{"id":12614,"date":"2021-08-22T20:21:12","date_gmt":"2021-08-22T20:21:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/?p=12614"},"modified":"2021-08-22T20:21:12","modified_gmt":"2021-08-22T20:21:12","slug":"city-prepares-operators-for-tourism-led-economic-recovery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/2021\/08\/22\/city-prepares-operators-for-tourism-led-economic-recovery\/","title":{"rendered":"City prepares operators for tourism-led economic recovery"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>City of Newcastle is inviting businesses to learn more about developing unique and marketable visitor offerings so they can make the most of an expected post-COVID-19 tourism boom.<br \/>\nThe City&#8217;s Product Development Mentoring Program has already helped 15 businesses offering everything from bike tours to baked goods with training and mentoring to shift their product in a way that appeals to visitors.<br \/>\nNewcastle Lord Mayor Nuatali Nelmes said City of Newcastle is committed to enhancing the local visitor experience, with tourism set to play a vital role in the city\u2019s economic recovery.<br \/>\n\u201cPrior to COVID-19 Newcastle\u2019s thriving tourism industry contributed over $945 million to the local economy each year, with more than 5.1 million international and domestic visitors flocking to experience our city\u2019s diverse natural beauty, vibrant nightlife and world-class events,\u201d Cr Nelmes said.<br \/>\n\u201cOur sights are set on tourism to bolster Newcastle\u2019s COVID-disrupted economy by leveraging and celebrating Newcastle\u2019s cultural, natural and built heritage points of difference.<br \/>\n\u201cWe\u2019ve engaged expert consultants who will work alongside 10 local businesses to develop bookable experiences to attract visitor dollars, which in turn will help promote greater industry resilience, drive destination awareness and grow the visitor economy.<br \/>\n\u201cThe results of our pilot Product Development Mentoring Program established in 2020 were encouraging, with 15 local businesses benefiting from the program, including the launch of a new business called Newy Rides.<br \/>\n\u201cOther beneficiaries such as Baked Uprising and Mitch Revs Gallery explored new opportunities in the tourism market to enhance their core offerings. Urban Hum refined their tourism experience while other businesses have expanded their operations, employed new staff and relaunched products, which were put on hold by COVID-19.<br \/>\n\u201cBy improving our city\u2019s existing bespoke bookable tourism experiences, Newcastle will be well positioned to welcome back visitors when lockdown restrictions ease.\u201d<br \/>\nThe program will be delivered virtually, with an in-depth business review followed by five one-on-one mentoring sessions tailored to each individual operator\u2019s needs.<br \/>\nThe Product Development Mentoring Program is funded under the City\u2019s NewSkills training program.<br \/>\nExpressions of interest are now open, visit\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/newcastle.nsw.gov.au\/business\/opportunities-and-investment\/newskills\/tourism-product-mentoring-program-2021-22\">City of Newcastle<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>City of Newcastle is inviting businesses to learn more about developing unique and marketable visitor offerings so they can make the most of an expected post-COVID-19 tourism boom. The City&#8217;s Product Development Mentoring Program has already helped 15 businesses offering everything from bike tours to baked goods with training and mentoring to shift their product &hellip; <a href=\"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/2021\/08\/22\/city-prepares-operators-for-tourism-led-economic-recovery\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;City prepares operators for tourism-led economic recovery&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12614","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-newcastle"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12614","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12614"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12614\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12614"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12614"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12614"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}