The Far West Historic Hotels Touring Route is being created as part of a project for the Far North West Joint Organisation (FNWJO) and its member councils Bourke, Cobar and Walgett Shires. 

As part of this project, a travelling team visited the area and called for community engagement in mid-October. The group got out and about talking to locals and visiting sites as part of the development of the new touring route.

 The Hotels Touring Route project is being undertaken by Gidgee Media which is headed up by well-known Bourke local Andrew Hull. Andrew has a long history of storytelling in Western NSW from the including working with touring routes like the Darling River Run.

Mr Hull said the recent community meetings drew a good cross section of the community across the three shires, with a special interest from current hotel owners.

"Interest during the open forum and the of consulting has been very high, everyone loves to tell the stories of the old pubs. This consultation was more to explain the marketing research end rather than gather tales, which is what happens next’

“The team are also working with local historians, photographers and, most importantly, local storytellers, so the narrative of the region gets told by the people of the region – that’s really important. We have done months of online research to build up a database of hotels, and we are still always being told about old places we havent found yet, or updating the database with local information."

Bourke Shire Mayor, Barry Hollman explained that the project aims to celebrate and encourage visitors to explore the history, heritage, and contemporary values of the Great Australian Bush Watering Hole.

“The Aussie pub is as iconic to the Australian Outback landscape as red dirt,” Mr Hollman said. “Across the Local Government Areas of Walgett, Bourke and Cobar, there are hundreds of sites where pubs once stood, and while we can’t access many of these sites, it’s important that that the fascinating stories attached to them are recorded and told.

"These stories form an important part of the area’s history and should not be lost. The legacy of their existence and the sites of what remains are like remote monuments to the development of modern Australia and the identity of the Outback. They are like an archive holding the story of Western NSW during this development period.”

Mr Hull said one of the next steps of the project is to zero in on a name.

"We’ve had some really good feedback and we’re down to a few possible handles - we’ll test these with the steering committee and then with the stakeholders and then we’ll launch the name. We also need to physically ground-truth the various touring loops, locations and attractions, and gather some more stories along the way," he said.

“Keep an eye out for the project online, and we’d love to make it a great online community for people who love a good story, and love their history. The project team has been touring the region during September and October and are looking forward to meeting locals and hearing the stories so these can be added to the rapidly developing data base of information."

Mr Hull said they look forward to having locals telling their own stories as much as possible,

"We’ll be using local talent all through the project," he said.

The long term goal for the project is to build economic growth through tourism.

"We know it’s still a big market - the term ‘Grey nomad’ has fondly evolved to WoW - Wallets on Wheels," Mr Hull said.

"We know there is a strong interest in our area, we just need to provide something for them to do. Around 13,000 people travel through our region to the Mundi Mundi bash alone, 10,000 to the Big Red Bash, plus all the activity of a regular tourist season - we want to provide a reason to get them off  out exploring our fantastic area, staying a few extra nights and spending a few dollars along the way."