South Burnett Tourism Association Winds Up

20150714 Tourism — Local tourism operators will have no official voice in regional tourism after the South Burnett Tourism Association voted to dissolve itself on Tuesday night (Photo: Queensland.com)

July 14, 2015

Local tourism operators have been left without a voice after members of the South Burnett Tourism Association decided to wind the group up.

Members voted 9-1 to dissolve the SBTA at a Special General Meeting held at Kingaroy’s 1913 Council Chambers on Tuesday night.

They also voted to pass the group’s records and files to the South Burnett Regional Council, along with $7058 remaining in the SBTA’s bank account.

The group’s data projector and screen will be donated to South Burnett Arts, and a portable computer and printer to the South Burnett Computer Users Group.

The meeting had been called by SBTA President Bernie Cooper, who has also been filling in as the group’s Secretary.

Mr Cooper explained the SBTA had been unable to fill two vacant positions on its executive for the past six months, despite repeated attempts to get members more involved.

The SBTA now had only 16 financial members left – well down on the 100 it once boasted – and both he and Treasurer Graham Archdall would not be renominating at the next Annual General Meeting.

In the circumstances, he believed the organisation should be wound up and had called the meeting so members could debate the issue.

He said if members voted to disband the group, then they would also need to vote on the dispersal of its assets so the SBTA could be properly wound up under the rules that apply to incorporated associations.

Discussion among the 16 people who attended the meeting then focussed on what alternatives, if any, local operators might have if the SBTA ceased to exist.

Several speakers said they thought it was important the industry was represented by a “grass roots” body that gathered the views of members, and asked how they could get their industry’s concerns heard at higher levels if they no longer had the SBTA to represent them.

Mr Cooper told the meeting the South Burnett Regional Council had recently employed a full-time Tourism Officer, and part of this new job was to consult with industry operators.

South Burnett Directions had also recently established a Tourism Reference Group which had invited several of the region’s larger tourism operators to advise it about local tourism issues.

The Council was also continuing to support the Southern Queensland Country Regional Tourism Organisation, and several Councillors took an active interest in tourism matters.

Finally, there were a number of other local organisations – such as the South Burnett Wine Industry Association or the Nanango Tourism and Development Association – which had a focus on tourism issues.

Cr Barry Green, who was attending the meeting as a representative of the Nanango Tourism and Development Association, said he was personally sad to see the SBTA wind up, if that was what members chose to do.

He thought a big part of the problem was that many people joined industry groups like the SBTA to see what those groups could do for their own businesses, rather than a desire to personally contribute to the growth of their industry.

Mr Lee Evans, from Yarraman Caravan Park, said having an industry group was important but believed the SBTA’s current operating structure was unsuitable.

“The need is paramount, the opportunities are boundless but the mechanism seems to be flawed,” he said.

Mr Cooper agreed, saying this was probably why the SBTA had come to the brink three times in the past five years.

In the end, a vote to dissolve the group was taken and passed, followed by votes on the dispersal of its assets.

After the meeting, several members expressed their sincere appreciation for the hard work Mr Cooper had put in trying to revive the organisation.

They also expressed their hope a new, better group to replace the SBTA might spring up in the future.

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