News: Alliance grows tourism prospects in Barkly
Council enters into new partnerships to promote the Overlander's Way from Townsville to Tennant.
Posted: Friday, 27 November 2015
Barkly Regional Council (BRC) recently agreed on a
partnership with seven other councils and an outback tourism body from
Queensland to promote the Overlander’s Way from Townsville to Tennant Creek.
President Barb Shaw said the partnership will serve to promote tourism service
delivery along the self-drive track which served as an important line during
World War II and stretches across 1550km taking visitors from the ocean to the
outback.
The new agreement builds on a partnership set up in 2013 and
is set out in a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Townsville City
Council, Charters Towers Regional Council, Flinders Shire Council, Richmond
Shire Council, McKinlay Shire Council, Cloncurry Shire Council, Mt Isa City
Council, Barkly Regional Council and the North West Outback Queensland Tourism
Association (NWOQTA).
The vision of NWOQTA and the member councils is to lead or
assist in the exploration of further tourism opportunities for the Overlander’s
Way which takes in the Great Barrier Reef, a dinosaur graveyard, historically
rich outback towns, the Barkly Highway and the Devil’s Marbles.
"This is a marvellous opportunity and a major focus in terms
of developing regional tourism," said President Shaw. "Building up relationships with a cross border alliance is
important and encourages tourism to the outback and over to Tennant Creek and
the unique beauty we have in the Barkly region. It’s all part of the bigger
picture strategy of Council."
Council also has a representative on the local Tourism
Advisory Committee. There’s a lot to see and do in the Barkly and we want
potential visitors to know all about it.