Hilltops Council last week approved the allocation of $20,000 towards a dedicated Chinese tourism resource. The draft minutes from that meeting are to be found online, at the Council website. The funds will allow work towards the development of a comprehensive sister-city relationship strategy, which Council believes will “deliver positive economic outcomes.” The decision comes after the December 2017 meeting, where Council was advised that they should actively pursue a sister-city relationship. It is believed that pursuing closer ties with China could prove to be a boon for the Hilltops region, due to the extensive history our area shares with the country. Notable examples of this history are to be found in Young’s Lambing Flat Chinese Garden, and Murrumburrah’s Chinese Cemetery. It is estimated that by 2020, Canberra would be hosting direct flights to China, providing Hilltops with an an enormous economic opportunity. Hilltops currently maintains a Chinese language tourism site, and uses a host of social media platforms in order to maintain contact with the Chinese community, in Australia and abroad. The $20,000 allocation will be put towards a specialist Chinese Relations officer, for a 12 month trial period.
