TICT Quarterly - Spring 2022

QUARTERLY SPRING | 2022 | ISSUE 10

TOURISM INDUSTRY COUNCIL TASMANIA

CELEBRATING THIS YEAR’S TASMANIAN TOURISM AWARDS WINNERS

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LEADING THE WAY IN CLIMATECONSCIOUS TRAVEL

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GET AHEAD OF THE GAME FOR NEXT YEAR’S AWARDS

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MARKETING 101: STRATEGY MATTERS!

Steadfast Taswide and TICT partnership Tourism Accredited businesses who engage Steadfast Taswide Insurance Brokers receive a 25% rebate off their annual tourism accreditation fee.

Contact Account Executive, Stuart Alexander Phone: (03) 6334 6111, 0409 250 083 or Email: Stuart@stib.com.au

Why Steadfast Taswide?

Steadfast Taswide is arguably the largest insurance intermediary in Tasmania, with 4 offices across the State and employing more than 70 Tasmanians. Our size and scale provides us competitive advantage for our clients.

“We are proud that Steadfast Taswide has built a strong state-wide business model focussed on our clients and supporting the Tasmanian community.”

John Farrell & Hayley Phillips Steadfast Taswide Directors

Tourism businesses face many risks, not just from fire, storm, flood and the like. Have you considered your risks and how you can protect your assets? Are you adequately insured?

We regularly come across operators that have policies that don’t cover what they need.

As the business owner, it’s important you get the right advice, so that you understand what your insurance policies cover.

We also offer personal policies, home, car, boat etc, for your convenience.

Hobart 336 Elizabeth Street (03) 6231 3360 2

Devonport 12 Don Road (03) 6424 8886

Launceston 91 Paterson Street (03) 6334 7988

Burnie 75 Wilson Street (03) 6431 1888

Email: enquiries@stib.com.au | Web: www.steadfasttaswide.com.au | ABN: 24 092 613 664 | AFS Licence No. 238451

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IN FOCUS: TOWARDS A CARBON-NEUTRAL DESTINATION TASMANIA

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CELEBRATING THIS YEAR’S TASMANIAN TOURISM AWARDS WINNERS

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TASMANIAN TOURISM AWARDS WINNERS

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2022 TASMANIAN TOURISM AWARDS GALA PHOTO GALLERY

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GETTING READY FOR THE 2023 TASMANIAN TOURISM AWARDS

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IT STARTS WITH STRATEGY: MARKETING 101

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HOT TOPIC: BECOME A TASSIE TOURISM AMBASSADOR

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WORKING ON YOUR BUSINESS, NOT IN YOUR BUSINESS

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SPRING | 2022 | ISSUE 10

WELCOME: FROM TICT

Cover - Photo Credit: Alastair Bett.

To advertise in the next TICT Quarterly or for editorial enquiries contact info@tict.com.au 1

WELCOME: FROM TICT

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ur previous issue of the TICT Quarterly went to print on the eve of the 2022 Tasmanian Tourism Conference. While those two whirlwind days in August seem like a lifetime ago, the Positive Impact agenda that was platformed, discussed and unpacked at this year’s Conference remains front of mind. A line-up of industry leaders, researchers, analysts and marketers made for an inspiring and thought-provoking deepdive into the critical issues that Tasmanian tourism must prioritise if we’re serious about leading the way in positive impact.

Since then, we’ve seen the full rollercoaster that is the Tasmanian Tourism Awards program traverse its journey through the demanding undertaking of submissionwriting by more than 60 brave operators, the equally intense judging process and Deliberation Day, and a two-day roadshow of finalist announcement events, culminating in arguably the peak rollercoaster moment: the 2022 Awards Gala celebration.

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This year’s incredible finalists and medalists are demonstration themselves of the positive impact that individual operators are making in their own businesses all over the state, and the real potential that Tassie has to make a collective impact that will be challenging to rival anywhere else in the world. You can read more about the Awards results from page 8, and start getting ready for the 2023 program (there’s truly no such thing as too early) with Kelly Luck-Woolley’s hot tips on page 17.

For an update on the Tasmanian tourism industry’s bold goal to achieve carbonneutrality by 2030, head to page 3. TICT CEO Luke Martin unpacks the work that we’ve undertaken with Point Advisory and Ellis Richmond to both determine the industry’s carbon footprint, as well as to understand how we can minimise its impact. The magic lies in reducing Scope 3 emissions and carbon offsets, and the pathway towards that might not be as complicated as you think.

Also in this issue, we’ve included a 101 on all things tourism business marketing with marketing maven and strategy superstar, Toni Kibbey (page 21). Whether you’ve got a marketing plan or not, you’re sure to find some pearls of wisdom to challenge and streamline your thinking.

And you can flick to page 26 to find out more about TICT’s Tassie Tourism Ambassador program – it’s recognition for the great job you’re already doing in giving our visitors a warm welcome, as well as a fresh and compelling way to get to know your area better. Come and join the community!

As we head into the silliest season of a year that’s had its fair share of silliness throughout, we wish you a bumper summer, as well as a very happy and safe Christmas.

Until next year!

SPRING | 2022 | ISSUE 10

IN FOCUS: TOWARDS A CARBON-NEUTRAL DESTINATION TASMANIA

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Inala Nature Tours – Photo Credit: Tourism Australia.

ver the past three years, we’ve been working with experts to begin to gain the knowledge and insights we need to develop a long-term plan for Tasmania to become a global leader in the transition to climateconscious travel.

Prior to Covid, we could all see the emerging trends with giant travel companies like Marriott and Airbnb, along with many of the world’s major airlines, including Qantas,

announcing significant emission reduction targets.

We also saw the ‘Flyskam’ movement in Europe demonstrate the power of the activist consumer in rapidly shifting travel behaviour on a large scale.

Through Covid, these trends have only exacerbated with more consumers making purchase decisions based on sustainability and regenerative practices.

Tourism Tasmania’s consumer research adviser, Kantar, presented compelling insights to the Tasmanian Tourism 3

Conference in August, illustrating the forecast growth of brands grounded in true sustainability outcomes.

The ‘trend’ is now the way of doing business.

With our renewable energy resources and clean, green brand, we have always thought Tasmania might have an opportunity to position itself as a leader in the global transition towards more carbon-responsible travel.

But we needed to understand exactly what it means to be a global leader in this space, and what might be expected from our tourism operators, visitors, and governments in a more sustainable future.

To begin this process, back in 2019 the Tasmanian Government asked Point Advisory to advise us on what it would take for Tasmania to be a carbonneutral destination. Point Advisory is a specialist carbon advisory firm based out of Melbourne that the Tasmanian Government engages to calculate the state’s carbon emissions.

Point Advisory’s advice was that while it was certainly possible for Tasmania to offset the carbon emissions of all visitors to the state, there was not yet any definitive global standards on what it means to be a carbon-neutral visitor destination. At the time there were no other significant visitor destinations in the world who had achieved this aspiration, nor were there any set ‘rules’ to follow on carbonneutral tourism. As a visitor destination, Tasmania was not just aspiring to be a global leader in this space but would likely need to be the pioneer.

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With this reality check, TICT got a grant from the Tasmanian Government to commission Point Advisory to approximate the emissions footprint of visitation to the state. How much carbon does Tasmanian tourism generate?

How big is the problem we want to fix? What they found was that in 2019, before Covid, tourism to Tasmania generated between 500,000 and 1 million tons of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

The big variation in these numbers depends on factors such as: • Do we include all visitors to the island, or just holidaymaking tourists?

• Do we include all the emissions generated through air and sea travel to and from the island?

• Or do we follow the guidelines in the Kyoto Protocol around travel emissions, that says you only need to account for half the air and sea travel emissions of travelling to and from a destination, with the other half ‘remaining’ with the place from which our visitors travelled?

Point Advisory told us that if we simply choose to offset these emissions, which means purchasing certified carbon credits for investments in reforestation or renewable energy projects throughout the world that are supposed to take equivalent amounts of carbon out of the atmosphere, the cost could be anywhere between $10 and $50 million a year. As much as we all want to do the right thing in this space, I don’t know many Tasmanian Governments or

tourism operators who will be willing to write a cheque out every year for tens of millions of dollars to purchase solar panels in India, or support reforestation projects in Africa, just so we can then claim that Tasmania is a carbon-neutral destination.

So, we learned we need to look at what we can do in Tasmania to firstly reduce our emissions as an industry, and then establish carbon projects within the state, so those tourism operators and visitors who do wish to make their tourism activity carbonneutral can invest in local projects, keeping their money in Tasmania and supporting conservation projects, here, at home.

Over the past few months, we’ve run a fantastic project with north-west based carbon accountants, Ellis Richmond.

Carbon accounting is the process of taking all your day-to-day accounts – analysing everything you buy and sell – and then applying emissions standards against all your purchases and activities to calculate an emission footprint.

Thanks to a grant from the Department of State Growth, Ellis Richmond has been funded to undertake carbon accounting with 30 Tasmanian tourism operators who are highly representative of the broader tourism industry, including large and small tour operators, hotels and B&Bs, wineries, restaurants, attractions, and marketing bodies. The purpose of this project is to get a clear sense of the emissions footprint of a representative group of businesses across the visitor economy to start identifying

SPRING | 2022 | ISSUE 10 Fork n Farm Homestead – Photo Credit: Tourism Australia.

the best opportunities to reduce emissions across the industry.

In most parts of the world, the most effective way to reduce emissions would be to use less energy, but in Tasmania our renewable baseload energy means most of our tourism businesses are already running clean and green. Converting vehicles from diesel to electric is highly expensive and beyond the capacity of most small businesses right now.

What the Ellis Richmond project has shown us is that if we want to reduce emissions across the Tasmanian visitor economy, we need to be looking at our suppliers who generate what is known as ‘Scope 3’ emissions. These are the businesses from whom we purchase our food

supplies and other produce, the laundries who wash the sheets and towels for our accommodation operators, the companies who supply those plastic-heavy shampoo bottles, stationery and other goodies, and the building materials we use in our refurbishments. This is where many of the emissions sit, and where we could make a real difference in reducing Towour overall footprint.

The thing is, as an industry, we all use the same suppliers.

The Ellis Richmond team found that 20 businesses are responsible for 85% of the Scope 3 emissions among the 30 tourism businesses they worked with. Some of these are the major national retailers, of course, but others are Tasmanian companies we all know well, and purchase

from on a regular basis. So, we have learned that if we want to make some serious inroads in reducing the overall emission footprint of Tasmanian tourism, we have a relatively short list of suppliers we need to start working with and supporting to reduce their emissions, in order to reduce the footprint of a large number of tourism operators.

To put this in perspective, if those 20 suppliers reduced their carbon emissions by just 10%, it would be the equivalent of removing the emissions from the atmosphere of every diesel vehicle used in the Tasmanian tourism industry.

But we’ll never remove every emission in the sector, so we will still need to look at offsetting opportunities to achieve Net Zero tourism.

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How do we create a market whereby tourism operators and visitors who want to offset their tourism activity within their state, can affordably invest in certified carbon credit projects within Tasmania? Imagine visitors to the state offsetting their stay by funding the reforestation of a logging coup in the Styx Valley, or establishing kelp plantations on the east coast, or funding biochar plants that monetise weeds (yes, that is a real thing – Google it!).

Pearshape, King Island – Photo Credit: Adam Gibson.

Lovers Falls, Pieman River – Photo Credit: Rob Mulally.

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Tasmania has an opportunity to be a global leader in the transition to carbonneutral travel, but it’s not going to just happen. We are beginning to understand the most effective ways to reduce our industry’s carbon footprint, and the investments we’ll need to make as an industry, and as individual operators, in transitioning to a low carbon future.

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The Podcast Series for Tasmanian tourism operators and industry professionals.

More than 100 Bite Size Conservations with our best and brightest, the influential and the inspiring in Tasmanian tourism.

Listen in the car, at the desk, in the shower, walking the dog…

Wherever and whenever suits you.

Best of all, they’re 100% FREE Stream from www.tict.com.au Or search for ‘Talking Tourism’ wherever you get your Podcasts.

Talking Tourism is an initiative of

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CELEBRATING THIS YEAR’S TASMANIAN TOURISM AWARDS WINNERS

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he 2022 Tasmanian Tourism Awards Gala at Wrest Point was a celebration of innovation, excellence and quality in our great state’s tourism industry, and honored all of this year’s entrants, finalists and medalists.

The category winners, including nine first-time Tasmanian Tourism Award gold medalists, will represent Tasmania on the national stage at the Qantas Australian Tourism Awards to be held in Sydney in March 2023.

Our Tasmanian winners have been judged as meeting the very highest standards of excellence in Australian tourism through a rigorous and notoriously challenging submission process.

All categories included a 10,000-word written submission covering all aspects of the tourism operation, which was judged against key criteria by a panel of respected and experienced judges. Every entrant was also judged through an online review, which benchmarked the business or product’s presence and engagement in the digital environment.

The final outcome for most categories also included a visit from a site judge and consideration of consumer sentiment.

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Nunami Sculthorpe-Green and Premier Jeremy Rockliff Photo Credit: Alastair Bett.

Also announced at the Awards Gala were the Tourism Minister’s Young Achiever and the Tasmanian Tourism Champion for 2022. Premier Jeremy Rockliff presented Nunami Sculthorpe-Green with his Award for Young Achiever, recognising her contribution to truth-telling and the representation of Tasmanian Aboriginal stories through her tourism initiatives. Nunami is a proud palawa and Warlpiri woman, and founder of Blak Led Tours. Her first tour, ‘takara nipaluna’ (Walking Hobart), premiered at the 2021 Ten Days on the Island Festival,

and Nunami then partnered with Theatre Royal to regularly deliver this experience. She has also recently launched ‘mumara patrula/wood for the fire’, a walking tour along the coastline of Trial Bay that encourages guests to deepen their knowledge and understanding of the Tasmanian Aboriginal community and culture.

SPRING | 2022 | ISSUE 10 Alison and Liana Stubbs - Photo Credit: Alastair Bett.

Tourism Industry Council Tasmania Chair, Daniel Leesong, recognised Alison Stubbs as this year’s Tasmanian Tourism Champion, the Tasmanian tourism industry’s highest individual honour. Alison has traversed the industry as an entrepreneur, award-winning adventure tourism operator, pioneering board director, senior accommodation manager, and passionate advocate for tourism excellence. After commencing her tourism career as a guide, Ali co-founded Freycinet Adventures, an ecotourism business on the east coast

that went on to win seven Tasmanian Tourism Awards and enter the Tasmanian Tourism Hall of Fame. In 2006, she became the youngest ever appointment to the board of Tourism Tasmania, a role she held for six years. She has also served as a longtime Director of Tasmania’s East Coast Regional Tourism Organisation, and has contributed to the Tasmanian and Australian Tourism Awards panels for more than a decade, including three years as Chair of Judges.

From all of us at TICT, a huge congratulations to Nunami, Ali, and all of the very worthy winners in this year’s Tasmanian Tourism Awards!

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Major Tourist Attractions

Tourism Retail & Hire Services

GOLD: Port Arthur Historic Site

GOLD: Coal River Farm

SILVER: Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens

SILVER: Drive Car Hire

Tourist Attractions GOLD: West Coast Wilderness Railway SILVER: Gorge Scenic Chairlift

GOLD: City of Launceston Visitor Information Centre Business Event Venues

Festivals & Events

GOLD: Peppers Silo Hotel

GOLD: Junction Arts Festival

SILVER: Spring Bay Mill

SILVER: Festival of Voices

BRONZE: Crowne Plaza Hobart

Ecotourism

Major Tour & Transport Operators

GOLD: Tasmanian Walking Company

GOLD: McDermott’s Coaches

SILVER: Tarkine Trails

SILVER: Launceston Airport

BRONZE: Walk on kunanyi

Tour & Transport Operators

Cultural Tourism

GOLD: Air Adventure Golf

GOLD: Hadley’s Orient Hotel

SILVER: Gordon River Cruises

SILVER: Ship Inn Stanley

BRONZE: Above and Beyond Tasmanian Seaplanes

Aboriginal & Torres Strait Island Tourism Experience GOLD: wukalina Walk

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Visitor Information Services

Adventure Tourism GOLD: Tasmanian Photography Workshops

GOLD: Mures Tasmania SILVER: Grain of the Silos Tourism Wineries, Distilleries & Breweries GOLD: Bangor Vineyard Shed SILVER: Western Tiers Distillery BRONZE: Turner Stillhouse Caravan & Holiday Parks GOLD: BIG4 St Helens Holiday Park SILVER: BIG4 Launceston Holiday Park Hosted Accommodation GOLD: Oceana B&B SILVER: The Dragonfly Inn Unique Accommodation GOLD: The Cove Tasmania SILVER: Picnic Island

4-4.5 Star Deluxe Accommodation GOLD: Ship Inn Stanley SILVER: Peppers Silo Hotel BRONZE: MACq 01 Hotel 5 Star Luxury Accommodation GOLD: Saffire Freycinet The Gustav Weindorfer Award for Best New Tourism Business GOLD: The Roundhouses

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Tourism Restaurants & Catering Services

Excellence in Food Tourism GOLD: Coal River Farm SILVER: Fat Pig Farm BRONZE: Fork n Farm Artisan Homestead Chair of Judges’ Award for Positive Impact Tourism GOLD: Spring Bay Mill FINALISTS: Mures Tasmania and Tasmanian Walking Company

Self-Contained Accommodation GOLD: Villa Talia SILVER: The Granary | Richmond Hill BRONZE: Sanctum Boutique Apartments

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SPRING | 2022 | ISSUE 10 All Images - Photo Credit: Alastair Bett.

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Tasmania’s Production Company {That’s us!}.

Since HYPE was established in 2013, the company has forged a niche in tourism marketing. The timing was just right that as Tasmania’s tourism industry was seriously taking off, HYPE was there to offer high quality content production services. We still provide that same level of service and quality to the majority of operators in the state.

hypetv.com.au

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GETTING READY FOR THE 2023 TASMANIAN TOURISM AWARDS

Launceston Finalists Announcement Event - Photo Credit: Ella Marquis.

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hinking of entering the Tasmanian Tourism Awards in 2023? TICT Entrant Support Program Facilitator and Mentor, Kelly LuckWoolley, shares her hot tips to start preparing now!

Now that the sparkly dust has somewhat settled on the Tasmanian Tourism Awards for 2022, we eagerly await the national awards in Sydney next year. As any previous entrant will tell you, entering these awards is quite a commitment – but the right planning and preparation can make the process much smoother. So, rather than

rest on our laurels, I thought it would be useful to provide some tips on what you can begin implementing now to help prepare for your 2023 submission. Whilst the official program and questions won’t be released until next year, it’s envisaged the focus will remain on tourism excellence, business planning and innovation, marketing, the customer experience, and responsible tourism.

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Launceston Finalists Announcement Event - Photo Credit: Ella Marquis.

SPRING | 2022 | ISSUE 10 Kelly Luck-Woolley with the The Cove Tasmania team and TICT’s Christine Pritchard - Photo Credit: Alastair Bett.

ACCREDITATION Firstly, ensure you are accredited through the Quality Tourism Framework.

If you are new to accreditation, you will need to register. If you’re already accredited, log in to the accreditation portal and check that your business details and any renewal information is current and complete.

REVIEWPRO Most award categories include a Consumer Rating element. This score is generated from your business’ Global Review Index (GRI) via ReviewPro, an online reputation management platform which collates reviews from 140 review sites.

All accredited operators are entitled to a free ReviewPro account to help you monitor,

manage, and benchmark your online reviews. To activate yours, log in to the accreditation portal, locate the ReviewPro section at the bottom right of your dashboard, and click ‘verify’.

ENCOURAGE CONSUMER REVIEWS To generate a GRI for the 2023 Awards qualifying period, businesses need to obtain approximately 25 consumer reviews, across any of the 140 applicable channels, during the period 1 July 2022 to 30 June 2023. It is worth noting that Facebook and Airbnb are not currently included. Ensure you have a plan in place to encourage consumer reviews from your visitors. This could be as simple as including a link to your preferred review site in your follow-up thank

you email/text, a card upon departure, or perhaps including a QR code somewhere within your venue, vehicle, or at a strategic point during the visitor experience.

REVIEW YOUR ONLINE PRESENCE Every category includes an online review judging element, so conduct a health check of your website, SEO, social media channels, and reviews sites to identify areas for improvement, then create a plan to make this happen.

If you don’t have them already, consider creating a basic Social Media and Consumer Review Plan to help keep you on track – a template is available in the accreditation portal if you need some guidance, or reach out to the team at TICT!

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Launceston Finalists Announcement Event - Photo Credit: Ella Marquis.

START COLLECTING Start gathering relevant data, notes, and evidence now that could support your submission when it comes time to write. A digital file (or physical if preferred) is a great way to quickly gather copies of relevant reports, spend/ results of your activities, noteworthy statistics, thank you letters, letters of support, stand-out testimonials, a tally of donations or industry events attended, and photos of your business throughout the year (screen shots of social media posts/engagement, business development projects, staff training sessions, events, sustainability initiatives, community engagement activities, etc.).

JUDGES’ FEEDBACK If you’ve entered the awards previously, ensure you review the judges’ feedback from 20

The Fat Pig Farm team - Photo Credit: Alastair Bett.

your most recent entry and pay particular attention to any identified gaps. What research, data or action could you include next time to strengthen your submission?

Did they have useful suggestions for your business which you could implement?

Create a plan with timelines.

If you have any questions on your feedback, please contact me.

Please feel free to reach out to the Kelly with any questions you may have about the Tasmanian Tourism Awards at tourismawards@tict.com.au

IT STARTS WITH STRATEGY: MARKETING 101

Toni has a long connection to tourism and hospitality, having spent a gap “year” (which turned into 15 of them) as a travel consultant with Harvey World Travel in Launceston under industry stalwarts Phil and Manina Berryman, as well as various roles in bars and hotel operations. Her experience in the marketing and communications world runs deeper still, beginning as The Examiner newspaper’s youngest ever advertising sales representative at 20 years of age, and later moving across the world to manage the major agency accounts at London’s The Independent newspaper. Returning to Tassie in 2006, Toni was appointed as Executive Manager of the Road Safety Task Force, and later moved into a Marketing Operations Manager role with Tourism Tasmania, before Brand Manager roles with Hobart Airport, Lark Distillery and Aurora Energy.

“It was in these marketing roles that I really learnt the importance of strategy and driving behavioural change,” she says. “All of that experience has helped me to hone in on marketing and business strategy, with a broader perspective of communications and leadership that aligns back to an organisation’s vision.”

Toni now puts that expertise to good use as Director of Element Co., her own consultancy that specialises in customer experience, brand strategy, marketing, change management, leadership and mentoring.

“My consulting approach is to embed myself in the business to understand what makes it tick,” Toni says. “From there, we can identify what the real challenge is, and how we can truly help develop strategic approaches to meet the business needs.”

Working with businesses from all around the state and a diverse range of sectors, Toni says the common barrier to developing and delivering on a marketing strategy is that operators are time-poor and unsure where to start. But she emphasises that writing and understanding your personal strategy should be a nonnegotiable in every business.

Importantly, a marketing strategy is not synonymous with advertising. Instead, Toni describes it as knowing

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fter receiving rave reviews for her workshop at the 2022 Tasmanian Tourism Conference in August, we recently took marketing maven and strategy superstar Toni Kibbey on the road to deliver a 101 in building a measurable marketing strategy. Whether you managed to get in the room or not, we sat down with Toni to get her hottest tips preserved on the pages of the TICT Quarterly!

who your customer is, what they need, and how you can help fulfil that need for them.

She says that it underscores every step of the customer’s experience, and is more than just the collateral that is often associated with the marketing mindset.

“A great marketing strategy informs the targeted messaging that goes out to your market, so it’s important that you’re clear on what you’re trying to achieve to ensure your messages are purposeful,” Toni says. “But a marketing strategy also goes right down to how you greet your customer when they’re at your business and, for example, the type of sheets you use on the beds if you’re an accommodation provider.”

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Toni Kibbey - Photo Credit: Alastair Bett.

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So, where should you start if you don’t have a strategy, or it’s time to shake it up? Toni says it doesn’t need to be a daunting a prospect as it might seem. It simply answers the question, “why should they choose you?” Toni breaks that single guiding question down to unpack each element and inform an overarching business marketing strategy.

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WHY SHOULD THEY CHOOSE YOU

They – Who are they (your market)?

What do you know about them?

Where do they live? What do they do for a living? Who do they spend time with? Who makes the decisions?

Where will they hear and learn about you? What do they aspire to? How much do they want to spend? Go deep!

Why Should – What motivates your customer? What are their needs and pain points?

You – Who are you? What is your brand?

What are your values? What do you offer? How can what you offer meet your customer’s needs and pain points?

Choose – Who are your customer’s other choices (competitors)? How can you differentiate your brand from theirs to uniquely deliver on your customer’s needs?

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“All of this then informs your brand position, and the key messages that you want to communicate,” Toni says. “Because you now know your customer and what they’re motivated by, you can use the right channels to talk to your customer about your relevant experiences or offerings.”

While it’s common for operators to focus on the content and creative elements of their marketing plan, Toni says that strategy must come first.

“If you have a clear strategy, it becomes much easier to manage your actions and budgets, and you and your team become accountable to delivering on your goal and the pathway to get there.

Strategy takes time, but everything else benefits from it.

It all starts with strategy!

To connect with Toni, email toni@elementco.com.au

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HOT TOPIC: BECOME A TASSIE TOURISM AMBASSADOR

Cataract Gorge, Launceston.

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aunched in 2021, the Tassie Tourism Ambassador program is recognition for the great job our tourism business owners, operators and teams are already doing by offering visitors a warm Tassie welcome.

It has been created specifically for the Tasmanian tourism industry as a way to equip tourism and hospitality staff, as well as interested locals, with the skills to offer a great visitor experience and local knowledge to tell the story of the region in which they live and work.

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The Tassie Tourism Ambassador program also aims to increase regional dispersal by inspiring and empowering staff working in customer-facing roles to create truly memorable moments for visitors at every touchpoint. We know that these positive experiences create loyal advocates, rave reviews, and increased destination awareness, leading to increased visitor numbers, a solid visitor economy, and more sustainable businesses and employment.

SPRING | 2022 | ISSUE 10 Launceston’s Iconic Architecture.

The program has been designed to align with the T21 tourism strategy in building capability, capacity and community, and also aligns to our regional tourism organisations’ visions of their regions through their Destination Management Plans.

The course is free to access and complete, and available to everyone. It includes four distinct modules: • Understanding the tourism industry • Knowing and showcasing your destination • Storytelling • Exceeding customer expectations

On completion, participants become official Tassie Tourism Ambassadors, and are recognised with a certificate and lapel badge. A monthly e-newsletter especially for our Ambassadors keeps the community up-to-date with new destination modules and in the loop with what’s happening in tourism around the state.

Tassie’s West Coast and southern East Coast destinations launched last year, and Launceston and the Tamar Valley recently joined the line-up as the program’s third destination module. This latest module celebrates the high-quality produce, creative spirit and natural beauty that

Launceston and the Tamar Valley offers to visitors and locals alike, and has pushed the total number of Tassie Tourism Ambassadors over 400. The next module will focus on the North-West region, and is due to launch before the end of the year.

We sat down with Jess Robinson, a recent addition to the Tassie Tourism Ambassador community, to get her take on the program and its value to the industry and visitors alike.

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WHAT WAS YOUR KEY TAKE-AWAY FROM COMPLETING THE TASSIE TOURISM AMBASSADOR PROGRAM? I learnt so much from the Launceston and Tamar Valley and West Coast destination modules of the Ambassador program. I think the diversity of Launceston’s tourism offering is something very special, and understanding the significance of the river to our story and key industries was really interesting, too.

WHY DO YOU THINK IT’S IMPORTANT TO BE A TASSIE TOURISM AMBASSADOR? As a Launceston local, I learned new things doing the course – and as a newbie to the West, it was a great introduction to the region.

As well as the knowledge gained, the course filled me with a huge sense of pride for these places, and inspired me to explore the parts of Tassie I haven’t yet seen!

Jess Robinson - Photo Credit: Nick Hanson.

WHAT IS YOUR CURRENT ROLE AND HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN IN IT? I’ve very recently started as Marketing and Partnerships Officer at The Unconformity.

Prior to this, I was in the same role at Junction Arts Festival for three years.

WHY DO YOU LOVE THE SECTOR YOU WORK IN? The people I get to meet and work with, and the experiences of festivals and events is like nothing else.

I’m very lucky to do what I do.

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WHAT MOST INSPIRES OR ENCOURAGES YOU? I think seeing resilience around me is so inspiring – there are so many examples of resilience and innovation in arts and tourism over the past few years. It’s always really encouraging to hear from audiences about how meaningful their experience at an event or performance was, and how valuable moments of connection and gathering are for the community.

WOULD YOU ENCOURAGE OTHER PEOPLE ACROSS THE INDUSTRY TO COMPLETE THE SESSION? Absolutely - the courses are such an asset to our industry, for people in all roles in tourism.

Becoming a Tassie Tourism Ambassador builds value and transferrable skills, provides networking opportunities, and gives you a meaningful and respected credential for your CV. Interested in becoming an Ambassador?

It’s easy! Head to www. tassietourismambassador. com.au and get started today!

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The 30 Day Tourism Reboot is a set of daily challenges delivered directly into your inbox designed to help you improve your digital presence incrementally.

We will deliver bite-sized tasks with written instructions, videos and examples to guide the quick and easy implementation of digital marketing strategies, website improvements, up-to-date social media advice, smart tools and so much more!

Scan for 30 challenges over 30 days or visit tourismtribe.com/30-day-tourism-reboot/ 29

WORKING ON YOUR BUSINESS, NOT IN YOUR BUSINESS

Ann and Michael Bourke, Jester Hill Wines.

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sk any business owner what their biggest barrier to working on their marketing strategy or online presence is and they’ll likely respond with an exasperated, “I don’t have time!” While many tourism operators know how important digital marketing is for the success of their business, they often struggle to find time to dedicate to developing their capabilities in the digital space so that they can grow their business online.

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It is important for businesses in the tourism industry to regularly review their digital marketing practices, analyse customer marketing trends, and make comparisons with industry best practices in order to identify opportunities for business growth.

However, the world of digital marketing is ever-evolving, and researching these topics without professional guidance can be time-consuming and treacherous. Ambitious business owners who go it alone may occasionally end up down the garden path.

Australian digital marketing education provider, Tourism Tribe, has developed a 30day challenge, dubbed the 30-Day Tourism Business Reboot, to help operators make incremental changes to their digital presence and marketing output. The 30-Day Tourism Reboot is a set of daily challenges delivered directly into participants’ inboxes over 30 consecutive days, created to help them make significant and achievable changes in their tourism businesses.

SPRING | 2022 | ISSUE 10 Despina, Fabienne and Liz, Tourism Tribe.

Ann Bourke and husband Michael bought their winery, Jester Hill Wines in SouthEast Queensland, 12 years ago and have been learning all about winemaking and business management ever since. Ann is a self-described “technophobe” and learns best by being stepped through digital practices and processes by a professional.

Like many small business owners, Ann struggles to find time in her day-to-day to dedicate to maintaining the online presence of her business. By joining the 30Day Tourism Business Reboot, Ann received a new bite-sized challenge each day that she could action then and there and tick off her checklist. “I

Sam, Amanda and Emily, Tourism Tribe.

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Ann and Michael Bourke, Jester Hill Wines.

loved that every day there was something in my face motivating me to keep moving forward,” Ann said.

The activities mapped out on the 30-day checklist include actions like ‘Set up goals in Google Analytics’, ‘Create your brand style guide’, ‘Try a new email marketing subject line’ and ‘Create an Instagram Reel’. The focus changes from day to day, giving participants a broad scope for improvement across their social media presence, email marketing strategy, website and online reputation.

Each of the prescribed activities has been strategically chosen to help business owners increase their general awareness of digital marketing strategies and how to navigate digital tools whilst simultaneously functioning as a catalyst for action.

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The daily tasks are delivered via email, and direct participants to written instructions, explanatory or demonstration videos and examples to guide each challenge’s quick and easy implementation.

The 30-day challenge was created to help the average small tourism business owner refine their digital presence, become more visible, increase leads and make smarter business decisions in line with the changing consumer and digital landscape.

To date, over 300 Australian small businesses have followed the 30-day challenge, making significant, incremental gains in their online presence and improving their digital marketing know-how along the way.

Get in touch with Tourism Tribe at help@tourismtribe.com.

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