By Jess Baker
Last month, on Wednesday 21 July, Brisbane was announced the host of the 2032 Olympic Games.
The news was welcomed by most everyone on the Southern Downs and Granite Belt, but some have argued a lack of tourism promotion will mean the region cannot fully capitalise on the potential at hand.
Stanthorpe Chamber of Commerce president Graham Parker said the Games would positively impact the Granite Belt business community, being in a “goldilocks zone” so close to Brisbane.
“Our international exposure to tourism is fairly minimal so it’ll give us an opportunity to market ourselves during that period of time,” Graham said.
“We might see more businesses attracted to the region so there’s a lot of opportunities there but it depends on what happens over the next few years with Covid.”
Warwick Chamber of Commerce president Julia Keogh said the Games would certainly help local hospitality and tourism sectors gain intrastate, interstate and international exposure, but the Southern Downs would need to step up its tourism promotion efforts.
“The announcement of the 2032 Olympics being held in Brisbane and surrounding LGAs is certainly fantastic news for our region, with opportunities to host training camps in the lead up to the main events,” Julia said.
“However, the Warwick Chamber does have concerns regarding how our Southern Downs region can be positively promoted as one of the prominent tourism destinations for the 2032 Olympics, when we do not have a dedicated regional tourism body.”
Julia said that while Southern Downs Regional Council financially supports Granite Belt Wine Country, the northern region of the Southern Downs “continues to miss out on a coordinated tourism promotion approach”.
“The Warwick Chamber of Commerce has lobbied SDRC for half of the funding provided to (Granite Belt Wine Country) however has been unsuccessful, instead receiving the same amount of funding provided to the Stanthorpe Chamber of Commerce,” she said.
She said not having a tourism body for the northern end of the Southern Downs would impact the community’s ability to showcase the entire region.
The Chamber’s Executive Committee will table their concerns at a meeting with Southern Downs Mayor Vic Pennisi and chief executive officer Dave Burges later this month.
Mayor Pennisi said that while the Games were still more than a decade away, he had begun speaking with neighbouring council mayors about what they could do to prepare.
He said the Southern Downs region could very well be a place Olympians come to train in the lead up to the Games.
“We’ve got a velodrome, we’ve got an Olympic-standard trap for trap shooting here,” Cr Pennisi said.
“We’ve got an Olympic-standard hockey field … (and) the horse eventing that’s out at Morgan Park.“
He said Storm King Dam could also be ideal for rowers training for the Olympics.
Warwick Chamber’s Julia Keogh said the previous Southern Downs Regional Council administration under Mayor Tracy Dobie also tried to showcase the local region as the ideal host for training camps for sports including cycling, equestrian, hockey, soccer, rugby, and basketball.
