New appointment to drive visitor experiences at Sydney’s landmark parks

The newly appointed Director of Visitor Experience at Sydney’s Botanic Gardens & Centennial Parklands aims to expand the “love” that Sydneysiders have for their landmark parks and botanic gardens for the benefit of the local community and economy.

Anthony Dunsford, announced yesterday (30th September) as Director Visitor Experience at Botanic Gardens & Centennial Parklands, will be responsible for visitation, tourism, education and marketing within the newly created organisation that manages over 1,100 hectares of Sydney’s prime public parks and gardens, including the Royal Botanic Garden, Sydney, Australian Botanic Garden, Mount Anna, Blue Mountains Botanic Garden, Mount Tomah, the Domain and Centennial Parklands.

Commenting on the challenge that his role presents, Dunsford states “research consistently shows that locals love their parks and gardens.

“One recent study of Centennial Parklands found that over 90% of respondents rated the Parklands as meeting or exceeding expectations, while over 90% recommend them as a place for family and friends to visit.

“The great cities around the world all have must see parks and gardens as part of their visitor experience. But we must not forget that it is essential to establish local recognition and support before pushing out to the tourist market.

“And that is my intention over the next few years – to grow and enhance what we deliver locally and share it globally.

“We have all the ingredients to drive eco-tourism, world-class education, best-practice plant research and to provide iconic visitor experiences. These benefits have a direct transfer of benefit to the local economy and can become the envy of the world.”

Drawing on his experience at high profile venues such as Taronga Zoo and Sydney Airport, Dunsford has most recently overseen a major shift in the way Centennial Parklands education and community programs, events and digital communication has been delivered to the community.

He adds “over 210,000 patrons came to outdoor events in Centennial Parklands last year. With Tropfest, Moonlight Cinema, Taste of Sydney, The Color Run, the Australian Garden Show Sydney and Listen Out we now provide a diverse event program that caters to all segments within the community.

“While we deliver on this, we are highly conscious of our need to balance and protect the heritage and living collections that are our botanic gardens.

“Most pleasing, however, is our education programs. Not only are we at the forefront of nature education launching Bush Schools in Australia, but our school numbers have grown exponentially the last two years. Across our three botanic gardens and Centennial Parklands we can now provide one of Sydney’s largest environmental education programs that will directly improve the knowledge, health and well-being of our community.”

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