Following an extensive review, Bundaberg Tourism, supported by Bundaberg Regional Council, will be closing the Gin Gin Visitor Information Centre from Monday 25 October 2021.
Through the financial and engagement review, we identified the passionate businesses already delivering extraordinary visitor information and look forward to working with the Gin Gin community to create a new service model within the town that can continue to assist tourists, whilst also empowering the local community in Gin Gin to embrace the benefits of the visitor economy.
The Gin Gin Visitor Information Centre (VIC) has seen a 62% decline in domestic visitors through the door since 2018, with only 6000 people using the VIC in 2019/20, the year before COVID. This represents 0.3% of our 1.7 million annual visitors engaging with this centre.
By contrast, the region has seen extraordinary growth across our destination digital channels as people increasingly look for information, planning tools and answers to questions online rather than through traditional sources like VICs. Over the past 4 years, visitors to the destination website bundabergregion.org have more than doubled and social media followers on the @visitbundaberg Facebook and Instagram pages have nearly tripled. See our annual reports for more details.
Bundaberg Tourism operates the Bundaberg region’s VICs in Bundaberg, Childers and Gin Gin as part of a broader destination management strategy that includes activities across destination marketing; product and experience development; visitor experience; upskilling and training; and identify and influence. In 2021/22, our destination marketing campaigns and PR activities reached over 40 million people around the world.
VICs across the nation play a valuable role in supporting the regional and state-wide tourism industry as well as being part of the fabric of a community, however with centres required to open 7 days a week and a minimum of 360 days a year to maintain accreditation, the service is a costly undertaking. Rising staffing and operational costs at Gin Gin have put increasing pressure on our budget as a not-for-profit organisation for limited benefit to the region and our guests.
Subsequently, Bundaberg Tourism and Bundaberg Regional Council have agreed that the costs associated with the Gin Gin VIC will be reallocated to other visitor services opportunities that better serve the changing consumer demands. These include the destination website, social media, phone and online chat, and through the distribution of collateral such as the Bundaberg Region Official Visitor Guide to VICs across Australia.
Thanks to our partnership with Bundaberg Regional Council, we are proud to continue to provide high quality visitor services through our Bundaberg and Childers VICs.
We sincerely thank the staff and volunteers of the Gin Gin VIC for their tireless work over the past years in assisting the town’s visitors and we look forward to work in partnership with the Gin Gin community to determine a new direction.
FAQs
When will the Gin Gin Visitor Information Centre close?
The VIC will be closed as of Monday 25 October 2021. The last day of operation will be Sunday 24 October 2021.
How will visitors to Gin Gin get information about the region?
Visitors will be able to continue to access visitor services in Childers and Bundaberg, as well as across our website (bundabergregion.org) and social media (@visitbundaberg on Facebook and Instagram) and via phone.
Bundaberg Tourism will work with interested surrounding businesses to ensure they are equipped with visitor information, brochures and signage to share with visitor enquiries. We will also work with the Gin Gin community via a Local Tourism Advisory Group to support the community to continue to make the most of Bundaberg Tourism activity and to engage with all of the benefits of your Regional Tourism Organisations.
