LGNSW Tourism Conference 2019
It was great to join you at the Local Government NSW Tourism Conference in Terrigal!
Following is a summary of the AVIC Summit Presentation and Keynote Presentation in the main conference program.
AVIC Summit (Sun 17th March): A Story of 4 Visitor Centres Transformation to Remain Relevant
- Visitor Centres must be relentless in their focus on how they remain relevant and keep adding value to their local Visitor Economy, such as the following 4 Centres:
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- Clare Valley Food Wine and Tourism Centre - They are masters of community and local industry engagement. Regular community and industry networking events helps keep Community and Industry as major word of mouth advocates for their work (and referral source of visitors).
- Yorke Peninsula Council - They address their Visitor Centre location challenge by shifting to a Super Visitor Information Outlet Model to deliver visitor services to where visitors were more likely to be.
- Alice Springs Visitor Centre - They are moving to make the Centre as commercially viable as possible, turning it into a business, while at the same time delivering services and visitor servicing where and where visitors expect to find them in many places outside their Centre.
- Albany Visitor Centre - They are using a mix of distribution channels (Rezdy + Expedia for in person/online sales while Bookeasy is used for back end group bookings). This allows them to package and sell their own products both in person and online via their Centre and other OTAs. They also have had a major focus on training all staff in the importance of "catching the sale" so they can convert more visitor enquires into major bookings.
- If you would like to talk to any of these Visitor Centre Managers, don't hesitate to Contact Us and we put you in touch with them directly to learn more about the activities covered in the Workshops.
- Like to train your team on how to best deliver Digital Visitor Servicing? Our Visitor Servicing and Destination Marketing Bootcamp runs August - October 2019, and is a whole of organisation training program where we work with only 20 organisations around Australia to evolve their visitor Servicing.
The Art of Changing Perceptions by Delivering Exceptional Experiences (Mon 18th March).
Why your Local Government's Visitor Experience Matters?
- By 2020 a majority of purchase decisions will be based on customer experience.
- Word of mouth is the most trusted and sustainable form of marketing for a destination
- Local Government is a major experience deliverer, such as Visitor Centres, Attractions, Parks, Beaches, Trails, as well as supporting infrastructure (Toilets, Parking, Signage).
- Local Government (LG) needs to focus on improving the Visitor Experience of these managed Experiences and supporting Infrastructure that will attract their Ideal Customers, so they can help increase positive word of mouth stories for their destination, and grow a sustainable Visitor Economy.
- 5 Opportunities for Local Government to deliver Exceptional Experiences, change perceptions, grow positive word of mouth stories, and reduce impacts of over-tourism are below:
Place Making + Product Activation
- Focus on improving LG Visitor Experiences that will attract your region's Ideal Customers – those who stay the longest, spend the most and love the experience on offer.
- Examples of Local Government proactively activating exceptional experiences in their regions to change visitor perceptions include:
Exceptional Visitor Centres
- Visitors Centres will only thrive with a relentless focus on professional development for staff, engaging and personalised service and a compelling reason to visit.
Via Arts Community
- Same is Lame. We discuss different and ignore average.
- How might your LG tap into the arts to better tell your region’s stories, give a unique experience and also drive word of mouth marketing for your region?
- Don't forget to engage your community when choosing a public art design also, so you dont have what happened in South Australia's Millicent recently!
- Examples
Peak Season Management
- What over-tourism “hot-spots” in your LG can damage the word of mouth reputation of your destination + upset locals?
- How might you help address those issues sooner rather than later?
- Who do you need to get around a table?
- Example shared was Mt Lofty Botanic Gardens which can be overwhelmed by visitors during Autumn to see fall colours. They are supported by Adelaide Hills Council to help with Traffic Management + Parking to reduce congestion on the weekends and keep residents happy, while dispersal marketing via destination communications help spread visitors around other spots in the region.
Social Triggers + Enablers
- What key experiences that attract your ideal customers (not prone to over-tourism!) can you build a social trigger or enabler into?
Like to do Digital Visitor Servicing better in your Visitor Centre?
Enrolments Now Open: We're again looking for 20 Australian Organisations to join us to evolve their Visitor Servicing and Destination Marketing, from August to October 2019.
Program overview includes...
- 6 x Visitor Servicing + Destination Marketing Modules (all delivered via online webinars)
- Loads of learning materials to help your team up-skill and implement successfully
- Mentoring via Private Facebook Group and 1:1 online meetings
- Whole of Organisation Registration - which means everyone in your organisation can participate (and even any new staff)
- Lifetime access to Program (your whole team can do the training every year if you like!)
We'd love you to learn more about the Program or feel free to contact us to chat in person to see if it's the right fit for your organisation?