by Mat Churchill


The Tourism Port Douglas and Daintree public meeting held last Tuesday has sparked Invigorating discussion, with many people airing their opinions in The Newsport article 'Attendees slam TPDD meeting."

Since the article was published, comments have ranged from derogatory to supportive of TPDD's meeting and business strategies.

TPDD's executive officer, Doug Ryan, said he'd received very positive feedback from those who attended the public meeting.

"90% of the room said it (the meeting) was great. Out of that meeting we've got two new members and two new enquiries. We've had people dropping past our office saying well done," she said.

Mr Ryan indicated that there may have been some confusion as to what the meeting was trying to achieve due to the involvement of the Port Douglas Chamber of Commerce.

"Some people may have been under the impression it was going to be about the waterfront project and things Chamber are involved in.

"From our point of view it delivered what it promised. We wanted to raise awareness in what we're doing," he said.

Mr Ryan admitted there were some issues with the format of question time due to time constraints, however Lynda Miller of 'Fun stuff by Lynda', a small business in Meridien Marina said people were given the opportunity to ask questions.

"The panel were open to questions after the meeting and Doug told everyone his door is always open."

Ms Miller praised organisers of the meeting and the defended the information presented which has raised the ire of a number of The Newsport readers.

"To be honest Todd (Ms Miller's husband), and I thought it would be over our head, but Doug's presentation was fantastic. We never really knew where our membership money was going and now I know.

"Doug does a fantastic job, as do the Chamber, for this town. The whole meeting for us was incredibly positive," Ms Miller said.

Much of the criticism from the meeting was directed at a perceived lack of new material. Comments such as "I've been to three forums and he (Doug Ryan) has done the same show," and referring to "a lack of any real new information," were dismissed by Mr Ryan.

"11 of the 19 slides (of the presentation) were brand new, and all the others were updated," he said. "It wasn't designed for members (of TPDD), but for the general public."

President of the Port Douglas Chamber of Commerce, Ken Dobbs, hinted that another meeting with an open forum format could be advantageous, an idea Mr Ryan supported.

"If the Chamber want to run an open forum in the town I'm happy to talk about the tourism side of things," Mr Ryan said.