Talisman Games

Next week the region gets an influx of around 1600 people on top of the Talisman Sabre contingent already here for the military training exercises involving 30000 Australian and US Defence personnel. Extra people mean extra dollars circulating in our economy. The 1600 may not be as flash with the cash as perhaps the defence personnel might be. They are here competing in the Northern Uni Games. While maybe not flash with the cash now this group of athletic students could prove to be just as valuable to our economy as the military exercises. These students (as also a number of the defence personnel) will be tomorrow’s engineers, accountants, marketers, teachers, scientists, etc. They’ll come from other Australian Universities but some may have originally come from overseas. Their wealth and influence will grow in line with their work experience and some will eventually be making decisions that will affect economies, positively or negatively. We should therefore maximise the opportunity their visit here represents likewise for the Defence personnel.
The Talisman Sabre Open Day next Saturday is a great way for locals to interact with the visiting defence personnel and I imagine they have received welcome kits to our region. Can we do something similar with the students? I see there’s a opening and maybe closing ceremony at CQUniversity can locals be encouraged to attend or could there be another event during the Games away from the Uni where the students could also interact with the locals perhaps at the beach. Some live music, fun cross-fit challenges, food stalls and the distribution of welcome kits that include discount vouchers and places to see in the region.
This is arguably the best time of year to showcase our region; mild weather, clear blue sky makes it ideal for sightseeing, finding stores not found in typical shopping centres and getting dressed up to go out. Give these students a sample of the Capricorn lifestyle and with their mobile phones they will take photos, make posts telling friends and family about our region. The Defence personnel will do likewise, but because the visiting students will not be as obvious as the uniforms we may not notice them and have them leave with little impression of the region other than the sporting venues and perhaps some bars. That would be a terrible waste of the opportunity hosting the Games is.
Next week let’s think of the visitors to our region not just as the source of extra retail and accommodation dollars, but as possible ambassadors and future residents of the region AND how do we make this happen.