Newcastle’s tourism market is sizzling, with more than $1.5 billion in annual visitor spend.
Now, local businesses are cooking up fresh experiences to entice travellers to stay longer.
Yellow Door Kitchen in Tighes Hill is putting itself on the menu, as one of five local businesses taking part in City of Newcastle’s (CN) Product Mentoring Development Program.
The initiative aims to expand Newcastle’s growing reputation as a destination for travellers, helping the city meet rising demand from domestic and international visitors.
Executive manager media engagement economy and corporate affairs Nick Kaiser said council was working to expand the range of bookable tourism experiences in Newcastle to meet growing demand.
“This program is aimed at enhancing Newcastle’s burgeoning reputation as a compelling destination within the Australian leisure travel market,” he explained.
“Almost five million people visited our city in 2024.
“But, the majority of those visitors only came on a day trip or stayed overnight.
“With the expansion of Newcastle Airport’s international routes, it’s important to build capacity for domestic and international tourist-ready experiences.
“The unique activities will provide a deeper connection to life in Newcastle beyond the usual sightseeing opportunities, giving tourists even more reasons to stay in our city while providing a boost to the local economy.”
This year’s Product Mentoring Development Program attracted businesses that offer a range of experiences such as brewery tours, history crawls, First Nations culture and Civic Theatre backstage tours.
Participants take part in two half-day workshops and will receive one-on-one mentoring sessions with previous participants such as Nova Cruises, Mitch Revs and Foghorn Brewery, as well as six months of ongoing business support.
For owner Janet Newton, it’s the perfect platform to expand Yellow Door Kitchen beyond its loyal local following.
“City of Newcastle’s Product Development Mentoring Program is perfectly designed to help us find ways to reach a wider audience,” she said.
“We have so much to offer with hands-on classes for people of all ages and cooking abilities, as well as cooking demonstrations involving food from all over the world.
“I’m excited to be part of this year’s program and look forward to learning from other industry professionals.”
This year marks the third round of the Product Development Mentoring Program, which has so far helped 23 local businesses develop and expand their tourism-focused ideas.
Mr Kaiser said it was just one of the initiatives being delivered under City of Newcastle’s Destination Management Plan to help grow and support the visitor economy.
“The tourism sector plays a vital role in Newcastle’s economy, having experienced significant growth during the past 10 years,” he added.
“We’re committed to leading a collaborative whole of industry approach toward shaping Newcastle as a premier destination.
“Projects such as the Product Development Mentoring Program are about investing in the capacity of our local industry, while initiatives such as our campaign with global travel platform Tripadvisor highlights our bookable attractions to attract new visitors and increase tourist spend.
“This campaign has been running since mid-September and has already resulted in more than 80,000 visits to our ‘Seek New in Newcastle’ webpage, ensuring we continue to reinforce everything Newcastle has to offer to as many potential visitors as possible.”
For Yellow Door Kitchen, it’s more than a cooking class.
It is a taste of Newcastle that visitors won’t forget.
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