Lake Macquarie council invites input on plans to expand tourism

The City of Lake Macquarie has released a draft plan outlining plans to attract four million visitors a year within the next 10 years.

Aiming to capitalise on its natural assets and potential for outdoor activities, the draft Destination Management Plan 2022-2026 sets a target of attracting at least 800,000 overnight visitors annually by 2032, with another 1.7 million day-trippers taking in the beaches, lake and beyond.

Advising that said the draft plan sets the direction and framework to grow the city’s visitor economy,

Lake Macquarie Mayor, Kay Fraser stated “Lake Mac is perfectly positioned to reinvent itself as a modern, vibrant and exciting tourism playground.

“We’ve got the natural assets right here on our doorstep, so it’s a matter of capitalising on them and drawing attention to them.”

“Geographically, we’re also in a great position. We’re within easy reach for Sydneysiders, as well as all the international visitors flowing into Australia through Sydney Airport.”

Key to the draft Destination Management Plan is realising the tourism potential of key localities, including Belmont and Jewells wetlands, the former Wangi Wangi Power Station site, the Lake arts precinct around Booragul, Rathmines and Catherine Hill Bay.

Proposed actions outlined in the draft document include:

• Investigating the feasibility of expanding the Belmont Wetlands State Park

• Assessing the possibility of retaining and reusing the iconic Catherine Hill Bay jetty for tourism and recreation

• Investigating the feasibility of an indoor aviation attraction at Lake Macquarie Airport

• Creating a master plan for the Lake arts precinct

• Improving recreation and visitor facilities at Rathmines

Noting that major projects already underway or in the pipeline would also help capture an increasing tourism share, Mayor Fraser declared “things like the Cedar Mill entertainment precinct, Blackrock Motor Sports Complex at Wakefield and the upgrade of the Hunter Sports Centre will all help attract big events and the visitors who want to attend them.”

While the target of 2.5-3.9 million annual visitors would be a marked increase on the current figure of 2.2 million, Lake Macquarie City Council Manager Arts, Culture and Tourism Jacqui Hemsley said it was a realistic goal.

Hemsley added “we need to grow and diversify our tourism market significantly, but we have the tools and attractions to do that

“There’s great potential in Lake Mac for outdoor adventure tourism, and we’re going to focus on attracting under-45s, business tourism and event-based visitation.”

Annual visitor spending in Lake Mac was estimated to be about $210 million in 2019.

The draft Destination Management Plan aims to see that increase to $583 million in the next decade.

All NSW councils are required to update their Destination Management Plan every five years to apply for government tourism funding.

Go to shape.lakemac.com.au/dmp before 20th September for more information and to provide feedback.