No more: Tourists were confounded by the closed doors of the former Echuca-Moama Visitor Information Centre on Friday.
Photo by
Shannon Colee
It was the welcome to Echuca they didn’t expect when a group of tourists gathered outside now former Echuca-Moama Visitor Information Centre trying to figure out why it was closed on a Friday.
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“We always visit the visitor information centre,” said Sam Harris who had travelled to Echuca from Geelong with her husband.
“I don’t know why you would shut it? If we can’t easily find one we’ll often just drive through the town.”
The decision to close the centre and open an interim visitor information service at Shackell’s Bond Store is one being questioned not just by the visitors, but also by former tourism industry leaders.
Ross Veale said decision-makers didn’t understand the importance of the Heygarth St location.
“It was an enormous achievement to get it there. You’ve really got no idea the work and effort went into getting it there,” he said.
“They don’t understand the passion and the emotion that this is something that we build as a community. It’s important to us.”
The visitor centre was built in 1996 when it was decided that a larger and more comprehensive visitor informational centre was required.
Looking back: Ross Veale and Maureen Baker were founding members of the local accommodation association.
Photo by
Shannon Colee
“In those days, they put no funding whatsoever in tourism and hospitality at all, not a cracker,” he said.
“So we went from that to something small ... It wasn’t a lot, but it was a start. It was the first time they ever put any money into the industry.
“Now they only put in $380,000 even though the revenue from the industry was $560 million last year in the Echuca Moama district. So, it’s a Minties wrapper compared to what the industry’s worth.”
Back in 2010 when the visitor information centre was last on the chopping block, Mr Veale said it was the community that saved the building.
“It's been railroaded through,” he said.
“It's not just purely the shires that made that centre. These other people, all these other individuals and efforts were put money in to make it happen. It’s a ripper of tourist information centre. It’s purpose built. I mean, the bloody building was falling down before it was all refurbished.”
Inaugural member of the accommodation association Maureen Baker said the tourist information centre helped the entire region.
“There’s a lot of towns around us that people don’t know about and the tourist centre down here promotes them all,” she said.
“Go for a drive to Rushworth, go to a drive to this other place, stay an extra night, they’ll tell them. It’s all about a sales pitch.”
Mrs Baker said before they started their group Moama and Echuca didn’t recognise the other.
“The tourist centre was a combination of work from both sides of the river, keeping in mind that initially they were considered two different destinations. Moama was Moama and Echuca was Echuca.
“Moama had its own tourist office because at that stage years ago, they didn’t work together. Then eventually common sense came to play and Echuca Moama joined forces and became Echuca-Moama Tourism.
“The clubs put in and other Moama residents, everyone put in, and as part of that they more or less insisted that it be (on Heygarth St) because it’s the gateway to New South Wales. It’s servicing both states.”
Mr Veale said he and Mrs Baker understood that the competition was between the region and other town, not between each other.
“We used to go work with each other and just sell Echuca-Moama, because we knew we weren’t really competitors. Our competitors were Mildura and Bendigo and everywhere else,” he said.
“We worked hard and we formed an enormous bond within the community. It’s a bond that sadly, I don’t think either shire really understands at all. I’m bloody sure they don’t understand it.”
