ABERCROMBIE House owner Chris Morgan says he is "absolutely" an optimist about the future of Bathurst's visitor economy.
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And he's got plenty of context on which to draw, having been on Bathurst tourism and heritage committees and reference groups since he was 18.
After dark days for the local tourism sector in late December and early January, when bushfire smoke, heatwaves and road closures kept visitors away, the recovery has begun in earnest - helped in no small part by the recent Sir Elton John concert.
"These big signature events being staged by Bathurst Regional Council are of huge benefit in three ways," Mr Morgan said.
"They give buoyancy to the local community and remind us that we are a mature and interesting community; they strengthen the message that Bathurst is a really legitimate destination now; and the events themselves draw people and, therefore, money and commerce into the city, which has been a boost to Bathurst recently [for the Sir Elton concert] and we'll do it again in February when Missy Higgins is here [for Inland Sea of Sound]."
Mr Morgan said "a great deal" remains to be done, but he is very optimistic about the future for tourism in Bathurst.
"We've got our act together," he said.
"The food and wine component has matured and become well-known and very strong; the cafe culture is vibrant; the fine balance between retention of heritage and development is being nurtured carefully by a lot of different groups.
"The broader recognition of Bathurst as a very historic city has blossomed, largely because of social media.
"And that's comforting because the worldwide trend in tourism is all about heritage and historic stories. That is the universal driver in tourism in the western world."
Mr Morgan said he and his wife Xanthe are focused on that fine balance between heritage and modern ideas at historic Abercrombie House on the Ophir Road.
A lot of visitors to the home are surprised to find it has a Tesla electric vehicle charger (installed in 2017), Mr Morgan said, and there are plans to reduce the house's reliance on the electricity grid.
"We've got some big projects in the planning now," he said.
"We're talking about putting in a whole lot of solar and getting this house as much as possible off the grid.
"That project is under way. We have just about completed the research on that.
"There are many other ways that modern ideas and clever thinking can be applied to historic landmarks to their benefit without compromising their historic values.
"It makes sense to do that [use solar energy] because savings from that can be applied to the long-term maintenance of the house."
