Update from the CEO

It has been encouraging to see our community coming back together to support our business community, especially those hardest hit by the shutdowns. It was terrific to see restaurants filled to their new restricted capacity over the last month.Our accommodation providers have reported a big upswing in occupancy rates since the travel restrictions were eased and the increased visitor numbers have been noticeable in the region on the weekends.The BGCCI would like to acknowledge the hard work and sacrifices made by businesses, landlords, supply chains, local councils, financial institutions, Governments and many others to enable our impacted local businesses to survive.The BGCCI has been very active to ensure that businesses did not fall between the cracks, we have been advocating at all levels of Government to provide targeted support to industry sectors who needed additional support. The RCCIWA, our peak body, is represented on the WA State Government COVID-19 Recovery Taskforce to ensure all regional businesses have a voice.We have also been working collaboratively with the City of Bunbury and the Shire of Dardanup to deliver a digital and social media campaign into the Perth market to promote the region as a destination using a number of themes to highlight the attractions and attractiveness of visiting and staying in Bunbury Geographe. It is the first time such a campaign has been run and we look forward to seeing positive results from this approach.The Chamber has also been hard at work on the local content component of the BORR project and we will have some exciting news on this project next month.We are now focussing on bringing the business community back together with several events being planned by the Chamber. We are looking forward to another Business After Hours in July, after our June event, where we can meet to share our stories and create new local business opportunities. Further details will be e-mailed to our members and will be published on our website. Our meeting rooms are also available for bookings as the Chamber has returned to business as usual, albeit with some new hygiene and distancing regulations.It has been a great to be able to start meeting again in person, whilst the Video Conferencing tools have been invaluable during lock down, it has a created a new syndrome of being “Zoomed out”. I am sure we are all feeling a little Zoomed out.We continue to urge our community to follow physical distancing rules and keep up the hygiene requirements, as we have seen in recent days local outbreaks are still occurring in Australia and across the world and many countries are still yet to get control of community transmission. It would be dire if we were forced back into a lockdown situation again.If you belong to an industry that has been impacted by the downturn and believe that you require additional assistance, then please contact me at the Chamber so that we can advocate on your behalf.Take care, be positive and Stay Safe.Mark Seaward.