Local Business Owners Express Concerns Over WA Tourism Conference
Carnarvon shop owner Jo Bumbak has voiced her concerns about the upcoming WA Tourism Conference, which is set to take place in the town. While she acknowledges the event’s potential to bring industry exposure, she feels it is “too little too late” for a community that has been struggling with a three-year tourism drought.
Bumbak, who runs a local business 900 kilometres north of Perth, said the conference was out of reach for many of the town’s small businesses. The cost of attending the event ranges from $695 to $1,390, which is a significant financial burden for those already facing tough times.
“It is a lot of money to be paying out when we’re struggling,” Bumbak said. “And we just don’t have the staff. There’s only me. How am I going to attend the tourism conference?”
She added that she is not even receiving a wage from her business at the moment, making this year particularly challenging.
Challenges Facing Carnarvon Businesses
This season has been especially difficult for Carnarvon businesses that rely on tourism. High fuel costs and multiple natural disasters have caused road closures during peak tourism periods, further impacting the local economy.
“We’re down by about 70 per cent, and have been since March, which is making business very difficult,” Bumbak said.
Scott Clarke, owner of a Carnarvon tackle shop, also expressed his concerns about the conference. He said he did not have the resources to get involved after months of financial stress. Although he was part of the initial committee meeting, he found it hard to commit time due to the demands of running his business.
“We were part of the committee meeting to start with, but definitely got tied up in the shop far too much to be able to get too involved,” Clarke said. “It was a bit of a this is happening … if I could attend meetings and have more time, I could learn more, so it’s a bit of a catch 22.”
Despite these challenges, Clarke hopes the conference will draw attention to Carnarvon and highlight that the town is more than just a pit stop.
Involvement of Local Businesses
The Shire of Carnarvon was tasked with including local businesses and consulting them during the organisation of the event. Executive manager Stephanie Leca said up to 20 local businesses were involved in the planning of the conference.
However, she acknowledged that the time commitment and price were not accessible to everyone. “The reality is our costs and costs for the tourism council are also quite high with the extra fuel costs,” Leca said.
Despite the high costs, she noted that the Tourism Council WA did a lot of work to significantly discount tickets for local businesses affected by Cyclone Narelle.
Public Access and Networking Opportunities
The conference will be closed for ticket holders only, but the final night will be open for the public to purchase tickets. Leca hopes this could be an opportunity for those local business owners who missed out on the main event to network with the delegates.
She said the main purpose of the conference was to showcase Carnarvon’s potential to tourism representatives outside the region. “Hopefully these delegates are going to go away and actually make sure that Carnarvon is much more in the front and centre of all its marketing material and planning for destination development,” she said.
“That’s one of the big benefits of actually hosting the conference here in Carnarvon.”
