The unique and practical in selling your community

Over twelve months ago, I left you stranded with a promise to write more about Broken Hill. Sadly, events intervened!

This photo is taken at that time at the Broken Hill Sculpture Garden. This is one of Broken Hill's unique features, a must see for all visitors. It's just fun wandering around the stone sculptures on the top of the hill over-looking the semi-desert around.

If you are selling tourism in your community, you have to identify the unique elements. Many areas, for example, focus on food and wine. But unless you have established a unique element there, it won't draw visitors: It may help them stay for longer; If you develop enough as in the case of Orange, it may become a special draw card; but otherwise forget it as your central seller!

If you want to persuade people to move to your community, then other factors come into play. The special features that you focus on in your tourism promotion become a support. Now the focus is on the combined attributes that make your community a worthwhile place to live in as compared to other places and especially the metros.

This can be remarkably difficult to do. Remember, it's the relative package that's important. This starts with the practical and then goes to the extras. It's not rocket science, but it does take time to think through.  

Visiting Broken Hill - the journey begins

We flew into Broken Hill on Monday night, 19 March. I hadn't been to Broken Hill before and was looking forward to the trip.

The Rex flight was delayed by two hours, later we would discover that happened quite often, so it was quite late when we got to the Hotel, the Astra. That was a pleasant surprise. Our rooms were quite palatial.

In the I awoke early as I so often do. Somehow that early morning time has especial value. Mind you, it can be pretty dreadful if I go to bes late the night before!

As an original country pub, the Astra had large fist floor verandahs. I sat there watching the sun come up  over Argent Street, the main drag. It was very quiet.

Getting my guidebooks out I began to plane what we might do. We were there on business, but there was no reason I couldn't fit a little more in. I was also interested in the history of Broken Hill, for the city occupies a very special niche in Australian history. 

I will explore that history - story of boom and bust in the red dust - a little in my next post.       

Kimberley Heritage Cattle Drive

In Swimming, Kununurra, I mentioned that eldest was visiting Kunnunurra for the first time. Then in today's Australian Lyndall Crisp had an interesting piece, Three days in the saddle, on her experiences on the Home Valley Station Heritage Cattle Dive. Home Valley is a major Aboriginal owned station in the Kimberley's.

I had intended to write a full companion piece setting Lyndall's experiences in a broader context. Sadly, I cannot download the supporting visual material that I require.

I have submitted a request to Home Valley Station to access that material. In the meantime, do read Lyndall's piece. The video she includes is good, but you need to let it run a little before getting onto the cattle drive itself.    

Lord Howe Island

Another photo from Gordon Smith's archives, this one of Lord Howe Island.

A world heritage site, Lord Howe Island is formally part of NSW, but lies 600 km to the east from the mainland. 

This is a very beautiful place indeed. Visitor information can be found here.   

China and Regional Australia 4 - attracting Chinese tourists 3: providing the right information

Photo: Lonely Planet Guide to Shanghai.

Frankly, most Australian regional areas are absolutely hopeless when it comes to selling their own story. This is a pity, for when it comes to both official material and the conventional guide books, most regional areas get squeezed into a few sentences. How can you sell on this basis?

Then if you look at local material, this is also pretty hopeless, a series of disconnected pieces of paper generally focused on attractions in the main regional center. I get so frustrated at this. It is hard to get the story across that we can do better.

To illustrate what I mean, take the mainstream conventional guide book. If we were to apply this to, say, Armidale, we would have the following structure.

The first few pages might deal with general history and geography, the last pages with travellers tips.

The middle section might be broken into two part. The first might deal with Armidale, the second with the surrounds. Both would incorporate maps and photos. All sections would contain references to the area's unique culture.

Hang on, I can hear you say, unique culture? What is unique about Armidale?

Well, to the overseas visitor all of Australia is unique. Further, each area has its own very specific features. We need to point to both.

Once an English language version has been completed, then turn it into Chinese. That way, your visitors have something that will bring their trip back, an aid to memory.

There is a special problem here because many current publications are littered with ads. I can understand this. Most local tourism authorities are short of funds and look for anything that might help defray costs. Yet in most cases the ads both twist content and detract from reader enjoyment. You really need ad free if you are to get best results.

Back to the entry post in this series

China and Regional Australia 3 - attracting Chinese tourists 2: telling a story

This is part of a Chinese mega store in Shanghai. Click on the image to get a full feel. While the overall footprint is smaller than one of our big malls, the size and crush of people is overwhelming.

If you are going to attract Chinese tourists, any tourists for that matter, you have to be able to tell a story. Many of our regional areas are very bad at this.

Proud of you parks and civic facilities? Forget it. This won't sell. Proud of your shopping centre and the fact that you have good coffee? Forget it. This won't sell.

Each regional area has different features. Each has its own history, its own life style You have to focus on this.

To illustrate what I mean by taking an area that I know especially well.

If I had a Chinese tour party in Armidale, I would focus one day on mining.

On a day trip, I would start by telling them a little of the history of mining in the area, focusing on the hazards and romance including the role played by the Chinese, the old (California) and new (Australia) gold mountains.

Our first stop would be Uralla where I would take them to the museum with its Chinese Joss House, then to Thunderbolt's statue and grave. Plenty of time for photos. Then on to Inverell with its sapphires. After trying fossicking, there would be time to look at and buy sapphires.

From Inverell to Tingha with its Chinese store museum. Tin, the Chinese presence, the old Chinese store that is now a museum. Then back to Armidale.

This is quite a long day trip with plenty of relevant material.

On a second day I would show the romance of wool. This would focus on the establishment of a new order in a strange land, of wealth and privilege, of the way wool helped form elements of the Australian character.

I would start with Booloominbah, the big White town house that now forms the core of the University of New England. I would follow this with a country tour, including a visit to a working sheep property. Lots of animals. And I would again make certain that there were things to buy, plenty of wool products. On the trip, I would (among other things) explain Waltzing Matilda, teaching our guests to sing the song.

This is only a bare sketch, but it illustrates my point.

In terms of other things that our visitors might do, there is of course a tour of the city and its immediate attractions. Then, too, they might need some choice.

This depends in part on what is on in town. If the markets are on, that is one option. Racing would be a second. Beyond that, things are available like a gorge tour, a helicopter flight, a winery visit, a horse ride.

In all this, there is the need to treat the visitors as guests. A welcome by the mayor, the local Chinese community or the University, learning Australian cooking, meeting Australians in their own homes, the list of possibilities is quite extensive.

In all this, we need to remember my opening point, the need to tell a story.

Back to the entry post in this series.

China and Regional Australia 2 - attracting Chinese tourists 1: what do we have to sell?

Photo: Shanghai crowd scene

As I walked through Shanghai, I ached to get some of them back to visit Regional Australia. China is still a poor country measured by average standard of living. However, I would guess that the middle class has now passed 130 million, many of whom can afford to travel.

Our present travel promotion generally has a city bias, or focuses on things that we think are distinct. We do not think of what might be distinct in the minds of our potential visitors.

China is incredibly crowded to those of us used to even big regional centres. Further, the Chinese are used to and even love the crowds. Here a Chinese work friend said that when she first came to Sydney, she missed the crowds and the noise. To her, Sydney was a small city.

The love of crowds does not mean that we cannot attract Chinese visitors to Regional Australia. In fact, the opposite is true. We have the capacity to offer them a unique experience. We may not attract them all, but even half of one per cent is 750,000 extra visitors per annum.

But what does Regional Australia have to offer compared to the metro centres or the big coastal resort areas? Here I can only offer my own experiences in conversation.

The Chinese appear fascinated by our animals, especially koalas and kangaroos. So this is one part of the experience.

Then, too, the Chinese appear fascinated by our primary production. Wool, sheep dogs, properties with size measured in hundreds if not thousands of hectares. This can be romance territory. Even being able to pat a hen!

Given the current problems with contaminated milk in China, our clean food is another attraction.

Then we have life style in a broad sense. Just about everything in Regional Australia is different in life style terms.

In all this, the key point is to focus on and emphasise the differences with China.

Back to the entry post in this series.

China and Regional Australia 1 - introduction

I have been in China, making it difficult to post. I found the trip very interesting not just because of the exposure to China itself, but also because of the way it generated new ideas relevant to my various interests. Yes, China is very different from Regional Australia, but there are also surprising shared interests as well as things that we can learn.

For that reason, I thought that I might do a short series of posts while things are still fresh in my memory. I will use this post as an entry page, adding posts at the bottom as I write them.

Posts in the China and Regional Australia series

• China and Regional Australia 2 - attracting Chinese tourists 1: what do we have to sell?
• China and Regional Australia 3 - attracting Chinese tourists 2: telling a story
• China and Regional Australia 4 - attracting Chinese tourists 3: providing the right information

Barratt Galleries - Alstonville

One of the trends that is adding so much to the depth of life in Regional Australia is the progressive movement of creative people from the metros seeking new life styles who the join with local creative people.

Barratt Galleries is a contemporary art space located in the historic town of Alstonville in the Northern Rivers region of NSW. The region is renowned for the diversity of its local art producers, from the crafts to the contemporary.

Whilst artist/Director Julie Barratt will be showing works from national and international artists, Barratt Galleries is dedicated to showcasing the excellence and diversity of the work of regionally based artists.

Although the gallery has a focus on limited edition prints, works on paper and artists’ books however the solo exhibition space may exhibit works across all media.

Julie Barratt, as a producer of artist books herself, has an affinity for the medium, and seeks interest from producers and collectors of artist books for collection, acquisition, representation and exhibition.

Contact Details

Barratt Galleries is open Wednesday to Sunday from 11am – 4pm. All enquiries should be directed to Julie on 6628 0297 or 0427211882

Email : INFO@BARRATTGALLERIES.COM.AU

Address: 5 Bugden Avenue, Alstonville

Australian regional tourism - Grafton's failure to maximise visitor experience

In Australian regional tourism - maximising the visitor experience I spoke of the importance of focusing on the visitor experience in building local or regional tourism.

I was sitting beside someone from Grafton at a recent dinner. As it happened, I had just written a post talking about Grafton, Diary of a travelling trainer - day two: Grafton, Sydney. We started talking about the city's history, about its place as a major river port. He had no idea.

Now this links to my point.

As I said in my post on Grafton, the tourism material on Grafton fails to properly draw out the city's riverine and maritime shipping history. This is quite recent: North Coast Steam Navigation Company services finally stopped in 1954. Yet there is little mention of this history. I know the history, yet I had to ask to find out where the steamers docked.

Would people be interested in this history? Yes, they would.

Australian regional tourism - maximising the visitor experience

Recently I have been running a series of training workshops. As part of this, I have spent a fair bit of time in regional centres.

The first thing I do upon arrival at my motel is to look at the local tourism material. What does it tell me about the place? What might I like to see or do?

Frankly, some of the stuff remains very ordinary. For some reason, many of Australia's regional areas remain fixated on the simple attractions (what to see)/events (what's on) classification. Many also are still obsessed with the need to prove that they are as good as somewhere else. Far too few focus on maximising the visitor experience.

The central problem with the attraction/event focus lies in its inward looking, passive focus. You create a descriptive list, relying on that to attract a visitor with a given interest. By contrast, the visitor experience focus looks at what visitors want, how you might deepen and richen their experience.

Two things are central to the visitor experience approach.

The first is to understand what you have. The events/attractions list is a start here, but only a start. Now look at everything in the district or region to try to think what might interest the visitor, not just the more obvious things. Build a list.

The second is to think about things that you might do to add to visitor enjoyment. This may be things like clean toilets. More often, it should be things like more information, something that will tell the visitor a story, give them a context.

One key thing to remember is that the visitor experience approach does not require a grand new strategy. You can start small and build.

Fossicking, New England sapphires and the love of discovery

Photo: Australian sapphires

Some Australians like digging round in the dirt, some don't. For those that do, Australia still offers many opportunities just to find that magic nugget or gem stone.

I mention this because the folks from Big Sky Country have put together some material on fossicking in New England, one of Australia's major gem areas.

For details see Fossicking in New England.

Visiting Canberra - driving around, lunch, dinner, Sunday at the National Gallery

Photo: National Gallery, Picture Parade, Asia-Pacific Photos 1840s-1940s.

Loaded with our Murrambateman Ravensworth sangioves, bread, imported cheese plus Ligurian olives, we left Manuka for a drive round the areas of Canberra that we had both known.

As reported in Canberra's changing life style - past and present, I was struck with what I saw as the deterioration in some of the older suburbs. I know that water restrictions have had an impact, but it was more than that. But many of the suburbs we knew so well have become drab and untidy. Still, we did enjoy our drive.

About 3 pm we returned to our hotel room for a picnic - the Ravensworth sangiovese, fresh bread, Barossa fine foods salami, Ligurian olives, Roy de Valles semi hard cheese at $88.11 per kilo, Gorgonzola Piccante at $57.50 per kilo. This was a very expensive picnic, but it was fun.

A sleep, and we were ready to go out for dinner in Kingston. We had wanted to go to La Rustica but this was full. Instead, we got into Figaro on a cancellation.

This proved a good choice. Our waiter was friendly and helpful, able to comment on both food and wine. So we settled down with a bottle of Danzanti Pinot Grigio 2006 from the Venezia region while we made our choices. We chose this wine because youngest was in fact in Venice, but it was rather nice.

I do not have all the notes on our food, I will have to remedy this if I am going to do more posts like this one, but I would put the food at 8 out of 10, the service 10 out of 10.

Home to watch the Tour de France.

Morning and breakfast in the hotel. This was pretty ordinary. Too few Australian hotels can do a decent breakfast, although I admit I have high standards here. Then to the National Gallery.

I love Australia's National Gallery. It's not as big, monumental, as some of the European Galleries. Living in Canberra I was a member and often went there over lunchtime just to wander around.

Now the trees have grown changing the external feel, but internally it's still remarkably compact. We worked our way round, although I would really have liked multiple visits.

After coffee we got on the road, and so to Sydney. It had been a fun trip.

Back to the introductory post in the series.

Visiting Canberra - wandering round Manuka

Breakfast over, Dee and I went for a wander round Manuka just to see what had changed.

I am not a shopping person. I am not a shopping person. My wife and daughters are. Give them a shop and they will enter, even if they cannot afford to buy anything! Still, in this case I went along because I wanted to look at the shops myself.

One advantage that Manuka has over Sydney shopping centres is that the shops are in a self-contained space. This makes it very easy to browse.

We started at the Sheridan shop. I really liked this one because it had so many towels and sheets in one place. I was not in a buying mood, but I do like bright colours. From here we went to the various clothes' shops.

To me, Carla Zampatti is Carla Zampatti, just a name. Still, I was struck here and in other shops with the winter range. Like Melbourne, Canberra's winter climate means that there are clothes that you will not find in Sydney. This I liked.

Still, as a mere male the prices amazed me. Those who have known Manuka from the past will know that Millers of Manuka has been there for a very long while.

Millers used to be a middle of the range store. Not any more. It was sale time, so I looked at some of the labels. There was, for example, a nice Kenzo jacket. This had been discounted so that it was an absolute steal at a price of a just $1,630! I could see why so many of the people in Manuka seemed to be well and expensively dressed.

In all this, my favourite store was the Wine & Cheese Providores.

The wine can be found in the lower level store. I simply cannot afford some of the wines there, but it was nice looking. I was especially interested in the local wines, and here upon recommendation we bought a bottle of Murrambateman Ravensworth sangiovese for $22. I had not tried this grape before, but the wine was highly recommended.

Then we went outside and up the stairs to the cheese section. This is also a cafe. There we bought some bread, imported cheese plus Ligurian olives to go with our our sangiovese for lunch.

Entry post in this series here.

Visiting Canberra - breakfast at Manuka

Because I was using a conventional camera, I still do not have my photos of Manuka back. But I cannot wait for them. So my story of our Canberra visit continues. You will find the introductory post here, including a full post list in this series.

Saturday morning I awoke much refreshed after one of the best sleeps I had had for a long while. We decided to go to Manuka for for breakfast.

In Visiting Canberra - history I set out a little of Canberra's history.

In Canberra's first period, Manuka and Kingston were the city's shopping centres. When I first came to live in Canberra, Manuka became my centre. Here I had my post office box, my bank.

In some ways, Manuka does not exist. There is no suburb called Manuka. It is just the shopping centre in Griffith. Yet Manuka has always had a presence independent of its formal existence. Today it has become Canberra's style centre.

As we drove out from the hotel to go to Manuka, there was a bad sound from the engine. We got over Commonwealth Avenue Bridge. Then, just outside the Treasury building, a dreadful rattle developed. We pushed the car into the Treasury parking lot and called the NRMA.

As we waited, I looked around. I worked in Treasury for thirteen years. I knew this parking lot like the back of my hand.

In Saturday Morning Musings - Australia's old Parliament House I spoke of the area around old Parliament House. Standing with my back to the Treasury building looking round, the scene was very much the same. Finally, the NRMA man arrived, fixed the car, and we got going again.

At first sight, Manuka was both familiar and different. Thetis Court had been roofed in, but The Lawns still seemed the same.

Cafe society, a feature of modern Australia that I greatly like, had clearly arrived in Manuka. In fact, Manuka appears to be Canberra's breakfast capital. Everywhere you looked there were cafes with the ubiquitous outdoor tables and heaters.

We stopped at Zucchero's in The Lawns. This was a mistake.

Big English style breakfasts are very popular, certainly I like them, but they have to be well done. Too many modern establishments cannot do them properly. An overdone fried egg on top of mushrooms and poorly cooked tomatoes with a some limp strips of bacon is not a proper English breakfast. My own efforts are far better than Zucchero's best.

As we ate, I looked around and took notes on the scene and its people. Again there was the same slight sense of dislocation - things were the same, but still different.

Canberra's ethnic mix is different to Sydney, closer to Melbourne.

The strong Asian feel that you get in Sydney was missing. This was a European crowd, but one that reflected the first round of ethnic mixing from the mass migration program after the Second World War. Migrants involved in the building of the Snowy Mountains Scheme or in the construction of Canberra itself settled in Canberra.

At the table next to us, two older European men chatted in Spanish while drinking their coffee. Next to them a man with a somewhat shaggy white beard in a military style outfit - double breasted coat with many buttons, a cap - sat talking to himself while drinking his coffee.

At the risk of upsetting Sydneysiders, the passing parade was far better dressed than you would find in Sydney.

When I commented on this to Denise, she pointed out that Canberra was cold. Sydney is casual, in Canberra you have to wear jumpers and jackets. This led to greater colour and variety in outfits. While Dee was right, I also felt that the Manuka crowd was simply more expensively dressed than you would find in most parts of Sydney.

I will report on the reasons for this in my next post in the series.

Visiting Canberra - arrival

Getting away from Sydney for a weekend is always hard. In this case, we did not start until 6pm. And then there was the traffic. Coming out of Sydney it was almost bumper to bumper. The red rear lights stretched in an almost solid stream for miles.

Part of the traffic was certainly snow traffic. During the snow season thousands of cars and buses leave Sydney for the snow fields. Part, too, was dues to Sydney siders escaping from World Youth Day.

The modern road to Canberra is far faster - around three and a half hours drive time - but also much more boring. Just sit there and stick on the 110 kilometer hours speed limit for much of the journey.

The first real excitement came as we descended onto the shores of Lake George, now dry. This meant that we were almost there.

My wife and I have often been to Canberra in recent years. However, this was the first time that we had come by road and at night. I suppose the thing that struck us most as we drove over the hill and saw the Canberra lights for the first time was the sheer size of the place. The lights just stretched.

We both knew Canberra well, so did not bother with maps. Yet as we came in, we realised that we were not sure how to get to our hotel, the old Hotel Ainslie. We need not have worried. Sheer instinct guided us!

We finally arrived a bit after 9.30. So we had dinner there - Thai - and planned the next day.

Visiting Canberra - Introduction

Next weekend my wife and I are going to Canberra for a break. We both lived there for many years, so we are really looking forward to it.

We are going to stay at what used to be the Hotel Ainslie, now Olims Canberra Hotel.

I had to laugh when I saw the Olims' site. The Hotel Canberra is the Hotel Canberra. Olims tries to present their site as though it is the Hotel Canberra. It is not!

I will report on the trip as we go.

For posts in this series see:

• Visiting Canberra - history
• Visiting Canberra - arrival
• Visiting Canberra - breakfast at Manuka
• Visiting Canberra - wandering round Manuka
• Visiting Canberra - driving around, lunch, dinner, Sunday at the National Gallery

Bingara and the Lure of Gold

After a closure of six years, the Three Creeks Gold Mine at Bingara in northwestern New England is now open again to tourists.

Operator of the business, Paul Myer, has owned the lease on the crown land for 20 years. He has just returned from a six-year stint as a mines exploration officer to re-open his tourist attraction.

For a fee, people are invited to pan for gold from the rich red dirt taken from Lady Morgan’s Reef. This particular area has been mined since the 1800s.

“In 1887, there were 30,000 men on this field,” explains Paul.

“Below us is a caved in tunnel from that era. We don’t have to wander far to find old collection bottles or tools that were used at the time.”

Paul guarantees that every visitor who pans will find some gold. He provides instruction on panning for fine gold, which is prevalent in the area. Quartz crystals are also dominant here.

“Everyone is allowed to keep whatever they find. Of course if they find a big nugget, I just get out a hacksaw and we cut it in half!” he jokes.

Paul has also developed, produced and patented a device called a Panner’s Mate, which basically makes panning easier and more efficient. Visitors are welcome to try the Panner’s Mate out, under Paul’s supervision.

The set up at Three Creeks enables people to sit down in comfort to pan for gold or garnets, and spend as long as they like at the mine.

Paul and his partner Joy have set up an extensive display of gold, gems, crystals and rock minerals, mining artifacts and other historic items. There are also plenty of samples for sale.

Should you wish to stay overnight, there are four unpowered van sites and tent sites. There is also an onsite powered caravan available that sleeps up to eight people. A community kitchen is accessible for all visitors, as well as an open fireplace for those late night conversations!

Three Creeks Gold Mine is 25kms from Bingara on the Upper Bingara Road. The fee for people wishing to pan for gold, garnets or crystals is $25 for adults and $15 for children 12 and under. For anyone wishing just to visit the mine the fee is $15 for adults and $10 for children.

Visitors should remember to bring their own food, drink, sunscreen, hat and sensible shoes.

For more information or bookings please phone Paul Myer on 02 6783 2224.

For further information on Bingara phone Bingara Visitor Information Centre 02 6724 0066

Victorian Tourism's cheeky Sydney move

Photo: Ballarat street scape

Victoria really does a better job than NSW in marketing the state's various attractions.

Both states are dominated by the state capital. Yet while Victoria does promote Melbourne as a centre piece, it also markets the state's attractions in an integrated way.

By contrast, Tourism NSW has two different brands, Brand Sydney and Brand NSW. The second is always submerged by the first.

This is partially a matter of size: Victoria is simply a more compact state than NSW. But it also represents long standing differences in approach between the two.

While Sydney and the NSW Government were obsessed with Sydney's potential role as a global city, Melbourne and the Victorian Government were quietly reinventing Melbourne as a life style city. Now, with Melbourne out-performing Sydney in economic terms, Sydney's local press and especially the Sydney Morning Herald is obsessing about the need to reinvent and recreate Sydney.

In the midst of this, the Victorian Government paid for a glossy edition of the Victorian Wine Guide to be included in the Herald. Cheeky, really.

Still, its great from my viewpoint because it gives me lot of new material to write about. By contrast, I have to individually research NSW stories.

Cloncurry Qld - a new type of solar power

Photo; Airport, Cloncurry, the start of QANTAS

Cloncurry (and here) in north west Queensland has the honour of holding the record for the highest recorded temperature in Australia - 53.1c in 1889. Now that's hot.

I mention this because Cloncurry is to be the site for a new type of solar power station in which 8,000 mirrors will focus sunlight onto graphite blocks. Water pumped through the blocks will turn to steam, driving a turbine generator.

When fully functional, the new power station is expected to generate 10 megawatts of electricity, enough power for 3,500 people.

Cloncurry has a rich history.

In 1861 Burke and Wills with King and Gray, were the first Europeans to come into the area on their ill fated expedition to the Gulf of Carpentaria. Burke named the river “Cloncurry” for his cousin, Lady Elizabeth Cloncurry of County Galway in Ireland.

In May 1867, Ernest Henry (honored as town founder), came searching for grazing land. Instead he discovered copper, the start of great mineral wealth that continues until today.

Cloncurry has been the focal point for a number of Australia’s greatest innovations.

On 3 November 1922, what is now QANTAS flew its first passenger (Alexander Kennedy) from Longreach to Cloncurry on November 3rd 1922 at a cost of 11 pounds 2 shillings. The original QANTAS Hanger is still in use at the aerodrome, with “Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Service” still displayed above the hanger door The airport was also on route for early planes coming from overseas and a stopping point for contestants in the great air races of 1919 and 1934.

The Royal Flying Doctor Service was founded here in 1928, now recognized the world over for its delivery of medical services across the vast outback. Cloncurry has a museum dedicated to the Service's history. The airport was also on route for early planes coming from overseas and a stopping point for contestants in the great air races of 1919 and 1934. During the Second World War, Cloncurry was the site of a major United States of America Air Base.

In all, a rich history.

Cloncurry is also on The Inlander, one of Queensland's great rail routes.