Tourists to travel Slim Dusty Way

The Macleay Valley is on the road to becoming part of a new tourist drive.

A group of regional councils - Kempsey, Port Macquarie-Hastings, Walcha and Tamworth - are working towards establishing a themed tourist route called the Slim Dusty Way.

The Slim Dusty Way committee has contacted two consultancy agencies to run a feasibility study.

The study will evaluate whether or not the proposed Slim Dusty Way can become a sustainable tourism drive.

The committee has selected Suzie Coulston and Sam Muller, consultants from the Northern Rivers, to prepare the feasibilty study for the proposed Slim Dusty Way Tourist Drive.

The Slim Dusty Way would be a uniquely-themed tourist drive, giving visitors to NSW a truly Australian experience from Nulla Nulla and Kempsey, via Port Macquarie through Wauchope, Walcha and on to Tamworth.

The transformation of Tamworth into Australia's Country Music Capital was strongly supported by Slim Dusty himself.

The Slim Dusty Way's most significant attribute is that this is the road travelled by Slim Dusty and wife Joy McKean on their first ever tour in 1954, performing at a small hall in Walcha.

Chair of the Slim Dusty Way committee and General Manager of Tourism Tamworth, Rebel Thomson said tourists do not follow geographical boundaries, but instead chase experiences.

"Drawing people across the Slim Dusty Way has the potential to expose a whole new generation to a part of Australia that has never been realised," Ms Thomson said.

Consultant Suzie Coulstaon said there were many experiences to enjoy along the proposed route, including the visual beauty of the drive between the coast and the rugged hinterland landscape.

The project work is expected to begin in early August with a meeting of stakeholders in Tamworth.