Cr Mithra Cox agreed that the city needed tourist drawcards, but they could be the same things that appealed to locals.

"It is things like good public transport, like pleasant streetscapes that are wide enough that you can walk with your friends that are quiet enough that you can have a conversation," she said.

"Streets that go somewhere where there's live music, where there's art, where there's interesting people where there's good food, where it feels like a place that people want to hang out.

"All of those things that we want for our city are the things that will draw people to it. If we create those things, then people will want to come here."

Story by Glen Humphries in the Illawarra Mercury, 13 August 2024.