kalgoorlie-Boulder Visitor Centre General Manager Fadzai Mudau said the Centre is extremely grateful the City has renewed the funding agreement.
“This commitment will continue to enhance the visitor servicing experience for tourists, our members and local people,” she said.
“It also supports the local tourism industry, as we continue to see more people travelling across the region.”
“The Kalgoorlie Boulder Visitor Centre is excited about the future and continuing to support the City of Kalgoorlie Boulder to showcase our unique outback City as a prime tourism destination,” she said.
Last year the City established the Boulder Tourism Precinct Strategy Committee who are currently undertaking a Tourism Masterplan for Boulder.
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