An updated draft Hunter Valley Destination Management Plan (DMP) to grow and expand the visitor economy across the Singleton and Cessnock local government areas (LGAs) has been unveiled.

The DMP looks to grow the areas as an internationally renowned wine, food and beverage destination with a diverse, dynamic and sustainable landscape.

The Draft Hunter Valley Destination Management Plan 2022-2030 and the draft Hunter Valley Situational Analysis accompanying document is a joint project between Singleton Council and Cessnock City Council, recognising the importance of Wine Country as well as supporting the ongoing development of diverse tourism and visitor experiences throughout both LGAs across cultural, nature, wellness, arts, heritage and music tourism.

Providing a strategic framework to grow the region’s global appeal and a thriving, dynamic, diverse and sustainable visitor economy, the Plan was developed in collaboration with specialist consultants and the Hunter Valley Wine and Tourism Association.

It incorporates input from a comprehensive and wide-ranging stakeholder engagement process that included 24 workshops and small group meetings and 336 survey responses from the broader community.

Mayor of Singleton, Cr Sue Moore said the draft Plan outlined strategic actions to achieve a vision for the sustainable growth of the Hunter Valley Visitor Economy

“The Hunter Valley region was experiencing significant growth that was stalled due to the impacts of bushfires and the pandemic in the past few years,” Sue said.

“As we recover and the world is re-opening, this is the perfect time to reinforce the importance of the visitor experience to our local economy now and to the economic evolution of our region.

“The actions included in the Plan will aid prioritisation of projects, guide cross-collaboration and inform visitor and tourism economy actions in Council’s operational plan, as well as inform Singleton’s visitor economy action plans

“This has enormous potential to shape our economy in the years to come, and we are very keen to hear feedback from tourism and hospitality businesses in particular, and from everyone in our community.”

The Draft Hunter Valley Destination Management Plan 2022-2030 and Draft Hunter Valley Situational Analysis accompanying document are available for viewing on Singleton Council’s website or in hard copy at Council’s Administration Centre, Visitor Information Centre and Singleton Library until Wednesday 23 November.

IMAGE | Lake St Clair, Singleton