There can be little doubt that Hanna Marshall has a good feel for the local area; she was a sales rep with ACM, owner of this newspaper and then went on to work in Eden on the preparation and opening of the Hotel Australasia as well as managing the Coast Motel.
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Now she has brought her skills to Merimbula Tourism and the Merimbula Visitor Information Centre.
"I'll be running the MVIC and looking after the overall marketing and working with Rhys Treloar from Sapphire Coast Destination Marketing," Hanna said.
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"I want to work closely with the chamber (Merimbula Chamber of Commerce) and I'm looking at additional revenue streams," she said.
Like all visitor information centres in the shire, Merimbula gets funding from council which is allocated from a levy paid by ratepayers in the shire.
The sum in the case of Merimbula, has to cover the manager's and assistant's wages but leaves little for anything else.
The centre has income from its membership who are the accommodation providers/tour operators that they in turn recommend.
"Only this week we had a call from an operator wanting 35 rooms for a group of Chinese visitors," Hanna said.
I like the idea of doing something for the greater good, for a cause, for the town.
- Hanna Marshall
"What I want to implement are different platforms that allow people to make the booking themselves."
Hanna said people want to book at different times of the night and day and accommodation providers were more likely to capture the booking if people could book when they were thinking about their vacation.
"We used it in the Australasia and Coast and it's based on a commission system and the same for tours. The goal is that people come to one centre to make all their bookings."
In her first week Hanna was busy making presentations at workshops held by the South Coast Centre of Excellence which promotes career pathways in hospitality and tourism.
"I represented venue management and did two 35 minute slots based on my experience at the Australasia and Coast. We were looking at the types of skills needed, problem solving, leadership skills, it was fairly broad based," Hanna said.
"Looking at this job with fresh eyes gives a different perspective. I like the idea of doing something for the greater good, for a cause, for the town. It's filling a cup that was missing in me and I didn't realise until I started this job and so I am excited about the future," Hanna said.
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Denise Dion
Regional daily news journalist on the Far South Coast of NSW. Contact me on 0418 213 780 or at denise.dion@austcommunitymedia.com.au
Regional daily news journalist on the Far South Coast of NSW. Contact me on 0418 213 780 or at denise.dion@austcommunitymedia.com.au
