An Australian-first collaborative approach to acquiring events has resulted in a huge economic benefit for Victoria’s Gippsland region.

Events Gippsland, a collaboration of six Councils to pool resources to acquire events rather than compete and duplicate effort and resources, has provided a return on investment of 80:1 so far.

Are your tourism plans such as your Destination Management Plan, Regional Events Strategy, or Visitor Servicing Strategy living documents that guide what you work on, or have they been kind of forgotten as time passed since they were created?

On World Tourism Day, 27 September, regional tourism development consultancy Tilma Group is launching a program that contributes to the resilience of regional, rural and remote communities.  

Tilma Group have established a donation program to contribute 1% of revenue each year to grant provider, the Foundation for Regional and Rural Renewal (FRRR).

The incredible transformation of a small town using an events strategy and the development of an anchor attraction - the journey.

What are the opportunities for regional tourism in 2023?

Tasmania’s new Visitor Economy strategy has some great examples of best practice destination management - here’s what jumped out for us

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…