We’ve been mentoring a lot of agritourism operators over the last year.

Here we share examples of how our mentoring supported their business’ growth.

This is a tough topic that we hope a couple of recommended resources will help your business with. 

What a year!

29 clients in 4 states, including two national tourism associations and a state tourism organisation

Here’s all the projects we undertook for all our 2022 clients

Tilma Group’s Director, Linda Tillman, attended Queensland’s tourism industry forum and shares her key takeaways.

There are big and small ways Councils can support their region’s event organisers and grow the economic and social benefits events provide to the community.

Agriculture and tourism are Australia’s third and sixth largest export industries. Together, they provide a unique opportunity for growth, explored in Australian Regional Tourism’s Agritourism Convention. Here we share our key takeaways.

The Australian Regional Tourism Convention program was jam-packed with great presenters, insightful conversations, and plenty of networking full of robust discussions and laughter.

Tourism and events are symbiotic

• Events give people a reason to travel to destinations

• Successful tourism strategies increase attendee numbers, and broaden the reach and boost the reputation of events which enhances the visitor experience

After the turbulence of the past few years now is a better time than any for tourism and event operators to tap into the expertise of a mentor.

The federal government has developed a national strategy for Australia’s visitor economy recovery and return to sustainable growth called THRIVE 2030 (THe Re-Imagined Visitor Economy).

This article looks at what THRIVE 2030 means for regional tourism over the coming eight years.

It’s the perfect time to consider how to develop and grow exceptional Indigenous tourism businesses with Australia’s national tourism strategy, THRIVE 2030, prioritising the respectful embedding of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and cultures into the visitor economy through initial partnerships and ongoing inclusion, and the opportunity of growing unique and high-quality products, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander experiences.

We are seeing a shift in consumer demand for sustainable travel. Travellers want to support destinations, events and tourism businesses that are being responsible and doing good for their community and the environment.

Insider grant writing tips from tourism grant writers, and from the agencies that provide grants

In this new era of travel, people are actively seeking experiences that enrich, awaken and transform them, and, eventually, the world.

They want to ignite something new within themselves by consciously connecting with and appreciating our extraordinary planet, its people and cultures.

Learn how to deepen engagement with your guests…

If a destination is marketed successfully with strong investment and superb content using a detailed and focused marketing strategy, but fails to deliver a quality experience when visitors arrive, the tourism potential of the destination will never be realised!

All the pillars of the visitor economy require effective management.

How do we embrace these natural-born tour guides (I know, not all of them!) and support them to create authentic and transformational tourism experiences across regional Australia?

How can we break down barriers for them and create a viable pathway to diversify into tourism?

How do we enable them to show the REAL Australia?

In reviewing the award categories for 2021 we noticed an exciting opportunity: there is currently no award for destination management (or better, destination development).

Here’s why we think an award for destination development would be a great addition to the tourism awards…

Tilma Group’s takeaways from a national survey on economic development and tourism investment by local governments across Australia, with a focus on regional cities and rural areas.

Tilma Group supported the rural township of Clifton in southern QLD with a tourism development plan, a marketing plan, and a plan for a new event.
Photo: @jellis_74

What is it like to implement a tourism development strategy developed by Tilma Group?

We strive to provide plans that are realistic and achievable and suit the capacity of a region's human resources to deliver (or identify where potential sources of funding or partnerships can support implementation).

Just over a year ago we developed a Visitor Economy Strategy for Central Highlands Development Corporation that is project-based for easy implementation.