I was there in the Curry for a NAIDOC event (see Saturday’s paper for more details) and also for the July council meeting.

I arrived at the Shire Hall just as six new citizens were going through the citizenship ceremony with Mayor Greg Campbell and then after morning tea I attended the open session of the meeting.

Of particular interest was the Council’s new tourism strategy which was adopted at the meeting.

The Council invited consultancy firm Tourism Tribe to draw up the strategy with the aim of providing support to develop tourism opportunities for the Shire with consultation from the local community.

They also analysed the existing market, noted the key competitive strengths and audited the current tourism product.

It found that on a three year average Outback Queensland was getting 900,000 visitors a year, a trend rising by 10 percent and they were spending $602m in the local economy, supporting almost 4000 jobs, though it was not clear how much of those numbers belonged to Cloncurry.

Local data showed the Visitor Information Centre annual numbers had increased from 14,000 in 2014 to over 16,000 three years later while Cloncurry Unearthed and John Flynn Place also recorded increases in that time. These numbers compare favourably with other Outback centres with only Longreach, Mount Isa and Winton recording substantially higher numbers.

But it was low for online access, saying “Cloncurry’s website visitation should ideally be much higher than this, but is not surprising as there is no destination website.”

The top ten questions asked by visitors are: What is there to see and do, Local map, Caravan Parks, Free camping, Potable water, Dump point, Foodstores, Road conditions, Fossicking areas and local events.

The Strategy suggested Curry focus on the transient population, review the local streetscape, revamp John Flynn Place, develop new products like kayaking at the Dam and focus on events that appeal to tourists as well as locals.- Derek Barry