The South Australian Tourism Plan 2020 sets a bold target of increasing tourism visitor spend in the state from around $6 billion to $8 billion by December 2020. The Fleurieu Peninsula currently has the highest visitation of any other region in South Australia other than Adelaide reflecting the importance of the region to the achievement of state tourism targets. The total number of visitors to South Australia for the year ending September 2015 was 6,080,000, of that Adelaide ranked number 1 visits and the Fleurieu ranked number 2, followed closely by Limestone Coast and the Flinders Ranges & Outback. The Alexandrina Council area recorded the second highest number of visitor nights (after Onkaparinga) for councils on the Fleurieu Peninsula. Tourism is a key driver of the Alexandrina economy. Setting strategic direction for tourism industry growth is vital to retaining the current visitor preference for the region, attracting new visitors and increasing spend in the region. This Strategy has been developed to assist the following key partners to work together to deliver tourism outcomes for the region: o Alexandrina Council: to guide its application of resources (staff and funding), and development of assets and services (Council as a tourism operator, infrastructure, tourism assets, visitor information services, events, planning and programs). o Regional Tourism Organisations (Fleurieu Peninsula Tourism & Murray River Lakes & Coorong Tourism Alliance) and Regional Development Australia Adelaide Hills, Fleurieu & Kangaroo Island (input into planning and service delivery) neighbouring councils (collaborative projects and initiatives). o Local tourism operators (opportunities for growth and new investment). The key focus of this Strategy is to provide direction on how existing visitor numbers can be maintained and grown and on how visitor spend can be increased. The Strategy: o identifies key areas of focus for development of experiences to maintain competitiveness, address current gaps, increase existing business profitability and diversification and drive new investment o identifies current needs of existing businesses in terms of achieving business growth and increasing capacity and capability o provides direction to tourism stakeholders in terms of aspirations for the sector for the next five years and setting of appropriate targets and measures o aligns with key Alexandrina Council, regional stakeholder and South Australian Government plans and strategies encouraging a collaborative government, community and business approach to tourism in the region o defines Council’s role in delivering on tourism targets with particular focus on visitor information services, events and festivals, communications and marketing, industry support and development of partnerships o identifies stakeholder aspirations, roles and responsibilities and promotes collaboration and engagement in implementing key initiatives.