Thanks to all the members who made last week a success.
On Tuesday night we had 30 people enjoy the movie “Ride Like A Girl” which meant that we raised over $900 for Polio Plus (including the contribution of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation) . And it was a very enjoyable dinner and movie! It’s World Polio Day in 3 weeks …October 24.
On Wednesday night we had 6 guests enjoy our Feature Guest Speaker “Tracey Cooper”.
And on Friday the Bunnings BBQ Crew raised a net $800.
This week’s Meeting – October 9
This week our guest speaker is Phil Endersbee from the Rotary Club of Melbourne who will speak on the upcoming 100 year Celebrations of the Anniversary of Rotary in Australia .Phil was also a key player in the team that won the bid for the upcoming World Rotary Congress in Melbourne, and a sailor on a winning Sydney- Hobart Yacht.
Our newest member, Rod Birt, will also give a brief bio.
The following week we have Charlie Spiers, Chair of the District Foundation Committee updating us on the Rotary Foundation and a brief presentation from Hannah .
Our speaker last week – Tracey Cooper
Tracey has been Executive Chair of Mornington Peninsula Tourism Board for seven years, and previously was adviser to the Minister for Tourism, Sport and Major Events. Tracey gave an outstanding presentation on the development of this important industry on the Peninsula.
We have 7.5m day visitors per annum which is an increase of around a third since 2012. There are about 1.5m overnight visitors, a growth of 55%. But, only 3% are international visitors. Our major competitor region for Victorians is Sydney, followed by the Bellarine Peninsula. The industry generates $1.2b pa in direct expenditure and 8600 jobs!
Tracey explained that Frankston is part of the region, as visitors perceive they are on the Peninsula once they see the water. The Peninsula Link has been a major contributor to recent growth, but now consideration needs to be given to limiting bed numbers. We have had some outstanding new investments include the RACV Resort at Cape Schank, Jacalope and Point Leo Estate. We can probably look forward to a car ferry between Stony Point and Cowes.
As the second of our feature guest speaker nights it was great to have it go so well and hopefully members are developing confidence in bringing guests to future meetings.
