WATCHING the tide of expensive fishing boats stream past Warrnambool on their way to catch tuna (among other things) off Portland is not a pleasant experience.
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While navigating the treacherous Princes Highway with that much money hitched to the back of your vehicle can't be fun either, it is emblematic of the tourism issues facing the region.
Due to bad (or non-existent) planning, bad roads, a lack of tourism infrastructure and a local government structure that seems to have been dreamed up by someone who played a lot of Tetris, the region is missing out on big money all year, every year.
It is inexcusable that calls for a tourism "loop" to be established to capture the estimated 2.45 million people who have or will visit the Great Ocean Road this year are not top of mind for federal, state and local governments, as well as private enterprise.
The latest data shows international visitors spent an average of $462 each over the duration of their Great Ocean Road journey, and around $115 per night. An average of $118 was spent on commercial accommodation per visitor per night.
All that money must have been spent elsewhere because at the region's end of one of the world's great tourism drives, there is little or nothing to prompt them to spend their money on.
Tourists seem to simply turn around before they get to the end of the road and look for greener pastures elsewhere.
Let's face it, at the moment tourism infrastructure on the Great Ocean Road is well short of great. The Twelve Apostles is a parking nightmare and the tourism centre (if what appears to be a large toilet block can be called that) is underwhelming on the same scale that the coast is beautiful.
Other than Port Campbell (a town which does its tourist thing very well, by the way), there really is a whole lot of nothing to make tourists slow down or even stay.
The news then that a new management authority for the road is in the offing should be welcomed.
This should unify objectives and funding towards sensible outcomes that reflect the pulling power of the area and keep tourists travelling into the south-west before heading back overseas.
The Shipwreck Coast Masterplan is a good start. New facilities at the Twelve Apostles, Loch Ard Gorge and Port Campbell itself will give our antiquated facilities a much-needed shot in the arm.
The new authority has its work cut out.
And it must firstly move to allay concerns that it will override national park rules and allow development in some of these fragile areas.
It will need to acknowledge also that change is needed. Roads must improve, hotels and resorts must be built, walking trails, information centres, eateries and more must be established.
But not at the cost of the environment for that is, after all, what the tourists are coming to see.