Looking forward in the micro (the steps we can take),
and looking back in the macro (our cumulative impact).
(A learning from Intrepid Travel’s Global Social Impact Manager)

Who we are and what we do

This year we felt we needed a fresh look to reflect our maturity as an organisation (hence our brand refresh), and to be clear where we can effectively support Australia’s regional tourism industry:

Destination development - Through carefully considered strategic planning we support the sustainable development of regional destinations.
Strategic activation - Our outcomes-focused, pragmatic approach ensures our strategies can be successfully implemented. We connect the dots from strategy to outcomes.
Experience design - We support the design of meaningful tourism experiences, particularly in agritourism, nature-based and outdoors tourism, and Aboriginal tourism.
Capability building - We work with tourism operators to develop a collaborative and resilient local tourism industry.

Our purpose

We create vibrant and sustainable regional and rural communities.

We layer what’s good for the local community, its natural assets and its local economy in all that we do.

Our vision

We support and empower regional and rural communities to develop and manage a sustainable tourism industry.

Images: Linda and Kushla in Noosa, Linda mentoring farm stay owners, Linda presenting at the LGNSW Destination and Visitor Economy Conference back where her career started in Wagga, Linda and Kushla in our co-working space, and Kushla at the Global Sustainable Tourism Conference.

Our values & commitment

Down to earth
Team Tilma is born and bred in rural Australia. We celebrate the uniqueness of regional communities, understand your frustrations and opportunities, and speak your language.

Big picture thinkers
Thinking globally as well as locally, not only are we in touch with the fabric of regional communities, but we are always looking at the bigger picture.

Environmentally responsible
Our clients are in some of the most environmentally and culturally rich locations in Australia. We are passionate advocates for responsible tourism.

We know our stuff
An experienced team of over-achievers who are committed to not just deliver on your goals, but blow them completely out of the local watering hole.

The perfect amount of crazy
We have just the right balance of common sense to curiosity, focus to free-thinking, and intuition to imagination. 

All about outcomes
Our passion is seeing regional communities achieve great results from their investments in their visitor economy. We don’t stop at the idea generation and planning; it’s supporting the achievement of results that excites us the most!

Full of beans
We’re not sure if it’s the fresh country air, the morning sun rising over sunflower fields, or the hearty country brekkies, but our team of go-getters jump out of bed each day ready to take on big challenges and put in 100% every step of the way!

28 tourism development projects in 2024

This year our projects directly benefitted 25 regional communities and 21 regional tourism business owners.

Strategic planning

State-wide Visitor Experience training program ‘Queensland Welcomes You’, developed with JJ Strategic Consulting for the Queensland Department of Tourism and Sport and the Queensland Regional Tourism Network (a collaboration of all 13 QLD regional tourism organisations)
Latrobe City Events and Visitor Economy Strategy 2024-2028, VIC, developed with JJ Strategic Consulting
Events strategies for Byron Shire Council, NSW (developed with JJ Strategic Consulting), Tweed Shire Council, NSW, and Redland City Council, QLD
Major events impact report for Kiama Municipal Council, NSW
Event assessment framework for Noosa Shire Council, QLD
Consultation for Blue Sky Trails’ Cloncurry Tracks & Trails project, QLD
Visitor information servicing review for City of Karratha, WA (underway)

Strategic activation

This year we mentored 17 businesses in two states on agritourism and transformational experiences, plus mentored 80 Gold Coast businesses with JJ Strategic Consulting on TEQ’s Best of Queensland Experience program. This is rewarding work we’d love to do more of!

Capability building

Award submission support for many, including winning Gold for Outback Music Festivals Group at both the NSW and QLD Tourism Awards, pitting their two events against each other at the Australian Tourism Awards! We also helped two operators receive recognition for their sustainability: The Australian Agricultural Centre won a NSW Banksia Sustainability Award, and Kestrel Nest Ecohut, won Gold for Ecotourism at the NSW Tourism Awards
Grant writing support for many, including winning $185,500 to improve accessibility at Darling Downs Zoo
Guide for businesses on how to leverage events for Weddin Shire Council
Keynote speaker on visitor experience development at the Somerset Trails & Tourism Conference for Somerset Regional Council

Images: The Queensland Welcomes You training initiative (Image credit: Yagurli Tours, Burketown (Moungibi) Queensland), winning Gold for our awards client, site visit around Karratha region in WA, a visual representation of Linda’s trails keynote presentation, and one of the events strategies we developed this year.

A proud moment

This year, with Cootamundra-Gundagai Regional Council, we won a national award for Economic Development Initiatives for Regions Under 15,000 Residents. Cootamundra-Gundagai Regional Council has been developing agritourism for a number of years, with Tilma Group’s support, including

Development of an agritourism development strategic plan
Developing and delivering an agritourism development program, including one-on-one mentoring

Our positive impact

The key ways we sought to improve our positive impact this year were as follows.

Goal: Contribute to our industry

We volunteered for our industry via 7 projects, including 3 national and state tourism conference presentations, a national webinar, and an article in a national economic development journal, as well as via our regular blog articles, such as Which sustainability accreditation program should I choose? These contributions increased knowledge around agritourism and regional events for over a thousand members of our industry.

Example

For the second year, I supported University of Technology Sydney's event management students. The students developed a concept for a new event for Redlands Coast based on the real life context of the region. This supported our client Redland City Council who are looking to create a new tourism event. Together with the City’s events team we provided feedback on the students’ concepts. The students’ next assignment was to work in teams to flesh out a few of the most promising concepts.

Linda and Kushla volunteering at AbilityFest (where we learned about event accessibility), Linda presented at the Tourism Council WA conference in Mandurah, Kushla attended the Global Sustainable Tourism Summit, and one of the UTS students’ event concepts.

Goal: Support UN Sustainable Development Goals 12 & 13

Target 12.6: Encourage companies to adopt sustainable practices
SDG 13: Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts

We align our strategic plans with the Global Sustainable Tourism Council’s Destination Criteria.

We include in our plans how destination managers can improve the sustainability of the tourism businesses in their circle of influence.

When we mentor tourism business owners and managers, we encourage and enable them to consider how they can improve their business’ environmental and social sustainability.

Examples

The Queensland Welcomes You online training aims to teach thousands of front-line tourism and hospitality staff about how to provide a warm, inclusive welcome to guests. Participants learn about

The Traditional Owners of their region, and how guests can connect with them and learn from them.
How to support guests with disability
Which local tourism businesses are providing sustainable experiences

Support the resilience of regional communities

1% of Tilma’s profit is donated to FRRR’s Prepare and Recover grant fund which helps regional communities increase resilience to the impacts of climate change.

We enable and encourage our colleagues, clients and followers to join us in donating to this valuable grant program.

No time like the present!

Goal: Reduce emissions

We sought advice from ecoBiz (free for QLD businesses) to understand

Tilma’s Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions
mandatory climate risk and emissions reporting starting in 2025
our need for reporting to our local government clients who are likely to be in the first group of large corporations assessed from 2025
how our strategic plans can support these clients e.g. in helping them reduce emissions in their circle of influence.

Tilma has very low Scope 1 and 2 emissions (fuel use and purchased electricity). Though employee travel for business purposes is classified as Scope 3 emissions, we purchase offsets for flights, two renewable-energy-based home offices, and one car, covering the average emissions of these.

Example

In each events strategy that we write for a Council, we include actions on how the Council can help reduce emissions from events, such as by installing solar panels at Council-managed event venues, and providing sustainability templates to event organisers.

Goal: Improve our abilities

We seek to improve our skills to better support our clients.

I trained in Learning Science and using Learning Management Systems, and used my new skills to create the Queensland Welcomes You online training..
Kushla continued her Graduate Diploma in Sustainability (UTas)