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 Governance Review
Echuca Moana Tourism
Echuca Moama Tourism Inc
Echuca Moama and District Tourism Association Incorporated (EMDTA) is the Local Tourism Association for Echuca Moama and District which straddles the NSW-Victorian border and has a high dependency on tourism as a key economic driver.
Project purpose
An organisational review was sought to respond to a range of challenges, including duplication of effort across the many stakeholders, and the recovery from COVID-19 and natural disasters. It was important that EMDTA took the time to reflect and refocus to ensure that it is best servicing the needs of industry and the changing needs and expectations of visitors.
Project overview
In partnership with JJ Strategic Consulting, Tilma Group
reviewed existing membership documentation, service agreements, and regional, local government and local tourism organisation plans
researched local and regional tourism organisation operating and membership models across regional Australia
undertook consultation with industry and government stakeholders
developed a discussion paper to enable opportunities and recommendations to be tested and validated in a stakeholder workshop where a consensus on the most appropriate model and strategy moving forward was reached. This supported the development of a guiding document that will support the revitalisation of the organisation and the destination’s management moving forward.
The report included a clarification of EMDTA’s purpose, a vision for the region, a recommended operating structure and governance including roles and responsibilities for the various entities in the local tourism industry, and the priority functions of the organisation moving forward.
Outcomes
Benchmarking with regional destinations across Victoria revealed there is no one size fits all destination management organisation structure or budget. Benchmarking reinforced the importance of having a clear understanding of the DMO’s functions, with a team closely aligned to the functions and the required budget to deliver.
Our report recommends a fresh new destination management model for the Echuca Moama tourism industry, Murray River Council and Campaspe Shire Council. The model seeks to reset the destination to fully realise its potential, nurture innovation, and lead the way in destination management in regional Victoria.
Strategic partnerships and alignment with the activities of the Murray Regional Tourism Board and other key stakeholders are a cornerstone of the new model to leverage collective strengths and maximise outcomes.
The plan identified the roles of each of the many destination managers at various levels in the region – the two Councils, the local tourism industry, the regional and state tourism organisations, and others.
The transition to the new co-creative approach to destination management over three phases was outlined, along with recommended resourcing and team structure, a funding model and annual budget.
As recommended, a Change Manager has been appointed to activate the recommended structure, functions, and funding model, and develop a new Corporate Plan and Destination Management Plan.
“Linda Tillman and the team were amazing. We engaged them to help us after the board decided we needed a fresh set of eyes to look at what we are doing as an organisation and how we are doing it.
They did a thorough job going through our organisation from top to bottom and coming back to us (and our stakeholders) multiple times throughout the process to engage and test.
They created a recommended organisational model that will allow Echuca Moama and District Tourism to evolve into a Destination Management Organisation with a clear purpose and functions that align with and support our partners and stakeholders, and will support the sustainable growth and development of our destination.
We have already made significant progress since the completion of the organisational review and are now in the process of working through some of the next steps in the ever changing tourism industry.”
Referee
John Hall
Chair
Echuca Moama and District Tourism Association
0419 010 792
john@cactuscountry.com.au
www.echucamoama.com
Tourism Activation Plan
Clifton Chamber of Commerce
Clifton, QLD
Clifton is a rural village in the broad-acre cropping lands between two regional centres an hour apart in south east Queensland: Toowoomba (population 105,000) and Warwick (12,000) which are
Clifton’s attractions include a new museum, regular steam train visits, and an Irish pub that holds quirky events. In summer, sunflowers attract vast numbers of visitors. Nearby to Clifton are Darling Downs Zoo, two National Parks, and the highly-attended Leyburn Sprints car race, as well as other villages with interesting connections such as to Steele Rudd of Dad and Dave fame, and the author of Mary Poppins.
Project purpose
On behalf of Clifton and District Chamber of Commerce, Tilma Group and Toowoomba Regional Council collaborated to secure $20,000 from a federal grant to develop a tourism development plan, a marketing plan and a development plan for a new event.
Their purpose was to increase benefits received from visitors. The plans identified priority activities to undertake to increase Clifton’s vibrancy through increased visitation, and to increase economic benefits for businesses.
The objective of the project was to excite the community to work on a shared vision and build vibrancy by leveraging and activating existing assets and developing new opportunities.
Project overview
Review and consultation
The tourism development plan built on other work undertaken by Tilma Group for the Chamber, including the development of a tourism audit, a community consultation workshop, and mentoring three community groups to further their projects.
Consultation consisted of face to face and phone meetings with a broad variety of stakeholders to discuss challenges and opportunities, including Clifton’s community groups, business owners and tourism operators, a pop-up consultation day at the local café, and meetings with tourism staff of two Councils, the regional and state tourism organisations, and Queensland Museums.
Tilma Group distilled the findings to develop an easily implementable plan which identified three priority projects to realise over three years:
Build the capacity of businesses and community groups to offer a quality experience to visitors.
Activate existing assets and develop new tourism experiences.
Increase awareness of the region through marketing.
A new collaborative tourism collective was recommended to drive the plan’s activation, and improve efficiencies amongst the community’s already-active community groups.
The tourism development plan also looked beyond Clifton to recommend a new destination brand for the rural region between Toowoomba and Warwick, to position it as a sunflower destination for year-round visitation and to activate this positioning with a region-wide summer sunflower festival. Sunflowers are by far the most popular request at Toowoomba and Warwick’s visitor information centres – a hook that draws people to the region from across south east Queensland.
New event
Based on an assessment of the kinds of events that the Clifton community already do well, Tilma Group developed a comprehensive plan for a new ‘Planes, Trains and Automobiles’-themed event.
Marketing plan
The content-focused marketing plan identified multiple tactics that can be implemented with little to no budget such as
Ensuring all of Clifton’s attractions and events are listed on the Australian Tourism Data Warehouse and TripAdvisor.
Quarterly seasonal newsletters promoting events and things to do appropriate to the season.
Activating Clifton’s public toilets with destination information on the backs of toilet doors such as pub menus and upcoming events (to leverage tea and wee stops and playground stops).
Direct marketing to car and motorbike clubs.
Tactics to leverage events.
Outcomes
The plans were used to
Secure another $20,000 federal grant to enable Clifton to realise their new event by hiring an event organiser/marketer. The event organiser’s role was to coordinate the community groups and businesses who will each run parts of the event.
Secure funding from Council for three projects: a three-month destination marketing campaign, a business development program to teach business owners how to improve their visitor experience, and a placemaking project to beautify the Main Street to encourage visitors to stop. Consultants were hired to implement these projects.
Secure funding by a community group for a mural about the region's mega fauna fossils to add vibrancy to the main street.
Referee
Amanda Beatson
President
Clifton and District Chamber of Commerce
PO Box 44
Clifton QLD 4361
0437 641 277
info@cliftonchamber.org.au
www.cliftonchamber.org.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
Destination Gippsland
Destination Gippsland, VIC
Covering almost 20% of Victoria, Gippsland is roughly the same size as the Netherlands. It encompasses six local government areas (LGAs) stretching from Melbourne's eastern suburbs to the border with New South Wales in Victoria's far east. Gippsland contains some of Victoria's most striking landscapes, significant national parks, and outstanding alpine areas.
Gippsland’s events calendar is diverse, with golf and racing days, music festivals and agricultural shows, and a host of food and wine events presenting the region's fresh produce. Latrobe City hosts a diverse range of sporting events in its national- and international-standard sporting facilities.
Project purpose
Following three years of drought and severe bushfires in January 2020, immediately followed by COVID-19, the region is focused on long term and sustainable recovery via investment in diverse and exciting regional events.
Project overview
The project reviewed the needs of events across Gippsland and identified innovative solutions based on the following desired outcomes.
Use the collective strength of Gippsland to compete nationally in the event space and optimise the associated benefits: economic – branding – social – legacy
Adopt a robust Events Procurement framework and strategy to attract events to the region
Explore multiple models and identify the pros & cons of a single entity or structure “Events Gippsland” that includes all primary stakeholders, to provide a one-stop shop for Gippsland events
Explore multiple models for the creation of an Event Acquisition Fund that allows for strategic acquisition, growth of existing and creation of new events across the region.
Explore the idea of a Coordinated Event Volunteer Pool to support major events and community events and encourage a ‘host’ mentality within communities hosting events to ensure a positive visitor and participant experience that results in return visitation and positive word of mouth promotion of the region.
Project outcomes
This strategy is a first for Australia with its focus on creating a modern and innovative governance model that is Australia’s first collaborative regional events entity across multiple LGAs.
This governance model is supported by an acquisition and development fund and programs and initiatives that will support resource efficiencies, improved volunteer management, and infrastructure sharing to support the region’s recovery and allow the destination to be more competitive against other regional Victoria destinations.
The Board of Destination Gippsland (and all Local Government partners) have agreed to the activation of the model and are excited by the region's future in events.
Implementation of Stage 1
The Project Manager of the Events Gippsland, David Elder, describes the development and implementation of the strategy:
"In 2020 Tilma Group developed the Gippsland Regional Events Strategy which was ambitious in creating a roadmap for the development of an Australian-first collaborative events governance model. This will see all six local governments within Gippsland work in partnership with Destination Gippsland to attract events to the region.
Linda proved to be the perfect person for the audacious job. Her knowledge of the industry, enthusiasm for the challenge and ability to bring stakeholders on the journey were just a few of the attributes that proved her selection as a master stroke. She is a genuine, warm person who invites people to open up and has a knack for reading the room and repeating stakeholders’ comments in a succinct, strategic and engaging way. But equally, she wasn’t frightened to question and debate the views of some to really test their thinking and feedback, always in a respectful and professional way. In doing so, all stakeholders felt listened to and our final document is exceptional.
To date the strategy has resulted in successfully attracting over $900,000 in grant funding. This allowed for Stage 1 to commence with a healthy Event Attraction Fund, a dedicated Events Gippsland Project Manager, and a collaborative governance structure for decision making which includes all 6 local councils, Sport and Recreation Victoria, Latrobe Valley Authority, and Destination Gippsland.
Across Gippsland, Linda also developed the Bass Coast Off-Peak Events Strategy and the East Gippsland Events Strategy, both highly strategic documents that align to the regional strategy. Feedback for Linda’s approach and quality of work was resoundingly positive."
“Tilma Group’s collaborative and inquiring approach coupled with their dedication and professionalism have been a delight in what has been a challenging year for the visitor economy sector.
We have no hesitations in recommending their work.”
Referee
Janine Hayes
Manager Tourism & Events
Latrobe Valley
Destination Gippsland
PO Box 203
Mirboo North VIC 3871
0488 042 838
jhayes@destinationgippsland.com.au
www.visitgippsland.com.au/destination-gippsland