Somerset Regional Council hosted the inaugural Rail Trails and Tourism Conference on Wednesday and Thursday, 6 and 7 November at the Somerset Civic Centre in Esk.

The event, held in partnership with Bicycle Queensland, welcomed cyclists, tourism operators and neighbouring councils to learn about the economic opportunities and benefits of rail trails.

Somerset Mayor Jason Wendt said the conference showcased the value of rail trails as tourist attractions while highlighting Council’s Experience Somerset brand.

“The Brisbane Valley Rail Trail has proved to be an incredibly valuable asset to Somerset’s tourism industry, with more and more small businesses tapping into the visitors passing through each town,” Cr Wendt said.

“The conference was a fantastic learning experience for all attendees, including Somerset Regional Council.

“It was great to hear from community, council and tourism representatives, including keynote speaker Linda Tillman from Tilma Group who spoke about designing memorable visitor experiences.”

Conferees enjoyed a networking event at the Esk Grand Hotel on Wednesday night and an early morning bike ride along the BVRT on Thursday morning.

Bicycle Queensland CEO Alton Twine has a long record of passionate and effective advocacy for cycling and sustainable transport.

Mr Twine was one of several speakers and said the conference was insightful for all parties involved.

“What a great partnership with Council, to bring people from all over Queensland and other states here to find out about rail trails and how good the Brisbane Valley Rail Trail is,” Mr Twine said.

“We had a really amazing day on Wednesday and Dr Richard Buning from the University of Queensland, who is a real expert in cycle tourism, gave a great presentation with some very interesting insights into tourist behaviours.”

A panel of elite cyclists held a fireside chat on Wednesday, including Troy Szczurkowski, who runs a small business building and servicing custom adventure race bikes.

Mr Szczurkowski uses the BVRT for the safe, secluded and uninterrupted distance that it offers year-round for race training.

“Our first experience as a family on the BVRT was in 2012, and the trail has improved immensely,” Mr Szczurkowski said.

“I do notice the small changes when surface treatments go in and bridges get put in, and it’s always exciting to see these upgrades.”

Mr Szczurkowski said he enjoyed hearing from the tourism, government and community organisations.

“The conference was really good in that it brought a lot of different moving parts together,” he said.

“Advocates can see what it’s like from a user perspective and users can see what it’s like from the perspective of governments, from the top down.”

The two-day conference was made possible with assistance provided through the jointly funded Commonwealth-State Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements (DRFA) and the Queensland Department of Transport and Main Roads.