September 2017 | David Claridge

NEGATIVE IMAGES portrayed by the media from the fires and floods of the last two years are still influencing tourism in the Meander Valley Region.

Lower than normal tourism figures for the Meander Valley region have sparked action with local groups coming together to form a Great Western Tiers and Meander Valley Destination Action Plan with the aim to bring the crowds back into the region.

President of the Great Western Tiers Tourism Association, Rosemary Norwood, said the group has been looking for a focal point or a point of difference to the rest of Tasmania to bring more people into the region.

“Since Great Western Tiers has so many amazing walking tracks the group decided we would become the short walks destination of Tasmania,” she said.

“We will be meeting again this month to be working out exactly what to do in the short term to actually market the package of walks for this summer season.

Leader of the action plan group, Barbara Harvey, added that for the plan to go ahead they required funding to market it.

“There has been such a downturn in our region. There was a lot of information through the media about how terrible the floods were and everyone was on alert to move while the fires were on. There has been a continual stream of negative media coverage,” she said.

“Since that time, Parks and Wildlife Services have had a real struggle trying to recoup and restore all of the damage that was done to most of our assets like Liffey Falls and the Walls of Jerusalem.

The fact that many of the attractions had been closed has given the perception to people that there is no point in visiting the area because not everything is open.”

Premier Will Hodgman officially launched the Destination Action Plan at Trowunna Wildlife Park in late August. Barbara commented, “We will need some funding and support as well as the Plan to get the ball rolling.”

The group are also searching for a volunteer admin assistant to do some basic admin and liaison tasks for about 15 hours a week.