Tourism visionaries: Rae and Ross Veale at an event in 2018. Photo: Luke Hemer.
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Luke Hemer
Former leader in the Echuca-Moama tourism industry Ross Veale remembers a time when Echuca-Moama wasn’t considered one destination.
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With his wife Rae, and in partnership with close friends, the couple built River Country Inn in Moama in 1986, intending to run it for three years before selling and moving back to Melbourne.
But those three years turned into 36 – and counting – with Mr Veale holding various positions along the way, including inaugural president of the accommodation association, president of the business and trades association and Echuca-Moama Tourism.
“When we first came here we had Murray River Tourism on the Victorian side and Rich River Tourism in NSW,” Mr Veale said.
“Being in NSW we interacted with both sides of the river, but locals didn’t see it that way.
“Outsiders could see Echuca-Moama as one destination and that’s what we were eventually able to promote, which took a fair bit of doing. That’s how Echuca-Moama Tourism was formed.
“One of the issues you had with locals here, they couldn’t see tourism as an industry, particularly with most of them being farmers.
“They’d load up their sheep and cattle to go to Melbourne but couldn’t see bus-loads full of people coming here from Melbourne.
“That’s been broken down a heck of a lot.”
In 1987 Mr Veale was a founding member of Echuca Moama Accommodation Association, and later what’s now known as Echuca-Moama Tourism.
“We built the tourism office in Moama, which is empty now, with donations and volunteers,” he said.
“The council gave us the land but it was a lot of people who put in a lot of work and time to build it and we operated it with volunteers for two or three years.
“Back in those days we used to go to the travel shows. We’d go to Adelaide, Sydney, Melbourne, we went to New Zealand three times – all staffed all with volunteers and at their own cost – promoting Echuca-Moama as a place to visit.
“It’s mindboggling what tourism’s worth to the area; unfortunately it’s been dead in the water for a period of time.”
Mr Veale said the importance of the Victorian and NSW governments being on the same page went without saying, but currently common sense was not so common.
“How can it be the Border Inn can have 150 people and you can have 20 or whatever at the Caledonian?” he said.
“It doesn’t make sense.
“Sadly, the people making the decisions have never been in business in their lives – they’re career politicians.
Marking a milestone: Inaugural members of the Echuca-Moama Accommodation Association, Ross Veale and Maureen Baker in 2017 celebrating its 30th birthday. Photo: Rusty Woodger
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Rusty Woodger
“We have a daughter in Western Australia, and we’re one of many, but we haven’t seen her for nearly two years.”
Evidence of cross-border struggles of the past was when daylight savings was introduced in Victoria but not NSW, meaning twin-town residents had to keep track of an hour difference when crossing the Murray River – “an absolute shocker” for residents.
When the Veales came to Moama and built River Country Inn, it was part of a two-year period when nine accommodation venues popped up in the twin towns.
“It was the reality of ‘this is the place to be’; it’s a great destination, the paddle steamers, All the Rivers Run.
“It blows us away now how much it’s developed. We drive out Perricoota Rd and see all the housing developments; they were all farms when we came here.”
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