New Gladstone Shopping Centre Open for Business

IN BUSINESS: Developer Geoff Bonney, long-time resident Betty Mergard, and Foodworks owners Peter Kinder and Michelle Irvine cut the ribbon.

BETTY Mergard officially opened the new Agnes Water Central shopping centre on Saturday.

Twelve hundred square metres has been developed to create a much-needed full line supermarket for the town.

And while grocery shopping enters a new era in Agnes Water, it's the interactive floor that has everyone celebrating.

Developer Geoff Bonney said the structure would be highly beneficial to the community.

"We had a basic design but we sat down with the architect and tailored it to what the locals need," he said.

"There was only a convenience store previously but this new development has really opened up opportunities.

"The bigger centre means it will increase employment rates too."

The facilities the centre features are state-of-the-art, with only four like it in Australia.

A revolutionary refrigeration and air conditioning unit behind the scenes and 5m interactive floor is what has locals so excited.

Iconic local Betty Mergard said she'd seen nothing like it in her 75 years.

"It's got the wow factor," she said. "The moving flooring and post office layout is just amazing."

The Mergard family's long term tourist industry input made her the perfect candidate to cut the official ribbon.

"I was really representing the community and their future enjoyment of the facility," she said.

Betty's daughter Desley O'Grady said it was fantastic for the area, "especially for holiday makers who will have more of a range for shopping".

"We've been coming here for over 70 years, and it's a big moment for us," she said.

Backpacker Tamara Volk said the food looked pretty good.

"It's not too expensive so it's great for us," she said. "The interactive floor will be good for the kids."

While Mark Mergard said it would "help the growth of the area".

Joel O'Grady said it was nice and neat and not cluttered.

"The interactive floor is fantastic."

Currently Foodworks and the post office are operational.

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Tourism Set to Cash In On Big Summer For International Sport

An unprecedented summer of international sport is set to boost Canberra's tourist numbers after a major decline in business stays and spending in the past year.

With seven Asian Cup football games including a quarter final, three cricket World Cup games and an extra one day International in November, Canberra's tourism boss expected locals to be joined by a mass of regional and international visitors for the sporting feast.

VisitCanberra director Ian Hill said it would be the strongest summer of sport the city had enjoyed. 

"Two absolutely world class events, and I certainly know tickets for those cricket World Cup games have been selling really well."

The National Visitor Survey released last month showed visitor nights were down 790,000 in the domestic business sector for the year to June, a drop of 37.5 per cent. Overall domestic nights were down 16.4 per cent and expenditure down 11.4 per cent, or $14 million. 

International visitor nights also fell 12 per cent, or 570,000 nights, in the same period, with expenditure down 6 per cent.

Mr Hill said the tourism authority was working closely with hoteliers and organisations elsewhere to help them package and promote events.  

"One of those [Asian Cup] games is a China [vs] Korea game; China don't play in Sydney and there's a big group of Chinese background people who live in Sydney, so we're working with some of the multicultural media in Sydney," he said. 

The tourism chief said the key to maximising the windfall for Canberra was ensuring visitors saw other attractions  during their stay, and a rejuvenated cultural and hotel scene would help.

"Places like Braddon are important, Lonsdale Street Roasters is an important place, New Acton, and with new hotels like Hotel Hotel, Peppers has just rebranded, we've seen QT do a fit out at Rydges, the Kurrajong is about to reopen after being refitted – a great location for visitors in the Parliamentary Triangle. I think visitors are seeing a new side of Canberra," Mr Hill said. 

Mr Hill said stories on last week's OECD finding that Canberra was the world's best city to live in,  trumpeted in the New York Times and elsewhere, helped spread the word. 

The Australian Hotels Association ACT recently told ABC TV that occupancy rates were at about 65 per cent, down from the same time last year, but investment was strong, with another 500-600 hotel rooms available by mid-next year. 

Session to help Gladstone city get ready for cruises

GET the party started when Carnival Australia comes to town with an information session on the future of cruise liners in Gladstone.

Gladstone Area Promotion and Development Ltd and Carnival Australia will present on the P&O Cruise Liners as part of a business leaders' luncheon.

P&O Cruises announced in August that Gladstone would be a port of call for up to 10,000 passengers a year from 2016, with ships to dock at Auckland Point.

The luncheon is presented by GAPDL in partnership with Gladstone Regional Council and Gladstone Ports Corporation.

GAPDL chief executive Glenn Churchill will give an insight on destination tourism development and regional development priority projects, while product manager Sarah Budd and director Michael Mihajlov will talk for Carnival Australia.

The luncheon will be followed by an information session with a question and answer session, giving people an opportunity to expand further on individual and business opportunities/ learnings, and any other creative discussion points to ensure we are "Region Ready".

The luncheon will be held at the Oaks Grand Gladstone on Tuesday, October 21, from 11.30am-2pm.

Source: http://www.gladstoneobserver.com.au/news/liners-on-the-horizon/2413873/