The 33rd CMCA National Rally can only spell good news for Gunnedah.
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About 700 motor homes and almost 250 volunteers will roll into the Gunnedah Showground in early October for the annual event.
Gunnedah and District Chamber of Commerce and Industry vice-president Michael Broekman said any event that brought visitors to the town was a “wonderful thing to have”.
“It’s the best form of charity having people come and visit areas that are struggling with the drought because it means money from other areas is brought to our area,” he said.
“We welcome the visitors coming to Gunnedah and we hope to offer them an experience of Gunnedah that gets them to spend a bit of money while they’re here and maybe come and visit again some time in the future.”
Mr Broekman said he applauded the Gunnedah Show Society and Gunnedah Showground Reserve Trust for accommodating the event.
“Gunnedah’s very proactive in its volunteer groups that are always striving to bring events to the town,” he said.
“It is such a great facility in the centre of town, which means it can be utilised for these events, which helps the versatility of the town and economic strengths.”
Mr Broekman said the chamber had been busy promoting the event through its sub-committee, the Retail Precinct Committee.
“CMCA is actually supporting the promoting that the retail precinct is putting on. They include things like specials in dress shops and restaurants,” he said.
Retail Precinct Committee representative Lisa Davis said when rally participants arrived they would receive an event satchel with promotional information about the rally, planned activities and the Gunnedah shire.
“The Gunnedah Chamber along with the rally organisers invited local businesses to contribute a promotional flyer or special offer into the satchel in a bid to ensure their business was front of mind with rally participants when it came time to spend,” she said.
“The offer was open to all local businesses, with fourteen choosing to participate from across a broad cross section of industry.”
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Mrs Davis said the rally could bring a “successful week of trade” to the town.
“I believe the National CMCA Rally provides a fabulous opportunity for local retailers to boost sales and benefit directly from the anticipated $2 million injection expected to flow into the local economy in the coming weeks as a result of the event,” she said.
“Many retailers are doing it pretty tough as a result of the drought, and the timing of the rally couldn’t be better, particularly as we continue to purchase stock in the lead up to Christmas.”
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