The Visitors Just Keep Coming To Bowen

The school holidays are over but the number of visitors in Bowen has certainly not slowed down.

Winter is traditionally the busiest time of year for the tourism industry in Bowen and the numbers keep getting higher.

Manager of Bowen Tourism and Business, Leanne Abernethy said there was a significant increase in the number of visitors to the Bowen Visitor Information Centre in July, compared to last year.

“We had a record month in July last year and then had a record day and record month in June this year,” she said.

“Once the Queensland and NSW school holidays finished, we thought we might see a slight reduction in the number of visitors.

“This has certainly not been the case as we welcomed more than 6500 visitors in July this year. The visitors just keep on coming.”

At the time of going to print, the team at the Bowen Visitor Information Centre were still finalising the July numbers but Ms Abernethy said she expected the increase to be about 15% in July, compared to the same month last year.

“Bowen really is the hidden gem at the top of the Whitsundays. We are overwhelmed by the number of people discovering this piece of paradise,” she said.

The Bowen Visitor Information Centre offers an extensive range of merchandise and local produce and is also a booking agency for accommodation in Bowen and the greater Whitsundays region as well as tours to the islands and Whitehaven Beach.

I represent Council on the Bowen and Collinsville Youth Action group (BACYA), which meets quarterly with lead stakeholders, businesses, and educators working in or with the youth of Bowen and Collinsville and surrounds.

We are currently working on a project aiming to have 150 conversations with young people aged 10-20 years and have their answers recorded to give an indication of what our region’s youth are needing in our communities.

These conversations and the feedback we gather from our young people will provide us with the real data that will validate why we are working towards a certain project or why advocacy is needed on different issues.

We can’t pretend to know what life is like for our region’s youth so these informal conversations will allow us to better understand youth experiences in our community better.

Also, another project that is currently underway is the ‘Choose Collinsville’ Town

Centre Upgrade which has commenced and, weather permitting, should be finished early September.

The works will create new irrigated garden beds, shade trees, disabled car parks, street furniture and include a new line marking, asphalt, and re-seal of the Main Street.

Works completed to date include installing the conduit for garden irrigation, the removal of hedges near Nugent’s Food Store, concreting of the hedge areas that have been removed and installation of new seating and bins.

In the fortnight ahead, Council will commence digging new garden beds. This will involve small work sites taking approximately 3 days per garden bed, moving through the street, minimising impacts on any one business for extended time. Hopefully the works cause minimal disruptions, and the end result will be a bright streetscape for Collinsville Main Street.

Illegal dumping and littering are a major problem in our region. This behaviour leads to significant environmental issues which negatively impact our communities, ecosystems, and overall quality of life.

The unsightly waste not only diminishes the natural beauty of our surroundings but also poses significant health hazards and threatens wildlife.

In the past six months alone, Council have received over 61 illegal dumping reports and have removed a whopping 336,477 litres of illegally dumped waste and litter across the region, which has a substantial cost to Council and ratepayers.

It is more important that we all follow safe waste management practices in order to protect our environment for future generations. If you witness acts of illegal dumping, we ask that you inform Council via email at info@ whitsudnayrc.qld.gov.au or phone on 1300 972 753 so that we may stop this behaviour.

For more information about waste management in our region, head to our website www. whitsundayrc. qld.gov.au