MORE than 700 tourism businesses across Busselton and Margaret River will be voting on November 12 when faced with a proposal to create a single local tourism organisation.
The Augusta Margaret River Tourism Association and Geographe Bay Tourism unanimously support the merge.
While the boards' decision would need to be put to a member vote of each association, Geographe Bay president Clive Johnson was confident a robust outcome had been reached which would receive strong member support. "Particularly encouraging is the rigour, goodwill and co-operation among the management and boards of both associations, and the vision of other major stakeholders in the region, to make this business combination happen," he said.
The organisation's proposed name created a strong link with the brand name and recognises the importance of considerable historical investment in the Margaret River and Busselton brands.
If the proposed merger goes ahead it will unify the four current visitor centres in Busselton, Dunsborough, Margaret River and Augusta.
Geographe Bay chief executive officer Sharna Kearney said the centres would be retained at the highest standard of accreditation, along with existing attractions and airport operations. "Senior management would be distributed throughout the organisation's sites without the need for an official headquarters," Ms Kearney said. "Should the move to a single organisation proceed it will, in the long term, create more employment but in the short term there will be a few job losses with some new positions created."
Ms Kearney also said to ensure a smooth transition, an interim board of four directors from each of the existing Margaret River and Geographe Bay boards would be appointed including a vice-chairman from each, together with an independent chairman.
After the transition period there would be a move to a combined elected and skills-based board.
The new organisation has endorsed Pip Close as the new organisation chief executive officer and Ms Kearney as group marketing manager.
