TOURISM INDUSTRY DEVELOPMENT

Townsville Enterprise continued to focus on delivering a strong program of industry development and capacity building programs for the Tourism and Events Sector. These activities were centered on supporting businesses, increasing exposure and enhancing the visitor experience. Over the year, more than 25 tourism businesses engaged in individualised industry development opportunities.

21|22 HIGHLIGHTS

THE 2022 TOURISM FUTURES FORUM

More than 80 attendees were welcomed from across the tourism, hospitality, accommodation and events sector and heard from speakers on a range of topics including global trends, the Best of Queensland program, working with influencers, empowering staff and more.

YEAR OF INDIGENOUS TOURISM PROGRAM

At that start of 2022 and with funding through Tourism and Events Queensland, three local Indigenous operators completed a six month mentoring program with Savannah Guides owner, Russell Boswell, to build their capacity in providing indigenous tours and products within the Townsville North Queensland region. Mungalla Aboriginal Tours, Gudjuda Rangers and Sayla V have finished the Program with clear plans to implement new tours and make improvements to existing tours for the 2023 tourist season.

“Thank you for the opportunity to assist these operators and the Townsville region to move closer to offering some exciting new cultural experiences.” RUSSELL BOSWELL

TRANSFORMATIONAL EXPERIENCES MENTORING PROGRAM (TEMP) PROGRAM

Townsville Enterprise partnered with Tourism and Events Queensland to deliver a Transformational Experiences Mentoring Program which is aimed at supporting operators to design and deliver exceptional transformational experiences for their guests and keeping with the Queensland brand direction. In May 2022, seven operators from across the region completed the eight week program which included one on one mentoring sessions to identify barriers and create solutions for improving their customer’s journey.

BEST OF QUEENSLAND

The Best of Queensland Experiences Program (BOQEP) is an innovative program that guides the Queensland tourism industry to offer best practice experiences. The program is based on an independent set of criteria that incorporates online customer review sentiment, accreditation, social media engagement and online bookability. Working one-on-one with a number of operators and building awareness of the program saw the number of Townsville North Queensland operators part of this program grow from 56 to 63 in the 21/22 FY.

INCREASE IN BOOKABLE OPERATORS

To support regional tourism operators and provide another distribution avenue, Townsville Enterprise continued to develop and sell holiday packages both from within the Visitor Information Centre (VIC) and on townsvillenorthqueensland.com.au. Working with operators during the 21/22 FY we saw an additional 12 operators bookable and able to be packaged through Townsville Enterprise channels. More than 60% of operators received bookings through our distribution channel.

MAGNETIC ISLAND TOURISM MASTERPLAN

In December 2021, Townsville Enterprise received funding from the Queensland Government to commence a Magnetic Island 2030 Tourism Masterplan. A project steering committee was established to have oversight on the process and was formed to include all key stakeholders, community and industry. A significant program of community, industry and investor engagements were undertaken through the 21/22 FY to help inform the final Tourism Masterplan anticipated for release in early 2023

AUSTRALIAN TOURISM EXCHANGE

Townsville Enterprise along with key local tourism operators attended the Australian Tourism Exchange in Sydney to meet with domestic and international trade and wholesale partners. This event was a key opportunity to promote and build awareness of the destinations trade-ready products.