Shellharbour Hiking, Macquarie Pass National Park | Credit DNSW
Welcome to Destination Download
We are immensely proud of local operator, Valley Outdoors, who has just been named a winner in the 2025 World Luxury Travel Awards, shining an international spotlight on Kangaroo Valley and the region as a leader in eco and nature-based tourism.
In other exciting news, the Illawarra Escarpment has officially opened almost 20km of mountain bike trails, offering riders of all levels a sustainable and spectacular new adventure. Watch this space for some Ride Ready workshops coming up soon to help you make the most of this new infrastructure.
In this edition, you’ll also find insights from the 2025 Wellness Summit, details onBlueScope’s Port Kembla re-zoning, Shoalhaven City Council’s new Economic Development and Tourism Strategy surveys, cruise Wollongong updates, and more from across our region.
Remember, if you are keen to connect, please reach out to the team. We are here to support you!
In this edition:
News & Announcements
Business & Skills Development, Resources, Events
Industry Insights
Local Updates
Grants & Funding Opportunities
Valley Outdoors named a winner in the 2025 World Luxury Travel Awards
This recognition not only celebrates their work as an eco-tourism operator, but also shines a light on Kangaroo Valley, the Shoalhaven, Southern Highlands, and NSW as leading destinations for sustainable, nature-based tourism. We have a unique opportunity to highlight our region, and Australia, on the world stage.
The official awards ceremony will take place at the PARKROYAL COLLECTION in Pickering, Singapore, on 31 October 2025. Congratulations to Sarah, Travis & the Valley Outdoors team!
Last Friday, Minister Ryan Park opened Stage 1 of the Illawarra Escarpment Mountain Bike Network in the beautiful Illawarra Escarpment State Conservation Area.
These trails span almost 20km of riding options – from beginner-friendly green loops to technical black runs – ensuring there’s something for every rider. Carefully designed to protect the escarpment’s unique natural and cultural values, the network delivers an epic and sustainable riding experience. 🌿✨
This project is a joint initiative between NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service and Wollongong City Council, marking an important step toward sustainable and inclusive mountain biking in the region.
📍 Find trail maps, videos and more information here or on the Trailforks app: Kembla mountain bike trails.
Australian Regional Tourism (ART) is exploring the need to develop a National Social Impact Framework for Regional Tourism.
Tourism in regional communities is about more than just its economic contribution, its true value lies in how it supports local people, strengthens culture, builds resilience, and enhances the liveability that makes each destination unique.
As tourism grows, it’s becoming increasingly important to measure and report on these broader benefits, alongside economic results, so the full story of tourism’s value can be understood and recognised.
Your responses to this survey will help determine the need for a national framework that could support regions to upskill, measure, and report on tourism’s social impact, ensuring these benefits are front and centre in planning, investment, and advocacy.
Is it time you refreshed your ATDW Tourism Business Profile?
As the seasons change, so do the interests and needs of travellers. Whether it’s highlighting winter activities, summer specials, or spring events, refreshing your profile can attract more customers looking for timely experiences. Updating your Tourism Business Profile in ATDW with current photos, special offers, and relevant details helps you stand out and keeps your audience engaged.
Boost your visibility and make every season a successful one for your business. Log in to the ATDW platform today to keep your business in the spotlight year-round.
International tourism demand is rising
New UN Tourism data shows almost 690 million people travelled internationally between January and June 2025, up 33 million year-on-year. The latest edition of its World Tourism Barometer shows arrivals in Asia and the Pacific grew 11 per cent during the period to 92 per cent of pre-pandemic levels.
Free coaching services with Creative Australia
Creative Australia is offering a bookable, free coaching service to build the fundraising capability of artists, creatives and arts and cultural organisations.
New tourism eLearning hub
Developed with eLearning specialists, etrainu, the eLearning Hub is designed to support tourism operators and their staff to build and improve skills, enhance professionalism and develop stronger business capability.
Investment Delivery Authority (IDA)
Modelled after the successful Housing Delivery Authority, the IDA will accelerate approvals for eligible domestic and international projects.
This will include providing advice on how best to navigate the planning system while evaluating projects for fast-track assessment and coordinating the necessary infrastructure to deliver them.
The IDA will consider major projects from the private sector through an Expression of Interest (EOI) process conducted in rounds. The IDA will work to identify and remove barriers that may hinder the successful delivery of major projects.
Discover what’s been happening across our industry. To share your new product, experience or event, please get in touch with us at [email protected].
Regional snapshots from the road with our Business Development Manager, Kylie Bushby
I recently attended the 2025 Wellness Summit in Byron Bay – what an incredible event!
Consumer Demand: Australia ranks 8th globally ($29B spend), with most growth from secondary wellness travellers.
Trends: Sleep tourism, regenerative tourism, transformational experiences, and AI-driven personalisation.
Global Case Studies: Hawai’i’s Malama Initiative, sleep-focused hotel partnerships, and wellness-driven design.
Opportunities for our region: Develop products around sleep, culinary wellness, emotional wellbeing, and resilience programs. Highlight natural landscapes, Indigenous culture, and slow food.
Personal Takeaway: Emotional wellbeing, human connection, and purpose-driven travel will shape the future of tourism. I left inspired, energised – and even braver after an ice bath!
If you’ve got an idea in the works or would like to explore opportunities, I’d love to connect, whether in person or virtually. Book a time to chat with me here.
Wollongong City Council has released its Cruise Wollongong: The ideal location for a third cruise terminal and turnaround port in NSW prospectus. Launched at a recent Cruise Wollongong Taskforce meeting, attendees included Member for Wollongong Paul Scully, NSW Tourism Association, Destination Wollongong, Destination Sydney Surrounds South, RDA Illawarra, Business Illawarra and Port Authority of NSW.
The world’s current largest industrial land transformation project has taken a major step forward, with a rezoning proposal released to revitalise 200 hectares of land at BlueScope’s Port Kembla site. Now on public exhibition, the proposal outlines plans to rezone 200 hectares of underutilised land on the southern edge of the Port Kembla Steelworks, including preserving several historic buildings.
New Economic Development and Tourism Strategy for Shoalhaven City Council
Shoalhaven City Council is creating a new Economic Development and Tourism Strategy 2035 that will help establish priorities and create a plan to grow the Shoalhaven economy. The strategy will identify key opportunities, objectives, and actions focused on revitalising the CBD, diversifying retail offerings, boosting employment and workforce participation, enhancing tourism infrastructure, and increasing visitor numbers and spending.
The ten-year strategic document will replace Council’s existing Economic Development Strategy 2017 – 2026 and Destination Management Plan 2018 – 2023, which are both due for renewal.
Shoalhaven businesses, the community, and visitors are now invited to provide feedback that will help inform the new strategy.
Please visit the Get Involved page for additional information and to access the surveys. There are two surveys for this project; one for business owners/managers, and another for community/visitors. The surveys are open until Friday 24 October 2025.
Festivals Australia funds engaging arts projects that invite community participation and audience engagement in regional and remote Australia. Projects can include but are not limited to a parade, performance, workshop, installation or exhibition. The aim is to give people the chance to participate in or attend an arts experience at a festival, or a significant one-off community celebration.
Thank you for taking the time to read this update.
Don’t forget between our updates you’ll find us on socials, head over to follow us onLinkedInand you’ll also find us onInstagram.
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Talk soon, The DSSS team
Destination Sydney Surrounds South acknowledges the Aboriginal Nations and Aboriginal People of the Sydney Surrounds South region as the traditional carers and custodians of the land that we all now live and work on. We pay our respect to Elders past and present. Destination Sydney Surrounds South values the diversity of this region and works in partnership with local Aboriginal communities to respectfully celebrate and share Aboriginal culture with visitors to the region and also with locals who live here.
