What are the tourism priorities of regional Councils?

Australian Regional Tourism (ART) and Economic Development Australia (EDA) have partnered on a national economic development and tourism benchmarking survey of local governments.

Responses to the survey which was open from December 2020 to January 2021 reveal a variety of approaches and resources dedicated to economic development and tourism departments within local government across Australia: in metro areas, suburban, regional cities and rural areas.

The survey’s report covers

• Local government’s priorities for economic development and tourism

• Resources allocated by local governments to economic development and tourism

• The structure of economic development and tourism departments

Tilma takeaways for regional Councils

Regional city and rural Councils spend more on tourism than on other forms of economic development

It is interesting to see that regional and rural councils spend more on tourism than other forms of economic development, as compared to the opposite being the case in metro councils. It would be great to know how much of the tourism budget is spent on events (see further down)!

This information is not available as a per capita (resident or visitor) figure.

Regional city and rural Councils allocate more budget to tourism and economic development than metro/suburban Councils

Whilst metro councils may have more to spend their money on, it is great to see that regional and rural councils are understanding the value of tourism and economic development and investing accordingly.

Rural Councils spend a ton on visitor information centres!

Not a surprise, but still a factor that needs close attention.
Could these funds be spent in a different way to get a better ROI in terms of increased visitation and visitor expenditure, length of stay and dispersal?
In the last few years Tilma Group have undertaken a number of consultancies looking at alternative models for visitor servicing, so the shift is starting to take place.

Budget allocated to tourism and economic development is typically increasing or at least remaining consistent

Good news!
The discussion now needs to move to Return on Investment.

Regional city and rural Councils invest in tourism staff

Who is that lucky regional city Council with 15 tourism staff?!

Our industry is a human industry and requires skilled workers to strategically manage a destination. Whilst these figures are good, we need to ensure that we have the necessary skills and capacity amongst our teams.

Tourism staff are combined with events and economic development staff

The challenge with having tourism, events and economic development responsibilities within the same position/s is that it becomes a struggle for the staff to do everything and to do anything well. It would be great to see Councils critically analysing their strengths and where they are set to gain the best ROI, and developing positions to support this…and don’t expect one person to be able to do many different skilled roles.

Regional City Councils pair up tourism staff with

1. Events staff (83%)

2. Economic development staff (58%)

3. Sports and recreation staff (50%)

4. Arts and culture staff (50%)

5. Library staff (50%)

6. Community development staff (50%)

7. Communications staff (42%)

8. Family/youth/elderly services staff (42%)

9. Strategic planning staff (33%)

Rural Councils pair up tourism staff with

1. Events staff (76%)

2. Economic development staff (62%)

3. Community development staff (57%)

4. Arts and culture staff (52%)

5. Library staff (52%)

6. Communications staff (38%)

7. Family/youth/elderly services staff (38%)

8. Sports and recreation staff (24%)

9. Strategic planning staff (24%)

Councils see their primary tourism role as destination marketing

This needs to change!

It would be great for regional and rural councils to invest time and resources into Tourism Industry Support and Tourism Product Attraction as the priorities. If this is done well, marketing success will be a natural fall out. Without this, what are you marketing to ensure you are competitive?

Regional and rural Councils see their primary tourism roles as

1. Marketing

2. Visitor information services

3. Enhancing experiences

4. / 5. Industry support / Investment attractions

6. Advocacy

Regional city Councils also run art galleries and museums, while rural Councils run caravan parks

Regional city Councils also run

1. Art galleries (89%)

2. Museums (72%)

3. Visitor attractions (44%)

4. Caravan parks (39%)

5. Attractions (33%)

6. Indigenous attractions (6%)

Rural Councils also run

1. Caravan parks (67%)

2. Visitor attractions (38%)

3. Art galleries (33%)

4. Museums (21%)

5. Attractions (21%)

If Councils had more tourism budget, they’d invest in destination marketing

(Which is what they see as their #1 role or priority)

Product and experience development and Main Street activation are the next priorities

In our work with rural and regional Councils we find everyone wants to do more marketing, but few consider how they can get more of the most effective and cost-effective form of marketing - word of mouth recommendations.

1. Who are your ideal visitors?

2. What are their needs?

3. How does your destination fulfill those needs?

4. What gaps exist in your destination in terms of their needs?

• Tourism products such as quality accommodations or shopping opportunities open when visitors are in town on weekends?

• Tourism experiences such as guided tours providing interpretation or participatory and immersive learning opportunities?

• Consistently high quality customer service across all visitor touchpoints?

Destination development includes

• Product and experiences (appealing and engaging)

• Industry capability

• Visitor servicing (contemporary)

• Brand and marketing

• Sustainability (responsible tourism)

These pillars are like legs of a table – if one isn’t strong, the table wobbles. Destinations should be careful about heavily investing in marketing until they are confident they are providing visitors with exceptional experiences.

Tilma Group’s regional destination development strategic planning always addresses all of these pillars.

If Councils had more economic development budget, they’d spend it on mentoring and training

This is great to hear, however going back to the point earlier about investing in Destination Marketing. Those councils that invest in industry support/development via mentoring and training will create a competitive edge in regional and rural communities. Do we dare say customer service training?!

Tilma Group helps regional communities grow with 

• Strategic mentoring
  Having been CEO of a regional tourism organisation, worked with local governments and tourism operators across regional Australia, managed events, and being a small business owner and entrepreneur, Linda Tillman’s holistic experience means she is well-placed to mentor individuals across the tourism industry

• Training and workshops
  Tilma Group develops and delivers industry development programs and workshops tailored to meet the needs of a region’s tourism operators.  

More regional and rural Councils could benefit from providing a booking service

This might require development of bookable products or making existing products bookable.

Watch the presentation of the report

The report’s findings were presented by Urban Enterprise and included a Q&A session:

2016 Research on Local Government spend on tourism

In October 2016, Australian Regional Tourism undertook research into regional local government spend on tourism. 46% of councils in regional Australia contributed.

The research quantifies the important role local government plays in supporting Australia’s tourism industry through events and services such as visitor information centres, festivals, promotion, marketing and tourism development.

Regional local governments themselves realise the important role they play, with 90% recognising tourism offers economic development opportunities.

Over to you

What do you think? We’d love to hear your thoughts!