City of Mount Gambier will begin to implement a ‘hub and spoke’ visitor servicing model from mid July 2024. The concept involves a Visitor Centre Hub to be located at the main corner entrance of the Riddoch building on Commercial Street, with spoke sites at Engelbrecht Cave, Umpherston Sinkhole/Balumbul, the Blue Lake Welcome Centre and the Lady Nelson.
Council acknowledges that tourism has changed significantly since the Lady Nelson Visitor and Discovery Centre opened on Jubilee Highway East in 1986, and has endorsed a position to grow the city’s visitor economy by changing the way travellers experience and contribute to Mount Gambier.
“Mount Gambier’s destination appeal is strong, and the time is right to consider the long term direction for visitor servicing in our city,” General Manager City Infrastructure Barbara Cernovskis said.
This model represents a paradigm shift in the way we grow our visitor economy, one that prioritises traveller engagement with our visitor servicing team, industry connection and environmental stewardship.
City of Mount Gambier General Manager City Infrastructure Barbara Cernovskis
Spoke sites
The Engelbrecht Cave spoke site will be the first transition site of the hub and spoke model and provide cohesive storytelling, digital and physical visitor information and will be accessible to travellers seven days a week.
Under the new visitor servicing plan, the Blue Lake Welcome Centre and Umpherston Sinkhole/Balumbul will follow as spoke sites.
Expression of Interest
Changes to the service model means that the current visitor centre at the Lady Nelson site will be repurposed, aligned with the Community Land Management Plan. Council is currently preparing a call out for Expressions of Interest (EOI) to seek community activation of the site, with a view to house the city’s creative industries and/or historic collections.
Media contact: City of Mount Gambier Media and Communications Coordinator Sharny McLean at smclean@mountgambier.sa.gov.au
Posted 04/07/2024
