The value of regional events

What a fabulous few days our industry has just had in Mackay Queensland for the Australian Regional Tourism Convention!

I was honoured to be flying the flag for regional events, presenting on how to create a values based assessment framework that supports transparent and strategic decision making around event support.

 Here is a snapshot of the common themes that came up throughout my discussions and during the Australian Regional Tourism Ambassador sessions I led. 

If you prefer to learn by video or audio, here’s my summary by video, which I recorded for my event capacity building program, Australian Centre for Regional Events:

How do we maximise the value from events?

A destination manager from a regional city that hosts many large events spoke to me about how to better leverage their events to showcase the destination and generate year round visitation, so that they are not simply a quick sugar hit. 

Don’t be scared to take a less is more approach, and work with the events you already have. Look closely at how you can leverage and maximise their value, especially in this current climate. 

Watch my recent presentation on how events create impact for regional destinations.

Volunteering 

Many asked me about how to solve the volunteering challenge across regional and rural Australia. How do we move away from the volunteer dependency model to support the long term viability of events?

We MUST look at the model of events differently and start to remove the strong dependence we have on volunteers! Councils should look at directing funding at the incubation of events to enable them to build good structure and governance from the beginning. If event organisers can get this right, everything becomes easier!!! 

It is vital that event organisers take the time to work on their event, and put in place succession planning systems and processes that allows the event to stand on its own without reliance on an individual. Anyone should be able to walk in and pick up the planning and management of an event at any point in time - this comes down to having systems and processes in place! 

Event committees can develop a casual volunteering approach that means volunteers are not expected to sign up for life. They can break event management roles down into smaller manageable chunks and recruit casual volunteers to take on one small chunk. 

Understanding the purpose of events

Many discussions were had around the types of events that are supported by destination managers and Councils, and understanding where to focus energy and resources to gain the best return. 

 I challenged everyone to go back and ask their Council and elected members for their region’s WHY - why do we do events? What do we want events to deliver for our community? This is the first step in developing an assessment framework.

The process for creating a values-based event assessment framework

Changing our approach to events

How do we change the way we support events that we have been supporting for a long period of time? Or even, how do we stop supporting events that have become dependent on our funding? 

The answer to this is developing a strong assessment framework and a policy around it. Taking the time to look strategically at the best fit events for your region will allow you to make transparent decisions on events. You should never be expected to continue doing something that no longer makes sense. 

How we help destinations leverage events

We regularly develop regional events strategies for Councils to help them identify what they want events to deliver for their communities, and how to support events to maximise those benefits.

See a case study of a strategy we developed for Tweed Shire Council that focused on delivering social benefits for the community.

I was interviewed by Despina Karatzias for Australian Regional Tourism at the Convention on this topic:

1:38 My presentation with Stu Spiers was about sparking ideas on valuing the social benefits that events bring, and thinking strategically about leveraging them better.

2:51 Going back – where my passion for regional events came from.

6:13 A light bulb moment from the Convention: when Rose Wright shared that CSIRO forecasted the future economic value of agritourism, decision makers started to pay attention and support its growth. This is what we need for regional events – to really recognise their potential value for regional communities, and start supporting that.

7:28 Why I recommend attending Australian Regional Tourism’s 2025 Convention (having attended for many years) – this is our community; it’s good to feel part of a bigger family.

If you are interested to discuss how your Council can make more strategic and transparent decisions around events supported reach out to us today!