AS most local residents would know, Bombala Council Mayor, Bob Stewart recently travelled to China to attend an agritourism conference at the invitation and expense of the event organisers.
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The trip proved most worthwhile, and following is Cr Stewart’s account of the experience and the benefits it could potentially bring to the local area -
“It was my good fortune to have the opportunity to attend the inaugural Agritoursim Conference held in Changsha city, China a couple of weeks ago. It was a very interesting conference and a wonderful experience.
Approximately 300 delegates from a very diverse range of countries and states including New Zealand, Malta, Israel, Jamaica, California and Ohio attended the conference.
The delegates comprised a mixture of local mayors, ambassadors and tourism ministers.
The main focus of the conference was looking at trying to develop agritourism and leisure tourism opportunities in the countries that were represented that could be accessed by Chinese tourists.
These experiences include seeing our native animals in their natural habitat, especially our platypus and kangaroos. Many of those present were very interested and intrigued by the platypus.
Other experiences that could be explored include looking at sheep mustering, sheep shearing and other farm activities.
Another big bonus that we could build upon is the clean air of the Monaro – so different to that of China where there is constant air pollution and you do not see the sun.
Another idea that was suggested was that of trying to bring Chinese youth into the area to stay for two to three weeks to interact with the local schools and explore the area.
Bombala and Cooma were well represented at the conference opening with a large banner using photos of the local area that had been sent to the organisers being flown at the venue.
China is in a huge development phase at present and I drove on very good highways all the way.
As a community we should try to promote tourism as an alternative to offset the main economic drivers of agriculture and timber. There are many opportunities out there and it was a great chance for me to see how other countries and areas promote their regions.
I would like to extend my thanks to Hugh Kater and his partner Mei for inviting us to the conference and giving us the opportunity to attend the forum.
Hopefully there will be many benefits that will flow from this visit in the future.”
