by Mat Churchill

The opportunity to hear from our local tourism body was eagerly accepted by over 70 representatives of businesses in the area at a meeting at the Port Douglas Community Hall on Tuesday night.


Tourism Port Douglas and Daintree (TPDD), with the support of the Port Douglas Chamber of Commerce, invited people to attend the meeting in order to gain a greater understanding of the role TPDD plays in attracting visitors to the region.


TPDD executive officer Doug Ryan presented the audience with an overview of the purpose and structure of the organisation, and highlighted their budget constraints coming in at just one tenth that of their parent body, Tourism Tropical North Queensland (TTNQ).

"If you want to figure out what punch we have in the marketplace, that'll give you an idea,' Mr Ryan said.

But early reports from those in attendance have been far from positive.

One local resident from Port Douglas came away from the meeting with mixed feelings.

"It was interesting to know what they (TPDD) do and how far they make their money go, but I was hoping it would be more of an open forum and have questions answered on the spot," she said.

Attendees to the meeting were asked to write their questions on cards to be collected and answered over the coming days, but Phoebe Kitto from the Port Douglas Chamber of Commerce was given the opportunity to ask what many have described as "pre-scripted questions."

"At the end of the meeting she took charge of the room and was the only person able to ask questions on the spot,"  she said .

Others took the opportunity to express similar views on Twitter with tweets such as "no mention of Lagoons, or Marina or anything significant. It was all very self promoting. They even scripted their own questions," and "interesting meeting, perhaps next time we can ask our own questions, rather than pre scripted ones."

An employee from another local business was also scathing of the meeting content and posted this on Facebook. "Thanks Tourism Port Douglas & Daintree for your informative discussion last night. Nothing I didnt hear 6 years ago from my marketing manager at RCI. Surely TPDD isnt that far behind the market (and the times)? YES, they surely are as demonstrated last night. Thx for the pre-meditated and rehearsed questions and answers and listening to us - several huge contradictions made by yourselves. Shame on you!"

She told The Newsport that she had high expectations heading into the meeting. "I was expecting something more creative. I expected a tourism body like them would have bigger things up their sleeve. I felt like I'd just wasted an hour of my life."

Port Douglas Chamber of Commerce president, Ken Dobbs, defended the format but indicated there may be a future open forum style meeting.

"Essentially it (Tuesday night's meeting) was an information meeting. I think people were given information they wouldn't have been given before. They've got the mechanisms to raise issues.

"They (TPDD) are doing mostly the right things but if people have the answers they should come up with it." Mr Dobbs said.

A meeting attendee who did not want to be named praised the Chamber of Commerce, but reiterated that the content seemed regurgitated.

"What the Chamber tried to do was a good thing and they should receive no criticism. I've been to three forums and he (Doug Ryan) has done the same show. It seems like he's justifying his own existence. There's a lot of overlap with TTNQ.

"I didn't think it (the meeting) was bad, I just thought we'd hear about the problems we're facing and the opportunities (we have). China (for example) isn't even on their radar. I see it as an opportunity they should look into.

"They dismissed the dollar issue but that's not what we hear from people traveling from America. Any sensible person takes it into account before they come."

The Newsport was unable to contact Mr Ryan for comment at the time of writing.

Were you at the meeting? Tell us your thoughts.