Mr Mercurio will be one of the speakers at the event, to be held on July 9 at Tobruk Sheep Station, while Frankie J Holden will be the master of ceremonies.

Currently the host of Mercurio's Menu, which airs on Channel 7, Mr Mercurio has been brought to the event with the support of the award winning cooking school ? Urban Graze.

Lori Modde, Executive Manager of Hills Hawkesbury and Riverlands Tourism, said the conference would be a great opportunity for any business that benefits from visitors to our area.

"The businesses will hear about tips to help their growth in these uncertain economic times," Ms Modde said.

Topics will include marketing, the Internet and Google, understanding customers, plus much more.

Organisations such as Tourism NSW, TNS Research, TAFE and Australian Tourism Data Warehouse will be among those represented. Even well known author, Ms Catherine DeVrye, will be speaking at the conference.

"This event is a great opportunity for people interested in promoting our destination to visitors and to those in the food industry. This is an event not to be missed," Ms Modde said.

"This will be the first opportunity for a lot of the operators to talk together as well as hear from professionals in the industry."

Restaurants, cafes, bed and breakfasts, farms, retail shops, conference centres, attractions, hotels and motels are all encouraged to attend.

The conference will be held at Tobruk Sheep Station on Thursday, July 9 from 8:30am - 5:30pm. RSVP until the week before July 3.

For more information about attending, go to www.hhart.com.au and click on Events or call the HHART office on 02 8208 6122.