Meeting with the NSW Minister for Jobs, Investment, Tourism and Western Sydney
September 2, 2020
On 2 September, our President, Vice President and Secretary from the Yass Valley Business Chamber met with representatives from Yass Council and the NSW State Government. The meeting included amongst others our local representative for Goulburn – the honourable Wendy Tuckerman, Minister for Tourism and Jobs – the honourable Stuart Ayers, Yass Council Mayor – Rowena Abbey and Yass Council General Manager – Chris Berry.
The focus of the meeting was not only the promotion of a unique Yass Valley brand but of the many wonderful products and services offered by all the great businesses of the Yass Valley.
We would like to share a few key take-aways from the meeting including:
- The Premier of NSW is changing her COVID-19 messaging from what we can’t do to what we can do;
- Small Business should focus on Yield (what they produce that folk want) and what the Minister for Tourism and Jobs calls the add-ons, the additional things you can sell while visitors are in spending mode;
- The Minister for Tourism and Jobs thinks the Yass Valley mantra of Wine, Wool and Waterways has a great ring to it and that the community should focus on packaging our wares to attract people to the Yass Valley to visit and spend;
- “Shopping Experience” is king, keep renewing and repackaging;
- Market the experiences we have here rather than the Brand;
- Small business needs to come together to package things to make it worth coming (e.g. cellar door to restaurant, to accommodation to cafe to gallery/art/craft/event);
- Grants are available from NSW Tourism through Destination NSW for such things as festivals, music events and the arts.
- Businesses need to think forward and apply for the future;
- Go for good quality not large size;
- Look at what we don’t have and find ways to improve the offer.
The Yass Valley Business Chamber support the messages from the NSW State Government, in particular we strongly welcome the Premier’s change of messaging to focus on:
“What we can do” rather than “What we can’t do”
In this time of COVID-19, the Yass Valley needs clear, strong leadership that binds the community and business together. We strongly urge Yass Valley Council including the Mayor, Councillors, General Manager and all staff to take up the Premiers new mantra and actively encourage economic activities that will help make Yass Valley stronger and propel us through this period of uncertainty. We strongly urge the Yass Valley Council to encourage staff to work with members of the community and help to facilitate business enquiries and applications.
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