FAQs
- 6 group workshops
- 18 one to one/small group sessions
- Online survey to the community and Industry with 336 responses
What is the Hunter Valley Destination Management Plan?
The Hunter Valley Destination Management Plan (DMP) is strategic in nature and sets
the vision, goals and visitor economy priorities for the Hunter Valley (Cessnock and Singleton local government areas) from 2022-2030. The purpose for updating the Hunter Valley DMP is to enhance the collaboration between two local government areas and clarify the roles of Councils, Hunter Valley Wine & Tourism Association (HVWTA), industry and other government agencies. The DMP will be used as a tool to attract grant funding based off priority actions listed and to gain a commitment from government to support our plan.
The previous Hunter Valley DMP was created in April 2014 as a joint document between Cessnock City Council, Singleton Council and HVWTA. This holistic and cross landscape approach is not only strategic, it underpins the importance of customer centricity, industry development and stakeholder collaboration.
Tourism is an important industry to the Hunter Valley and it is imperative that every entity from government to operator listens to our customers and are aligned on that goal. In turn the Hunter Valley will build wine and tourism products that meet customer needs, anticipate customer wants, and provide a level of service that keeps visitors returning to the Hunter Valley and advocating for the destination.
The Hunter Valley DMP aligns with the NSW Visitor Economy Strategy 2030 and the DSSN Destination Management Plan.
What previous consultation has happened for this plan?
The Hunter Valley DMP has been prepared by the Cessnock City and Singleton Councils’ Economic
Development teams working together and writing the plan, in collaboration with specialist Destination Management Planning consultant Destination Marketing Store. The plan has been informed with strong collaboration with HVWTA and DSSN with consultation with Business Chambers, Tourism Associations, Government departments, Local Aboriginal Land Councils, operators, and the community.
Future directions have been developed resulting from the insights garnered throughout the consultation period and key historical learnings, coupled with the intention to allow actions within the plan to take a broad view and be agile enough to adapt if circumstances change as we have seen in
recent years with extreme weather events and the pandemic. Goals and objectives have
been developed to address the opportunities and challenges the Hunter Valley experiences.
24 Consultations were held including:
What is the definition of the Hunter Valley as The Destination
It is important to note the difference between the Hunter Valley and the greater regional destination called the Hunter, which covers a wide area encompassing Newcastle, Lake Macquarie, Dungog, Port Stephens, Maitland, Muswellbrook, Upper Hunter, Cessnock, Singleton, and Mid Coast.
The Hunter Region (and within it, the Hunter Valley) represents the second largest tourism industry in NSW. Consequently, it is critical that tourism in the Hunter can increase visitation expenditure substantially through clear actions and strategic decision making.
To ensure the DMP puts the visitor first and meets the acute needs of Hunter Valley visitors and product, this plan has taken a very targeted view of the destination. The Hunter Valley is defined by this DMP as encompassing the boundaries of the two main local government areas of Cessnock and Singleton. In addition, the Hunter Valley includes the Hunter Valley Viticultural boundary (some of which falls outside the Local Government boundaries).