Agritourism Development Program
Cootamundra-Gundagai Regional Council
Cootamundra-Gundagai
Cootamundra-Gundagai Regional Council near Wagga Wagga in NSW’s food bowl, the Riverina region, is one of Australia’s leading Councils for proactively developing agritourism.
The region’s agriculture ranges from broadacre cropping and cattle in the north around Cootamundra to smaller landholdings, wineries and sheep in the south around Gundagai, and rich Wiradjuri agricultural history across the region.
Project purpose
In 2018, Council developed a Rural Land Issues Paper on the opportunities of agricultural tourism.
Based on the Paper’s findings, in 2020, Council secured a grant to create an Agritourism Development Plan to guide Council’s activities to grow agritourism offerings and visitation to the region.
Project overview
To develop the Agritourism Development Plan we began by developing an audit of existing, past, and potential agritourism experiences to help Council understand what kinds of experiences are already on offer, and be able to connect with the farmers delivering them.
The Plan identified a need for an ongoing agritourism development program to build the capacity of farmers to develop new, or grow existing, agritourism experiences - to elevate and expand agritourism offerings in the region.
In 2022, Council secured further funding and in 2023, hired Tilma Group to develop and deliver an agritourism development program.
We researched thoroughly what content should be included to help farmers understand the opportunities of agritourism, understand the tourism industry’s key players and what support they provide, and how to develop a new agritourism experience.
Project outcomes - several Australian firsts
To our knowledge, this project was an innovative first in Australia; we know of no other
Council that secured funding for, planned, and delivered such a comprehensive, multi-faceted local capacity building and agritourism development project.
‘One stop shop’ for farmers, particularly NSW farmers, to find all the information they needed in one place to support the development of an agritourism offering on their farm (There were none at the time the project was begun.)
Agritourism mentoring program that has been so comprehensive and generous, with up to twelve hours of one-on-one personalised mentoring by a regional tourism development expert.
Agritourism mentoring program where the skills of Council staff to support agritourism development were improved simultaneously with agritourism operators and farmers.
Agritourism mentoring program delivered remotely as this was using video conference technology.
The project could be considered best practice though its use of
Comprehensive research to inform inclusions, such as Service NSW for Business’ report on the pain points of farmers in developing agritourism and types of farmers who offer agritourism experiences, and statistics on agritourism visitors available, such as through Tourism Australia and Destination NSW (and much more!).
Consultation of local agritourism operators and farmers in the development of the inclusions of the Program.
The agritourism development guides include
How to develop a business case (including a business case template)
Risk management (including a risk management plan template)
Marketing (including a marketing plan template)
With agritourism being a rapidly growing sector, and new support being made available regularly, these graphic-designed guides were designed as Word documents so Council could update them as new resources for agritourism development become available. In fact, during the course of delivering this project, new resources became available from Destination NSW.
We then delivered a 10-week mentoring program. Nine participants from eight farms worked on a wide variety of offerings:
New agritourism events, including seasonal local produce lunches, farm open days, and potentially a sunflower festival
New farm stay short term accommodations
Marketing tactics to deliver business objectives such as attract a new market (midweek visitors and weddings), increase occupancy, or launch a new experience
A new farm tour and art workshops
A new night wildlife spotting tour with astrology and storytelling.
A new self-guided Wiradjuri tour
A new plant nursery with coffee
The different needs of the established agritourism operators and new-to-agritourism farmers, as well as the differences in the products being developed, required a flexible, tailored approach to delivering the business coaching.
Each mentee ended the program with an action plan, and other support, depending on their needs, such as a marketing plan or a risk management plan.
At the end of the mentoring, Tilma Group delivered a series of webinars of inspiring case studies, with guest presenters showcasing different best-practice agritourism offerings, with learnings for farmers developing or growing an agritourism offering.
The recorded webinars were added to Council’s online agritourism development portal.
Referee
Linda Wiles
Manager Business
Cootamundra-Gundagai Regional Council
1300 459 689
linda.wiles@cgrc.nsw.gov.au
Regional Events Strategy
Tweed Shire Council
Tweed Shire Council, NSW
A gateway into New South Wales for southeast Queensland’s population centres, The Tweed is a place of rich and diverse natural assets, with its coast, river, valley and wilderness areas a drawcard and feature of the region.
Project purpose
The intended outcome from The Tweed Events Strategy was to attract visitation by the kinds of high value, low impact guests who support and respect the values of The Tweed community; and to leverage events for positive outcomes for The Tweed community.
Project overview
Development of the Events Strategy involved
engaging with key stakeholders
scoping existing events, infrastructure and capability
exploring competitive advantages, issues, gaps and opportunities
developing a vision and objectives
identifying game-changing strategic priorities and the actions to achieve them
providing guidance on building resilience to external threats
defining Tweed Shire’s role in events acquisition and its partnerships with other stakeholders in the region
Project outcomes
The project outcomes were maximised by being very clear on the purpose of events for Tweed and the types of attendees/visitors the destination wants to attract.
Other ways outcomes were maximised included
being agile in the ambiguous environment (due to COVID)
challenging assumptions when taking stock of the Shire’s existing events, infrastructure and facilities
identifying those strategic priorities and actions that will foster a balanced portfolio of compelling business, arts, cultural, sports and leisure events
validating the opportunities and proposed priorities with key stakeholders
aligning priorities with the desires of the community
taking a holistic view of event development and expansion in the Shire and how it fits within the broader region.
The strategy identifies
the desired purposes of events (or benefits from events)
ideal attendees aligned with the destination’s sustainable tourism ethos
the right fit events, and criteria to assess them against
recommendations for Council’s event sponsorship program to leverage events for improved community benefit
priorities and an action plan to achieve them
measures of success
Referee
Kerrie McConnell
Events Officer
Tweed Shire Council
02 6670 2735
kerriem@tweed.nsw.gov.au
www.tweed.nsw.gov.au
Destination Management Plan
Charters Towers Regional Council
Charters Towers, QLD
The Charters Towers region in North Queensland is inland from Townsville, covering an area the size of Tasmania. Grand 19th Century architecture provides glimpses into the region’s rich gold mining history while the region’s significant role in World War II is revealed through remnants of defence troop activity
Project purpose
Seasonality, a reliance on grey nomads, and limited industry collaboration and leadership have curbed the region’s tourism achievements. To reap greater benefit for local communities, the business sector and local government, Charters Towers aspires to grow its visitor economy.
This requires a commitment to stimulating new development and investment, and ensuring that the necessary processes, funding and supporting infrastructure are in place.
Project overview
This Destination Management Plan (DMP) is the first strategic tourism plan that has been developed by Charters Towers Regional Council (CTRC) to guide the region’s tourism development. The development of the DMP was a collaboration between Tilma Group and JJ Strategic Consulting.
To ensure the DMP is supported by the local tourism industry, engagement with tourism operators and the community was a central element in its development.
Development of the DMP occurred concurrently with the preparation of the Charters Towers Economic Development and Innovation Strategy. Local business and community commentary highlighted that tourism is considered the economic driver that offers the most value for the region’s growth over the next five years.
Tilma Group also collaborated with graphic design firm Embarking to create a new destination brand for the region. Undertaking consultation for the DMP and the new brand simultaneously allowed for project efficiencies.
Project outcomes
The DMP draws together practical actions to support the industry in recovery from COVID (and beyond) by optimising the region’s assets and strengths. The focus is on rethinking target visitor markets and the experiences offered, and enhancing and adding value rather than reinventing the wheel - working smarter to get the most out of the existing knowledge and quality tourism product within the region.
A clear process for implementation and the associated resourcing are critical to the activation of this DMP. During engagement with the local tourism industry the message was clear that without the means to drive projects, tourism development and success in the region will continue to be limited.
The DMP identifies priority projects to build a flourishing visitor economy in the Charters Towers region. Many of the projects will also benefit local communities through increased recreational and social amenities, services and employment opportunities, and enhanced community pride. The projects are phased across the five-year term of the DMP.
As an industry-owned DMP, industry has an important role in its activation. Formation of a regional Industry Advisory Group is recommended; one which draws together industry and community representatives to be tasked with overseeing the implementation of the DMP and managing specific projects.
Referee
Melanie Lavelle-Maloney
Tourism, Trade and Investment Advisor
Charters Towers Regional Council
0418 216309
mlavelle-maloney@charterstowers.qld.gov.au
www.charterstowers.qld.gov.au
Visitor Servicing Review
City of Rockingham
Rockingham, WA
With 37km of spectacular coastline, Rockingham is a popular holiday destination 45 minutes south of Perth.
Rockingham’s visitor information centre (VIC) is Level One accredited, operating one block from the beach close to visitor parking. The VIC is managed by Tourism Rockingham, the local tourism association, contracted by the City of Rockingham to deliver visitor servicing.
Project purpose
Tilma Group reviewed Rockingham’s visitor servicing and provided a recommendation on a best practice model for servicing visitors into the future.
The model seeks to deliver the following outcomes:
Visitors receive accurate, quality, timely information at every stage of the visitor journey
Visitors feel welcome
Visitation to Rockingham increases by 10% by 2025, and yield from visitors increases through growth in spend and/or length of stay.
The outcomes will improve the City’s return on investment into visitor servicing and provide direct benefits to local businesses.
Project overview
This project was undertaken in collaboration with JJ Strategic Consulting, who produced A National Perspective on Visitor Information Servicing for the national accredited Visitor Information Centre group. The paper’s findings provide a national perspective on priorities for VICs to remain competitive and relevant.
The Rockingham visitor servicing review included
Current and future visitors and their servicing needs and preferences
Visitor touchpoints
Services provided at the VIC and the current operation’s efficiency and effectiveness
The VIC’s location and other potential locations including co-location sites (e.g. co-location with an attraction)
Costs and benefits of the City delivering visitor information services
Views of industry stakeholders on their needs and wants from visitor servicing
Issues and opportunities with the current visitor information services
Best practice visitor information servicing models and the elements critical to contemporary visitor servicing
Gaps, deficiencies and opportunities for enhancement of visitor servicing in the City
Critical success factors for best practice visitor servicing
Practical recommendations to inform decision-making on the future of visitor servicing
A visitor-centric approach focused on ensuring visitors receive the information they seek when and where they need it across their travel journey - visitors are looking for curated information, customised to their needs.
Project outcomes
The project’s outcomes were maximised by
challenging assumptions when reviewing visitor servicing touchpoints
giving voice to the locals, engaging industry stakeholders in defining priorities
aligning with the direction set by the region’s Tourism Development Strategy, and other investment commitments and priorities, strategic planning initiatives, and government policies.
The recommended model was a mobile service which would operate seasonally at highly visited locations and events in and around the region, and intrastate as required to build awareness.
This model provides a flexible approach to delivering information where visitors are, and no set requirements regarding opening hours means that the VIC could operate based on seasonal demand.
The mobile VIC would be supported by other visitor servicing to maximise engagement with visitors, including
Inspiring web content, a personalised itinerary builder, and online chat system
Visitor information kiosks run by local operators
Email and phone services
Signage and wayfinding at visitor touchpoints
Although a mobile service without a bricks and mortar VIC precludes national VIC accreditation, the recommended model reflects the critical success factors for contemporary visitor servicing.
The recommendation includes a management model where all tourism development functions are consolidated within the City of Rockingham, enabling the City to have oversight of visitor servicing across the entire visitor journey to provide consistency in messaging and a streamlined experience for visitors, and maximising the impact of destination marketing.
Referee
Scott Jarvis
Manager Economic Development and Tourism
City of Rockingham
0417 088 492
scott.jarvis@rockingham.wa.gov.au
www.rockingham.wa.gov.au
www.visitrockingham.com.au
Regional Events Strategy
Penrith City Council
Penrith City Council, NSW
Penrith is located in Western Sydney with a population of 190,000. With internationally-acclaimed venues, access to transport, plenty of open spaces and the majestic Blue Mountains as a backdrop, Penrith is a great choice for music, sport, culture and community events.
Project purpose
Council wanted to identify the best-fit events to attract and which existing events to develop to build a balanced and sustainable events portfolio that will grow the visitor economy and enhance the liveability of Penrith.
While Penrith hosts hundreds of events each year, Council recognises there are opportunities to achieve greater economic and social outcomes.
Penrith aspires to be an event-friendly destination that is a sought-after location for events and home to a balanced portfolio of external and homegrown events that drive economic and social outcomes across the year.
Project overview
The brief was to develop a detailed events strategy to support, develop and attract events that are fitting to the character and aspirations of the region.
The plan was required to:
provide a robust and transparent decision-making framework to support Council’s process of event assessment and support
identify key target areas for growth
provide a framework to attract, support and develop events across the region including sponsorship and a process for bidding for events
identify opportunities to establish a balanced year-round event calendar (activate a variety of locations across the city, activate all seasons, and offer a variety of event types)
identify how to leverage events to increase ROI deliverables, including benchmark data and evaluation metrics for events
provide an implementation plan (3-5 years)
The strategy reflects the culmination of desktop review, stakeholder engagement and analysis of Penrith’s event strengths, challenges, opportunities, current event portfolio, and performance relative to competitor destinations.
These supporting elements were developed to ensure the strategy can be effectively activated:
a. Events Assessment Tool & Event Calendar Assessment Report
This allows Council to assess future event applications based on KPIs and criteria to determine which events to support.
b. Event Planning Toolkit
A toolkit with templates for event managers on efficient event planning and management and marketing. The content was provided for use in an online portal.
Project outcomes
The regional event strategy articulated a clear vision and supporting objectives for Penrith, recommending realistic strategies and priority action areas that will drive increased visitation and yield from events.
Referee
Shelley Lee
Event Development Officer
Penrith City Council
PO Box 60
Penrith NSW 2751
0409 998 014
shelley.lee@penrith.city
www.visitpenrith.com.au
www.penrithcity.nsw.gov.au
Off Peak Visitation Events Strategy
Bass Coast Shire Council
Bass Coast Shire Council, VIC
The Bass Coast lies to the south east of Melbourne, east of the Mornington Peninsula, with rugged coastal cliffs and rural landscapes. Phillip Island is one of Australia’s most visited regional destinations, attracting 3.5 million visitors annually from around Australia and the world to see fairy penguins and watch motorsports.
Project purpose
The Bass Coast is the second most tourism-dependent Shire in Australia, with tourism accounting for 17.4% of the region’s economy, though it experiences high seasonality patterns, with low visitation in the colder months.
The primary goal in the region’s Visitor Economy Strategy is to grow off-peak visitor expenditure, highlighting the importance of seasonality for the Bass Coast.
Project overview
Tilma Group developed a strategic plan on how to grow off peak events, highlighting how Council could support growth in the Shire’s existing homegrown events to smooth seasonal visitation patterns.
Research included an analysis of an audit of events and event venues, and benchmarking against other regions to identify gaps and opportunities, along with face to face consultation with key stakeholders.
A discussion paper was developed which outlined the region’s event strengths, challenges and opportunities, along with recommended strategic priorities and a suggested annual events calendar. The paper was tested with a project control group which participated in a session to discuss and finesse it.
The strategic action plan developed from this feedback included a recommended event calendar outlining the kinds of events that will be a good strategic fit for the Bass Coast brand and assets, along with funding opportunities, and strategic partners. The report also included details of governance and resourcing, capacity building needs, and a portfolio of homegrown events along with external events.
Consultation for the plan revealed a need for capacity building for the Shire’s event committees. Tilma was engaged on completion of the strategy to facilitate a capability building program using the rEVENTS Academy platform.
A one-day event development bootcamp was held for all the local event committees. Three events with potential to grow into significant events for the region in terms of visitor economy benefits received intensive one-on-one monthly event coaching via webinar in a six-month structured development program. This was a modified version of the 10-module rEVENTS Academy course where the committees selected five modules to make up their customize program.
The committees also received a resource kit with supporting tools and resources for each of the modules; access to a Q&A platform where all the participating committees could ask questions, share knowledge and cross promote; and a wrap-up report with an action plan outlining the strategic and operational priorities for the event moving forward.
Lastly an in-region half-day presentation and Q&A session was held for all of the Bass Coast event committees where the three events who had undertaken the intensive development program shared their learnings with the other Bass Coast committees.
Project outcomes
“The off peak event strategy has been the catalyst for lots of good things. We are just about to restructure our Economic Development, Events and Tourism Department in an effort to get greater collaboration across the teams. We will also add more operational resources by employing a new Visitor Economy and Events Officer.
The Events and Tourism Coordinator has started planning a new marathon event for next off peak season and we are working with lots of event operators about either shifting the date of their existing peak season event or developing their off peak events. We have also started leveraging off events more. Our jetty redevelopment is also complete now so we can start capitalising on that new event space. Lots of good stuff is happening and the report has definitely helped clarify our direction and provide strategic justification.”
Referee
Peter Francis
Manager, Economic Development and Tourism
Bass Coast Shire Council
PO Box 118
Wonthaggi VIC 3995
0419 560 603
peter.francis@basscoast.vic.gov.au
www.basscoast.vic.gov.au
Online Event Approval Portal
Fraser Coast Regional Council
Fraser Coast Regional Council
Queensland’s Fraser Coast is the home of World Heritage-listed natural gems, the world’s largest sand island, K’gari (Fraser Island), coral cay Lady Elliot Island Eco Resort, Maryborough’s quirky Mary Poppins Festival, and Hervey Bay Whale Festival, held at the best place to watch humpback whales and their babies play.
Project purpose
Fraser Coast Regional Council’s event regulation process was at times confusing and frustrating for both event organisers and Council’s staff.
As part of Tilma Group’s development of a Regional Events Strategy for Council, we undertook mystery shopping to better understand how ‘event friendly’ the Council’s process was.
Key learnings were
Council’s website was not user-friendly for an external event organiser looking to host an event in Fraser Coast, or for a local event organiser. There was no dedicated event support section and information was confusing and clunky.
Council reception staff were not clear on who to direct event enquires to.
Getting to the ‘event concierge’ was a long and challenging process with phone calls and emails, however once this person was reached, they were very helpful.
Internal departments were confused and frustrated by the event approval process.
Events were being approved for Council’s grant funding before they had gained approval.
Project overview
As one of the recommendations in the Regional Events Strategy, Council undertook a streamlining of its event approval application process to make it easier for event organisers to host events in the region, and reduce the paperwork barrier to some events taking place at all.
Project outcomes
The Council Officer who manages the event approvals process found the process is much improved now that it is all online. Though getting the forms set up on Smartygrants took longer than expected, now the online process is saving heaps of time and the various teams in Council associated with event approvals are much happier with the process.
See Fraser Coast’s
Referee
Michaela Davis
Administration Officer – Events Advisory Service
Tourism, Economic Development and Partnerships
Fraser Coast Regional Council
0436 810 011
events@frasercoast.qld.gov.au
www.frasercoast.qld.gov.au
Tourism Activation Plan
Longreach and Winton Councils
Longreach-Winton Sub-region, QLD
This sub-region in Queensland’s Central Outback has fewer than 5,000 residents but hosts more than 110,000 visitors annually. The region has $100 million in tourism assets including the Australian Age of Dinosaurs, Australian Stockman’s Hall of Fame, Qantas Founders Museum and the Waltzing Matilda Centre, as well as award-winning tour products and experiences such as Outback Pioneers and Outback Aussie Tours.
Project purpose
Longreach Regional Council and Winton Shire Council wanted to ensure their existing tourism infrastructure and other assets would be optimised, and new market growth and investment opportunities embraced to more evenly distribute visitation throughout the year. In other words, the intention of developing the Tourism Activation Plan was to ensure the two regions were ready for the growth being driven by their four major tourism attractions.
Establishing and maintaining a year-round visitor economy is fundamental for Longreach and Winton to attract future investment and grow business and community vibrancy. The majority of visitation to the subregion is concentrated in five months to avoid the hot summer months of the Outback. A focus of the development plan was to identify opportunities and target markets for growing visitation outside of the peak season to support the sustainability of tourism operators to have year-round employment.
“As a first for Outback Queensland, Longreach and Winton Councils collaborated to create an outcomes-based tourism strategy focused directly on the needs of their small rural communities.
Tilma Group used their extensive industry and stakeholder consultation experience to connect with and bring together the relevant stakeholders of the two councils to specifically focus on realistic results-driven projects whilst remaining pragmatic, friendly and engaging.
Throughout the project Tilma Group always ensured that the key stakeholders were engaged and kept fully informed at each identified reporting milestone.
Tilma Group have extensive regional and remote tourism experience and this was invaluable to creating a workable strategy with defined implementable projects that will benefit the tourism in Western Queensland in the years to come. ”
Project overview
Tilma Group consulted with a project reference group of ten diverse stakeholders from within and outside of the subregion. A comprehensive list of further stakeholders was developed in collaboration with the reference group. A gaps and opportunities paper based on a tourism and events audit of the region was shared with stakeholders to encourage commentary. One-one meetings (in person and by phone) with operators and other stakeholders were held to discuss the audit’s findings and the opportunities presented in the paper. A stakeholder workshop was held in Longreach which twenty stakeholders attended to discuss findings and aspirations, a potential vision for the sub region, and the strategies required to fully activate the existing infrastructure.
The resulting tourism activation plan outlines strategic priorities and required catalyst and enabler projects to deliver results immediately and in the medium to long term, with a framework and pragmatic approach to activating projects based on priority and consumer demand.
Catalyst projects were identified as those critical to the sub-region to reduce seasonality, attract high spend visitors and grow the visitor economy. Further enabler projects were recommended to deliver specific outcomes needed to ensure the success of the catalyst projects.
Working across local Government borders presented some concern initially, however this innovative approach proved to be extremely successful. The challenge was in changing staff throughout the life of the project, with CEO’s being replaced at both Councils and the resignation of the project leader at the end of the project.
(This was a joint project between Tilma Group, JJ Strategic Consulting and Alphacrane Intercultural Specialists.)
Project outcomes
This collaborative cross border plan has provided the Councils and industry with a clear roadmap on the priority projects to focus on. The plan was a catalyst for bringing industry together and supporting opportunities to undertake cooperative work and projects.
By late 2020 Winton's Mayor Baskett declared the first piece of the Activation Plan had well and truly delivered for both regions: “I think this has been a success because we’ve noticed over the last few months since the state’s been re-opened [post the COVID lockdown], that almost every night these two towns are full,” he said.
“This is the first time we’ve ever bought metro media. By pooling our resources, we’ve been able to extend the scope of our collaborative marketing campaign and reach new markets at an important time,” said Longreach's Mayor Rayner. “We’re seeing clear evidence that it’s working too: Longreach is the only airport in Queensland that has returned to pre-COVID passenger numbers – and not only that, we’ve grown them.”
Referee
Russell Lowry
(Former) Economic Development and Tourism Manager
Longreach Regional Council
PO Box 144
Ilfracombe QLD 4727
0428 897 034
russell@organisationalanalytics.com.au
Visitor Economy Strategy
Central Highlands Development Corporation
Central Highlands Development Corporation
The Central Highlands region of Central Queensland inland from Rockhampton around Emerald includes stunning natural beauty such as Carnarvon Gorge and unique attractions including one of the world’s largest sapphire fields.
Project purpose
Central Highlands Development Corporation (CHDC) sought help to prioritise the many opportunities available and understand how to most effectively use their limited human resources to achieve increased visitor expenditure and reduced seasonality.
“From our first phone call with Tilma Group, I knew they knew their stuff and were fully engaged in what we wanted to achieve.
When we asked Tilma Group to quote on our three-year Tourism Strategy, they came back to us with a proposal for a Tourism Activation Plan that we could implement and achieve. That was right on the money - all of our previous strategies have sat on the shelf with limited outcomes.
Tilma Group’s approach was highly consultative, including engagement with our tourism community, businesses and stakeholders, and our whole community - exactly what we needed to get our region on board and achieving together.
Their ability to engage with operators, Council and all stakeholders is helping us to achieve outcomes we did not even know were achievable.
The visitor economy strategy developed for us is the perfect strategy for us. Our tourism businesses have labelled it the best one we have seen for decades and are now very excited to get stuck in and achieve it.
We now have a pathway and roadmap to achieve great things over the coming years!
We highly recommend Tilma Group to other regional Councils and destinations.”
Project overview
The Visitor Economy Strategy (tourism and events activation plan) developed for CHDC takes a focused approach in its recommendations, outlining just a few achievable priority projects.
Tilma Group collaborated with JJ Strategic Consulting using a project-based approach that was pragmatic and focused on activation and outcomes.
The following methodology outlines the project process which was based on extensive stakeholder consultation, a tourism and events audit, and desktop research:
A gaps and opportunities paper developed from desktop research was used to test ideas and trigger input from a variety of stakeholders. Their feedback fed the development of the tourism activation plan, ensuring this is an industry-led plan.
On completion, a 12-month strategic mentoring process commenced, with Tilma Group providing quarterly strategic workshops to assess progress and work on any potential barriers. The focus is 100% on outcomes!
Project outcomes
This pragmatic plan was designed for straightforward implementation. It outlines how to grow the local visitor economy via catalyst projects that focus the community’s efforts on what will have the biggest return on investment.
The plan was presented to Central Highlands Regional Council on completion and launched at their annual Tourism & Events Forum to overwhelming positive feedback and great enthusiasm from industry to start activation.
The first year after the publishing of the strategy was one of Central Highlands Development Corporation’s most productive tourism years ever.
Highlights in their annual report included:
A new tourism brand story: Central Queensland Highlands, Explore More
A new events platform: What’s On Central Queensland Highlands, which will help businesses to plan, collaborate and cross-promote to encourage event visitors to stay longer in the region.
A Working Holidays campaign to attract seasonal workers
A revamped Visitor Guide and Touring Map which are packed with itineraries and experiences, including Indigenous attractions and fishing spots.
The Central Queensland Highlands Visitor Information Centre welcomed a record 12,500+ visitors.
Feasibility investigations for a Recreational Vehicle and Camping Options and Opportunities Strategy are underway, with final report due soon.
It is such a pleasure to seeing a client so focused on using our plan as a roadmap, and getting great results!
Referee
Paul Thompson
Tourism Development Coordinator
Central Highlands Development Corporation
0438 870 304
pthompson@chdc.com.au
www.chdc.com.au
www.centralhighlands.com.au
Tourism Activation Plan + Strategic Mentoring
Bulloo Shire Council
Bulloo, QLD
Bulloo in far south west Queensland is one of Queensland’s biggest Shires geographically but with a population of just 350. Tourism plays an important role in the region’s economy; around 35,000 travellers visit the Burke and Wills Dig Tree annually in this remote corner of the Outback.
Council’s tourism team has some recent big wins on the board, including decreasing the percentage of visitors to the visitor information centre who passed through without staying overnight from 60% to just 6% within two years. However, the majority of visitation to the Shire is concentrated between Easter and October.
Project purpose
Council wanted to increase the economic benefits the Shire received from tourists to support local businesses and the local community.
“Linda and her team painstakingly poked, prodded, interviewed and researched every corner of our region, leaving no stone unturned. Their efforts were rewarded with the epiphany of the ‘Explorers’ brand for our shire. They stripped down all the information presented to them and recognised a common denominator between our visitors and the famous Burke and Wills story.
This brand then became the focal point behind an insightful, detailed and honest approach to a practical and achievable tourism activation plan.
The plan includes a fresh approach to the development and marketing of existing assets, plus based on research conducted by visitor information centre staff, new asset development.
Linda has managed to problem solve long standing issues in staff structure, workloads and has broken down barriers of perceived risk by submitting valued research and case studies to Council on new product development.
Tourism is now a priority for Council with strong administrative structure and financial support. The path to achieve our goals of an increase in economic benefits to the Shire, to support local businesses and the local community is laid out clearly in the tourism activation plan and each step can be measured for success.”
Project overview
Tilma developed a tourism activation plan which identified critical projects to achieve the Shire’s tourism goals. This was supported by strategic mentoring and activation support for 12 months, to ensure that the Council team had the support and capability to see results and outcomes.
Tilma Group undertook desktop research and phone consultations to gain a comprehensive view of the current tourism situation in the Bulloo Shire. From this, a discussion paper was developed which outlined visitor types and opportunity markets, a summary of the existing product and experience offering, a review of the region’s brand and marketing with a focus on how visitors perceive Bulloo, an assessment, of its digital assets, tourism trends and opportunities suitable for Bulloo Shire, and discussion points for Council. The discussion paper provided insights and context to the current situation and the high level opportunities for further analysis and consideration by Council.
Tilma Group visited the region to facilitate a tourism workshop with the Councillors and tourism staff to discuss the gaps and opportunities in the paper. Additionally, site visits provided insight into the existing tourism offering.
From the feedback a Tourism Activation Plan was developed, which included
The destination’s story and unique selling points
Critical opportunities to develop
An activation roadmap to support implementation
Twelve months of mentoring is supporting the implementation of the activation plan.
To date, the mentoring has included assistance in restructuring Council’s tourism department to enhance efficiencies for better outcomes, and in setting the annual tourism budget. Tilma is working with industry on projects and sourcing funding for a revitalisation of the visitor information centre into an anchor tourism product that reflects the region’s DNA and brand identity.
Project outcomes
This project has reinvigorated the Council, community and industry in realising their potential with tourism. Council immediately embarked on a restructure of the team, highlighting a strong commitment to growth and development. Funding applications are currently in for two major product development projects and funding has been secured to further develop their annual flagship festival. This is one small but powerful Council - watch this space!
Referee
Lew Rojahn
Chief Executive Officer, Bulloo Shire Council
PO Box 46
Thargomindah QLD 4492
07 4621 8000
lewR@bulloo.qld.gov.au
www.bulloo.qld.gov.au
Agritourism Development Plan
Cootamundra-Gundagai Regional Council
Cootamundra-Gundagai, NSW
The Cootamundra-Gundagai region lies two hours west of Canberra, halfway between Sydney and Melbourne. The region has a strong agricultural base of cattle, sheep, crops and vineyards, combined with attractive rural landscapes and distinct seasons.
Project purpose
The purpose of the plan was to identify priority projects to guide Council’s and industry’s activities and investments to leverage the opportunity of agritourism.
This project was made possible with funding provided by the NSW Bushfire Community Resilience & Economic Recovery Fund to support community and economic recovery following bushfires.
Project overview
A review and analysis of the region’s tourism and agricultural products, and of regional, state and national agritourism reports and strategic plans, revealed a number of gaps or opportunities for development.
Seven new agritourism products and experiences were recommended to help the region realise its potential as an agritourism destination, including a regional food hub at the Dog on the Tuckerbox tourist attraction, farm stays, redevelopment of an old mill, and spring and autumn harvest festivals.
A number of priority projects were identified to be implemented over the life of the plan to fulfill the plan’s objectives.
The implementation of the plan will take place in two phases:
Phase 1: Establish Foundations
Build awareness and appeal of the region’s existing agritourism product through marketing and experience development
Improve Council’s planning process and local environment plan (LEP) to be more supportive of new agritourism businesses
Work with partners to develop and implement an agritourism business development program that helps producers develop agritourism offerings
Phase 2: Ongoing development
Proactively attract investment into agritourism and support new product development
The plan provides a framework to guide development, with a focus on on-farm diversification to support sustainability and resilience.
It clarifies responsibilities, identifies critical success factors and measures of success, and identifies funding opportunities for projects.
Project outcomes
Council has used the plan to secure funding to
develop and implement an agritourism development coaching program to increase agritourism offerings and finesse existing ones
deliver an agritourism marketing campaign including capturing new content, developing a new brand, and improving the destination’s websites.
Council has engaged consultants to develop a plan for its old mill as a new anchor tourism attraction.
Referee
Miriam Crane
Manager Community and Culture
Cootamundra-Gundagai Regional Council
PO Box 420, Cootamundra NSW 2590
1300 459 689
miriam.crane@cgrc.nsw.gov.au
www.cgrc.nsw.gov.au
Destination Marketing
Coolamon Shire Council
Coolamon Shire Council, NSW
Coolamon is a rural town of 2,200 a 30-minute drive outside of Wagga Wagga (population 64,000) in the agriculturally rich Riverina region of New South Wales. The Shire includes a number of villages around Coolamon: Marrar, Ganmain, Ardlethan and Beckom.
Coolamon Shire Council was looking for an effective way to leverage off the large captive audience of locals and VFR’s in Wagga Wagga and the region, as a strategy to increase visitor numbers and expenditure to the town and district.
Project overview
Tilma Group developed a seasonal calendar of events process for Council’s Community Development Officer to implement every three months. This involves collecting details on upcoming events via a call out to a database of event coordinators and community groups, and via Council’s newsletters and social media.
Event managers are incentivised to input their event details into a simple form on Council’s tourism website because of the free marketing they receive which includes a listing on the Visit Coolamon Shire website and in the seasonal events brochure which is distributed throughout the region and available for download from the website, a mention in the Visit Coolamon Shire e-newsletter, a listing on the Riverina’s tourism app, and promotion across Visit Coolamon Shire’s social media channels.
Although a great success, the biggest challenge with this project was educating the event organisers on the value of loading their content into the form. This soon changed when the events saw the marketing and realised what they were missing out on if they did not submit their details.
Project outcomes
The calendar helps community groups and businesses to forward plan. It helps events ensure they do not clash with other events and be aware of what else is on. The consistency of the process helps to keep community groups aware of and on board with providing details of their events.
This promotion of Coolamon Shire’s small events has had an impressive impact on visitation to Coolamon. For example, the local B&B has had an increase in bookings of 2% annually since the calendar rolled out.
Along with a new anchor tourism product (a cheese factory and restaurant), new life has come to the communities on weekends, resulting in close to a dozen new businesses opening, a new bike track being developed, and Coolamon’s caravan park being expanded. The rural region is becoming a destination where visitors can find enough to do to make the trip worthwhile.
“The Seasonal Event Calendar has effectively marketed our local events to a wide target audience and been instrumental in attracting increased visitors to our town. It is a wonderful resource that encapsulates and communicates the vibrant culture of our region beautifully.”
Referee
Tony Donoghue
General Manager, Coolamon Shire Council
PO Box 101
Coolamon NSW 2701
02 69301800
tdonoghue@coolamon.nsw.gov.au
www.coolamon.nsw.gov.au