Tourism

Local Government plays a pivotal role in tourism activity, with councils actively involved in promoting tourism, providing infrastructure and services to support tourism, and managing the impacts of tourism.

In fact, the Australian Regional Tourism and Economic Development Australia benchmarking survey of local governments (2020) shows that each council spends on average $761,000 on tourism annually.

Whether it’s through the provision of infrastructure, cultural facilities, events, visitor services or public spaces, councils support the economic development of their local communities via either direct financial or in-kind support to tourism.

The role of local government in tourism is also recognised in the State Government's NSW Visitor Economy Strategy 2030, which contains a commitment for Destination NSW to work closely with councils and a principle of collaboration between the industry and government, including councils.

LGNSW continues to work hard to develop networks and partnerships across the tourism and government sectors to help NSW member councils manage their tourism activity.

Current Tourism Projects

Local Government Destination and Visitor Economy Conference
First held in 2004, the annual Local Government Destination and Visitor Economy Conference (formerly known as the Tourism Conference) is a key event for local government staff involved with tourism-related activities in their communities.

Short-term holiday letting
The role of local government in regulating short-term holiday letting is an increasingly important issue, as are the impacts and opportunities of short-term holiday letting on local communities.

The Short-Term Rental Accommodation (STRA) framework has been finalised after a few years of consultation. The new regulatory framework seeks to ensure local communities continue to enjoy the economic benefits of STRA, while managing potential adverse impacts. Importantly, the new STRA planning rules took effect on 1 November 2021.

The changes include a new planning framework, fire safety standards for STRA dwellings and a new NSW Government-run STRA Register. The new framework complements the mandatory Code of Conduct and changes to strata legislation made by the Department of Customer Service.

Agritourism
LGNSW represented member councils on the NSW Government’s Agritourism Working Group in 2018 and 2019. Convened by the NSW Small Business Commissioner, the Group mapped the process of approvals for three types of farm tourism – farm shops, farm tours and farm accommodation – in three pilot local government areas (Liverpool Plains Shire Council, Queanbeyan Palerang Regional Council and Wollondilly Shire Council).

The project was one set of research that fed into the Department of Planning and Environment’s 2021 Explanation of Intended Effects for the proposed agritourism and small-scale agriculture development planning changes.

LGNSW APRIL 2021 SUBMISSION

Inclusive Tourism – LGNSW's free online course
LGNSW has a free online learning course about how to tap into the inclusive tourism market. This course was developed in 2017 in partnership with the University of Technology Sydney, funded by the Tourism Demand-Driver Infrastructure Program and NSW Department of Family and Community Services.

The training course helps councils and tourism operators share accurate information regarding the accessibility and inclusiveness of their facilities, as well as events for visitors with a disability. LEARN MORE

Submissions

LGNSW makes regular submissions to the state and federal governments, plus other agencies, to advocate on behalf of the interests of local government and their communities when it comes to tourism-related issues.

Please visit our submissions page for more details. 

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