Shane O'Reilly ... guest speaker

November 21, 2013

Tourism operators, industry groups and representatives from the South Burnett Regional Council and Cherbourg Aboriginal Shire Council will gather at Kingaroy Town Hall next Thursday to draw up a tourism strategy for the region.

The all-day forum will run from 10:00am to 3:30pm and will be facilitated by James Corvan, who has a 24-year history with regional and State tourism bodies in developing and marketing destinations.

The meeting will also be addressed by special guest speaker Shane O’Reilly, the managing director of O’Reilly’s Canungra Valley Vineyards and O’Reilly’s Rainforest Retreat.

Mr O’Reilly was also a director of Gold Coast Tourism from 2002 to 2006, and a director of the Queensland Wine Industry Association from 2004 to 2008.

The forum will look at event marketing; the development of existing tourist facilities; branding, promotions and data capture; and creating partnerships.

It has been arranged by South Burnett Directions, the region’s peak economic development body, in an effort to generate an integrated approach to marketing the South Burnett as a destination for visitors.

According to recent data from Tourism Queensland, two-thirds of visitors come to the area from other parts of Queensland, and the remainder come from interstate.

The forum will be opened by South Burnett Mayor Wayne Kratzmann, and lunch will be provided.

Anyone with an interest in developing the region’s tourism industry is welcome to attend but for catering purposes an RSVP is required. Phone SBRC Economic Development Officer Kimberley Dove on (07) 4189-9174 or email her