Major activities such as Australia Day and Loy Krathong, Sydney’s biggest Thai festival, are among the diverse range of events in Parramatta, which is “fast becoming known as a festival city and an entertainment capital”, according to Lord Mayor, Tony Issa.   Photo: PCC

Figures prepared by Parramatta City Council’s economic team on the value of tourism to the city should make local businesses and organisations in the industry sit up and take notice – and entice them to boost that figure and the jobs that go with it..

It is probable, in fact certain, that few would have regarded themselves as part of the industry, let alone what it is worth to the city.

For decades, various attempts have been made to establish a tourism body to no avail. Marketing of the city has been sparse. Funds have been minimal. The job has been left to the Parramatta Heritage and Visitors Centre to carry the burden; which it does to its credit.

The bottom line is that there has been no bottom line.

No one has been able to put a figure on what the city earns from tourism. The only indication has come from Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) figures for takings for accommodation in the city’s 11 hotels – some $70 million annually.

Report to council

Mike Thomas, council’s manager, economic development, in a report to council nominated the total value of tourism to the city.

This was done in support of a recommendation to allocate $10,000, from the economic special rate, to promote the city during the Supercross Australasian Championships, at Parramatta Stadium in November, which he said could attract an estimated $1.3 million in income to the city.

“The gross revenue generated by businesses and organisations in Parramatta to service demand generated by tourists to the area … is estimated at $829.849 million,” Mr Thomas said.

Tourism, as Mr Thomas said, was a combination of activities across various industry sectors, such as, retail, accommodation, cafes and restaurants, and cultural and recreational services.

Definition of tourism

The ABS definition of tourism – expenditure by domestic, international, business and government travellers, staying overnight – was used in the calculations.

Using the software program, REMPLAN, which council purchased from Compelling Economics and developed by La Trobe University, Mr Thomas was able to “model the flow-on impacts for a local economy of tourism activity in terms of output, employment, wages and salaries and value-added”.

For example, manufacturing, 25.6 per cent, transport and storage, 20.1 per cent, accommodation, cafes and restaurants, 16.6 per cent, and retail trade, 15.1 per cent, accounted for 77.4 per cent of the industry output to tourism of $830 million.

With regard to tourism employment attributable to tourism, the model showed retail trade, 30.9 per cent, accommodation, cafes and restaurants, 23.8 per cent and transport and storage, 13.2 per cent, accounting for 67.9 per cent of the estimated 3471 jobs.

Not to be sneezed at

These figures, as they say, cannot be sneezed at, and should be an effective catalyst to boost the sector’s contribution to the local economy and the establishment of a tourism body in Parramatta.

Council will use a Federal Government grant of $500,000 to foster tourism in the current financial year.

As noted in council’s management plan: “(The) funding will contribute to the investigation, through market research and analysis, and design and development of interpretation and initiatives that improve the tourism system in Parramatta; celebrate our culture and heritage; increase the diversity and quality of the visitor experience; connect key sites across Parramatta; and contribute to Parramatta becoming a visitor hub”.

Council has advised residents that council was undertaking an extensive market research project and would use the data to increase visitation to the city over the next five years.

A Discover Parramatta website is expected to be launched at the end of the year.

PS: Parramatta City Council is inviting companies and organisations to become sponsorship partners in the delivery of its festivals and community events., including Australia Day, Christmas and New Year’s Eve celebrations, Lunar New Year and its “hallmark” event, Riverbeats:Live.

Council estimates the city’s hospitality sector contributes $138 million to Parramatta’s economy. However, the current economic times has taken its toll on the city’s dining sector with offers of $15 dinners and $10 lunches and the closure of restaurants including the once very popular and a winner in the Chopping Block TV program, La Bella Vista (left), in Phillip Street, and Insigna, which tried hard to succeed in the competitive Church Street dining precinct.

What a difference a week makes

Cr Alan Pendleton, former chairman, of the Greater Western Sydney Economic Development Board, has been appointed chairman, of Regional Development Australia – Sydney.  Photo: DSRD

The item in last’s week column headlined, “The region’s profile is at risk” is not as bad as it may seem.

The item noted that the disbandment of the Greater Western Sydney Economic Development Board (GWSEDB) and the cancellation of the Western Sydney Industry Awards might have reduced the prominence of the region, particularly, within the business and investment sector.

The GWSEDB, a NSW Government initiative, and the GROW Sydney Area Consultative Committee, set up by the Federal Government – both located in Parramatta – were folded into the Federal Government’s new, national Regional Development Australia (RDA) organisation, which came into effect on July1.

The good news is that the chairman of GWSEDB, Alan Pendleton, a councillor on Blacktown City Council, has been appointed chairman of RDA Sydney.

“While we were concerned that the profile of Western Sydney may have been weakened and its issues overlooked with the demise of the economic board …we are confidant the region will (now) not be overlooked within a metropolitan body,” said Cr Alison McLaren, president of the Western Sydney Regional Organisation of Councils (WSROC).

Cr McLaren said Cr Pendleton had a deep understanding of the importance of Western Sydney to the growth and development of Sydney as a global city.

The members of RDA Sydney and the location of its office are yet to be announced.

Aussie Sweets is on the market

Dr Stephen Treloar, former CEO, of Cumberland Industries Limited (CIL), now in voluntary liquidation, said in the 2007/2008 annual report that CIL’s “business model, with its emphasis on strategic acquisitions and organic growth, has served the company well, and will continue to do so in the future”. 

Confectionery manufacturer, Aussie Sweets, at Auburn, is another business division, of Cumberland Industries Limited (CIL) to be placed on the market, following the organisation going into voluntary administration.

Aussie Sweets commenced operations in 1985 marketing a range of confectionery products. In the last 21 years, it has grown to become a major contributor to the Australian confectionery manufacturing industry. A retail outlet is on site.

At risk in CIL’s eight operations across Western Sydney are the jobs of 540 disabled people and a support staff of 170.

Trade creditors have given administrator, Peter Hedge, of Hedge and Associates, 45 business days from July 1 to save four core business, namely, Pak-It-Rite and Sew-It-Rite, at Castle Hill; Pak-It-Rite, at Auburn; Clean-Pac Services, at Seven Hills; and Filpac at Mt Druitt.

Offers closed

Offers have closed on the purchase of the business and assets of Enrico’s Kitchen, at Wetherill Park, a manufacturer of home-style pastas and meals, with annual sales in excess of $8 million. It was CIL’s flagship business.

Also, the equipment of Cumberland Fine Foods divisions at Blacktown and Emu Plains, has been sold at auction, on the instructions of the administrator.

The Cumberland Retreat at Dural, has closed. It was established in 2007 to provide weekend holidays for employees with a disability, and people with a disability, their families and carers in the wider community.

CIL’s rapid expansion is believed to have been the cause of going into voluntary liquidation.

‘Exceptional growth’

CEO, Dr Stephen Treloar, who has left CIL, said in the 2007/2008 annual report, that the company delivered “another year of exceptional growth” from $17.4 million in 2006/2007 to $25 million in 2007/2008, an increase of 50 per cent.

“The company’s total revenue last financial year reached $31 million, including sales, government funding and funding from other sources,” he said.

“Most importantly, a surplus of $1.1 million was achieved, for the second consecutive year, providing an important source of capital to re-invest back into the organisation to ensure its continued growth.

”There is no doubt that the Cumberland business model, with its emphasis on strategic acquisitions and organic growth, has served the company well, and will continue to do so in the future.”  

The 2007/2008 annual report noted Dr Treloar’s CV included former positions as lecturer at the University of Western Sydney and University of NSW, a member of the board of GROW ACC, and the Western Sydney Academy of Sport (WSAS), and chairman, finance and governance (WSAS), Fellow of the Australian Institute of Management and Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. He was a former Rotary International Rotary International awardee, and a Churchill Fellow.

CIL was founded in an old army building in Parramatta in 1962. The organisation’s head office is at Auburn.

CIL is a large provider of employment, training and vocational support for people with disability in Western Sydney. In the past year it employed over 540 people with a mild disability, who were trained across a range of different manufacturing and packaging operations.  Photo: CIL