a toolkit for
TRANSCRIPT
A TOOLKIT FOR TOURISM MARKETING
DESTINATION GIPPSLAND — TOURISM MARKETING TOOLKIT 2
A TOOLKIT FOR TOURISM MARKETING Destination Gippsland is responsible for promoting Gippsland to domestic and international audiences with a core goal of increasing the value of the visitor economy through destination marketing, industry support and development and to attract investment into the region. Pre bushfires and pandemic Gippsland attracted a record 7.4 million visitors (+11%) who spent over $1.3 billion (+15%).
Destination Gippsland would like to invite you to be a partner in drawing visitors back to the region. We want you to contribute to a destination story that will entice visitors to come, stay a while and spend their money in the region and in your business once COVID19 restrictions are lifted.
By working collaboratively, we can inspire visitors to come and enjoy what we know is an exceptional place to visit.
*Note — As this is a digital PDF, you can click on hyperlinks that look like this.
We are here to provide a critical marketing tool for you and your tourism business.
OVER THE PAST TWO YEARS DESTINATION GIPPSLAND• Introduced a new blueprint for the future in ‘Towards 2030 Gippsland Destination
Management Plan’. Click here to view.
• Launched a new brand for the region, “Gippsland – All kinds of wonder”
• Created new brand assets and launched a dedicated campaign targeting Melburnians
• Launched a new website providing a one-stop call to action for our region, featuring over 500 pages and 700 images of Gippsland at visitgippsland.com.au
• Secured almost $21m in PR value to the region through editorial and media channels
• Continued to grow and curate world-class social media promoting Gippsland as a visitor experience
• Created a bushfire recovery campaign in the immediate aftermath of the black summer fires
• Rolled out an integrated marketing campaign about Gippsland's "Little Wonders" which we activated between lockdowns
This toolkit has been created to assist tourism businesses to plan and prepare to attract visitors to their products and destinations when travel is allowed. It’s a chance to work through some ideas for change and development.
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CONTENTSResearch
An audit for your business
Preparing for future marketing
ATDW Listing
Content planning
Social media
Public Relations
Business Events
Distribution and the Travel Trade
Crisis Management planning
Key Contacts
05.
09.
14.
18.
20.
24.
26.
34.
36.
39.
42.
RESEARCHHandy hints and data to help you write your next marketing plan.
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RESEARCH - WHAT WE KNOW
Here are a few pointers:
• For up to date formal research and information visit https://www.tra.gov.au/
• For a refresh on the most up to date COVID advice from Visit Gippsland, please visit https://www.visitgippsland.com.au/destination-gippsland
• For crisis preparedness please visit the Covid Preparedness page
• To ensure you are compliant with COVID regulations in your business, click here
So much has been written about the tourism landscape since COVID arrived. Pre pandemic, we know that 80% of tourism spend in Australia was from the domestic market, and that Australians spent $6500 per capita per year on travel, with 40% of time spent in their home state. (Deloitte Access Economics).
The majority of Aussies still plan on travelling either the same amount or more when they can. They want to spend more time in places recommended by friends and family and almost 1 in 4 will be remote working on their next leisure holiday. The majority also want to book directly with the venue rather than through a 3rd party, with almost a third will book directly online. (Siteminder’s Changing Traveller Report 2021, Australian Edition).
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NOW FOR SOME GOOD NEWS The good news is that throughout 2020 and 2021, Gippsland has continued to deliver positive experiences to visitors. Our Tourism Sentiment Index (TSI) – a measure of what is being said about Gippsland online -continues to outperform the Australian and Victorian averages.
THE TOURISM SENTIMENT INDEX HAS GROWN
TourismSentiment
Score
0
10
20
30
40
50
Gippsland Victoria Australia
32
16 16
2019 - 2020(After Campaign launch)
Gippsland Victoria Australia
2020 - 2021
2224
44
Source: Tourism Sentiment Index, Live Dashboard Jul 2021
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Despite significant Covid impacts Gippsland has grabbed market share from other regions over the past two years.
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
TOTAL DOMESTIC VISITORS
Gippsla
nd
Region
al Vic
-34%
-44%
DOMESTIC VISITOR NIGHTS
Gippsla
nd
Region
al Vic
-16%
-29%
PERCENTAGE LOSSYE Mar 20 - YE Mar 21
Source: Datainsights, NVS, YE Mar 21Tourism Research Australia
GIPPSLAND VS REGIONAL VICTORIA VISITATION
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LET’S GET STARTEDIt’s a good idea to stand back and have a look at your business before implementing any changes, so the first step to undertake now is to conduct a health check on your tourism product. We recommend taking a little bit of time to think about your business. By completing the next task, you can review what you offer, who you appeal to and why.
CONDUCT A SWOT ANALYSIS. If you haven’t undertaken a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) analysis before, it’s a great way to map out what your business is capable of achieving. There is a blank SWOT sheet in the workbook to get you started.
STEP 1 — WHAT YOU DO WELL. Write down what you believe you do well and what your customers tell you that you do well. Sometimes these may not be obvious to your customers (eg good staff retention).
It’s a good idea to look at your online reviews and see if they match what you believe to be the things you do well. Does customer feedback reflect where you’ve invested time and money? List these as your strengths.
STEP 2 — ASSESS YOUR SURROUNDING REGION. The further away your customers are, the more vulnerable you are to market conditions, so by assessing the surrounding region, you can come to an understanding of what you offer that complements the regions’ unique selling points. Your “region” is the experiences that guests can manage easily from your location.
Next review what your customers tell you they like about the surrounding region, as you did in step 1, using online reviews and past guest feedback.
If you’re already leveraging from the region’s attributes then add these comments to your strengths. If you can identify things that you could be doing but aren’t, list them as opportunities.
STEP 3 — ASSESS WHAT YOUR WEAKNESSES & THREATS ARE. Put simply, weaknesses are internal to your business, so things you might be able to control and change. This could include things like “rooms are tired and need a soft refurbishment” or “improve staff training for a better customer experience”. If you find it hard to audit your own business have a look again at what others are saying about you online.
Threats are things you can’t control, such as who your competitors are. Post COVID19 threats may also include changing consumer travel patterns.
Once you’ve conducted your SWOT analysis, keep it close as you work through the rest of this toolkit. You might want to add to it as you go, or turn it into a mind map that you can use to formulate your post-COVID19 marketing and business plan.
GOALS — DESTINATION GIPPSLANDTOURISM MARKETING TOOLKIT WORKBOOK
GOALSGOALS WHO? DATES BUDGETS DESIRED OUTCOMES
TIP: Download & print the workbook to complete your SWOT Analysis & Mind Map.
SWOT ANALYSIS — DESTINATION GIPPSLAND
TOURISM MARKETING TOOLKIT WORKBOOK
SWOT ANALYSIS
STRENGTHS
OPPORTUNITIESTHREATS
WEAKNESSES
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THE CUSTOMER JOURNEYAt a minimum, we’d hope you’re corresponding with past guests. You can make assumptions about your market by applying simple observation tactics to audiences you’ve attracted in the past. Use the data that is available to you! Try and remember what your clients love about your product per season – summer and winter offer very different reasons to visit Gippsland! Use this information to draw up a customer profile of your current market. You should draw up one per season, and if you have both corporates and leisure travellers, (mid week versus weekend), differentiate these profiles as well.
If you’re interested in taking this one step further, apply this data to humanise the customer profile, by creating customer personas. Persona’s can help unlock ideas you might not have otherwise thought of, particularly the way your customers find you. There’s lots of tools available to help you with this. Here’s a couple we found:
Customer journey mapping for tourism brands
Increasing sales through marketing — Define and know your customer
Tourism Research Australia have created an excellent set of user-friendly domestic visitor profiles, by destination attribute, and by type of traveller. Download them here: https://www.tra.gov.au/Domestic/domestic-visitor-profiles
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A NOTE ABOUT YOUR BRANDIt takes a lot of effort to look effortless. Your brand is what the outside world thinks of you, and although you can influence your brand with carefully curated content, your brand is actually determined by your customers.
Brand triggers include marketing materials, images, website, style guides and language, but also staff in their service delivery of the customer experience, word of mouth, customer follow up, and the tone of language you use. By reviewing your brand triggers you’ll be better able to ensure that all your brand elements are aligned, which should make your product more visible when you go back to market.
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LIST YOUR GOALSThere’s never been a better time to look at changing what you’re doing. What do you want to change about how you currently do business? Not everyone in small business wants to be busy all the time, you simply might not be attracting the customer you expected to attract. What are your ultimate goals and how do you change what you’re doing to match them?
For example, do you want to:
• Increase occupancy or length of stay?
• Want more guests for single night stays mid week?
• Want to improve your reviews by recognising that you may need to improve the guest experience
If you’re ready to start planning, start a plan, perhaps with these suggested headings:
You can start this plan now, then adjust as you work through the rest of this toolkit.
GOALS
List your goals
WHO?
Who owns the task
DATES
Set a date parameter for achieving the goals set
BUDGETS
How much can you spend to achieve it?
DESIRED OUTCOMESWhat is the direct desired outcome?
Try and be specific.
THE FUTUREPlanning now for when travel restrictions are eased
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DESTINATION GIPPSLAND RECOVERY MARKETING Destination Gippsland are working on our post-Covid marketing plan. We will undertake a content-driven promotional campaign for Gippsland.
Revival marketing for your business will be essential and will require pricing and packaging that can be launched at short notice, and by season.
PREPARING TO GO BACK TO MARKETWhile you’re preparing to rebound from Covid19, we suggest that you undertake a few initial tasks that will help you recover more quickly. Some local communities might not want visitors back as quickly as we anticipate when restrictions are lifted. Talk to your local tourism association and make sure you’re ready to promote your destination again, otherwise the visitor experience will be impacted.
Here is a checklist of some ideas to get you started.
Check-in with all your digital assets. Is your imagery up to date? Does your website content need a refresh? Check your website, social media, direct mail template and printed collateral and ensure it’s market-ready.
Do you offer gift vouchers? If you add these to your marketing mix, be sure to allow 3 years validity in line with consumer protection legislation Consumer Victoria - Gift Vouchers & Gift Cards
Can you adapt your product to sell more? Is there something you can add to attract new markets?
Review your keyword search: has it changed? Check your analytics. What pages are getting good traffic right now and why. How is it different to normal?
Can you sell your product online on sites such as Click For Vic and Victorian Country Marketplace?
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WHEN THE TIME COMES, YOU’LL NEED TO BE READY. The next stages of this toolkit look at what we would like you to do to prepare to support the regional marketing plans.
Keep in contact with your past guests. If nothing else just entertain them! Show them you care –perhaps offer a past guest exclusive deal for when they can travel (and be loose with booking and travel timelines).
You may not want to return to how you used to do things – that’s fine, but think about the best way to communicate this with your loyal followers and new audiences
If your business is in an area with lots of holiday homes, how can you target them when they can travel again? Can you get them to spend money with you rather than bring their own (especially food and wine!)
Will your local community want visitors back when restrictions are lifted? How soon do you want to start marketing to target audiences? You will need to communicate this to Destination Gippsland and your local tourism association
If you’re listed with Online travel agents (OTAs) it’s a good time to check your listing and update if required
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HAVING AN ATDW LISTING As a minimum, you should contact Destination Gippsland for a voucher code for a FREE Australian Tourism Data Warehouse (ATDW) listing.
These listings are normally $295 per annum and provide you with a listing on visitgippsland.com.au, as well as visitvictoria.com and Australia.com to name just three sites. Your listing provides you with a call to action to your own website. You upload your entry, and control content and images used.
For more information about the ATDW listing, please go to: https://corporate.visitvictoria.com/resources/marketing-opportunities/about-atdw
To secure your ATDW voucher please get in touch with a member of the Destination Gippsland team, listed at the back of this toolkit.
AND if you already have an ATDW listing, don’t neglect it – now is the time to check it for updated information and imagery.
PRICING AND PACKAGING IN POST COVID19 WORLD. WHAT STEPS CAN YOU TAKE TO GET MORE BOOKINGS WHEN THE TIME COMES?Don’t assume that the pricing structure you’ve always used will work in the future. Here is a checklist for you to consider when reviewing your pricing and packaging.
Create forward opportunities through offers. For example, offer pay/stay deals, free upgrades, meal inclusions, buy one, get one free offers and free inclusions for children.
Consider relaxing your travel conditions to get more bookings; review your cancellation policy – will it still work in a post-COVID19 world? Is it too strict?
If you currently have a 2-night minimum on weekends, consider a one-night rate at a slightly higher price.
If a 2-night minimum stay works for you, what deal can you offer to stretch the booking to 3 nights. Eg Stay 3 nights pay for 2 or value add the booking with breakfast
Focus on the market that is geographically closest to you with your Facebook and other digital marketing – Latrobe Valley, and the Melbourne eastern corridor.
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Prepare a media release with your offers, ready to go to market (particularly good for local area marketing). If you pay for ads, negotiate editorial/live reads if possible
Work together with your competitors where possible, the lasting memory of the region will be how we made visitors feel when they could travel again
Target your past guests first. Create a special and offer to them as an exclusive for being a valued past guest if they want to book as soon as travel restrictions are lifted
Work with other businesses to build that package you’ve never had time to develop.
Some markets will travel differently (eg the Grey Nomads doing their lap of the map) and will need to feel welcome – by you, and by your community. Discuss this with your local tourism association if you work with one. Develop a communication plan so that guests feel confident to come.
Establish how to manage social distancing and communicate it to your guests. For guidelines, go to the Safework toolkit here: Safe Work Australia - COVID19 Resource Kit
Add your cleaning process and social distancing opportunities to your marketing and confirmation process. For example: “Did you know that each of our rooms are stand-alone cabins, located 2m apart?”
Add details about your cleaning procedures to your website, social media and confirmation correspondence
CONTENTPLANNING
Now is the time to plan what you want to say, and when to say it
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CONTENT PLANNING Put simply, content planning means taking all the things you offer and overlaying them with outside factors that can influence your business. This could be the time of the week, seasonality, signature events and nearby experiences.
Now is the time to plan your content calendar. Plan a full year of calendar content now. Obviously you will need to add to this as time progresses, but if you have a go at creating a content calendar, you can align website, social media and newsletter or past guest communications from the outset.
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Review what content you’ve used successfully in the past to grow engagement and following. Some examples include wildlife spotting near you, and local seasonal menu items.
Content triggers could include events (when we can start having them again), your staff, your new packages/product, your partnerships with other products in the region
Remember too that content is there to be shared, so be mindful of partnership opportunities; with media, with other product, and with paid partnership marketing platforms if you undertake paid marketing
Don’t forget Destination Gippsland is here for you, so share your content with us by tagging #visitgippsland and #eatdrinkgippsland whenever possible
DOWNLOAD THE WORKBOOK, TO COMPLETE YOUR CONTENT PLAN.
CONTENT CHECKLIST POINTERSHere are a few ideas to get you started.
SOCIAL MEDIA
Keep posting, sharing, tagging and commenting as much as you can
Be honest and use inspirational messaging to keep people dreaming about when they can visit you
Use images that reflect social distancing rules
Try something new – for example, if you’re not used to posting pictures of your staff, now is the time to try it!
Keep your Instagram stories going, they can build some amazing connections with your audience
Pin important posts to the top of your Facebook feed to keep them top of mind
Ensure your ‘book direct’ message is prominently displayed through your social media marketing
Host a Facebook LIVE tour of your product, provide a behind the scenes or sneak peek at something you may not have thought to share before
News is news: if you’ve got a new product/package to share, share it as soon as the restrictions are lifted
Video is a great tool to get cut through – and people are craving snapshots of a life they can’t have right now, so aim to take short form video with your phone and post them on your social media channels.
Ever wondered how to get your product featured by Tourism Australia? Take the time now to review their social media tips for success at Tourism Australia — Using Social Media and get involved with their “Live from Aus” campaign
SOCIAL MEDIAIT’S ALSO A GOOD TIME TO AUDIT AND UPDATE YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA. Social media consumption has risen exponentially in lockdown, so rule number one right now is don’t “go dark” on social media.
HERE ARE A FEW POINTERS:
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PUBLIC RELATIONS
How to work with media
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WE’VE IDENTIFIED SIX KEY BENEFITS A SMALL BUSINESS WILL GAIN FROM POSITIVE PUBLIC RELATIONS:• It stretches your budget
• It’s more effective than advertising
• PR complements and supports your marketing
• Good PR strategies prevent problems - ensure your message is accurate
• PR boosts brand visibility - news articles remain visible on search engines indefinitely.
• Creates long-lasting relationships – with industry, media and other partners
When preparing information for media, remember, everyone is busy – media included – so keep your information relevant, using short emails.
WHAT IS NEWSWORTHY?WHEN PLANNING YOUR PITCH, STICK TO NEWS THAT IS RELEVANT TO THE PUBLICATION OR MEDIA OUTLET YOU ARE CONTACTING Here is a checklist of ideas of what makes you news:
New business / activities
Expansions / new features
A point of difference
Seasonal news – what does your business offer for Spring / Autumn?
Events – relate to your business
Partnerships / collaborations in your area
Attractive packages / deals
Wildlife at your business
Awards / accreditations
Something quirky / interesting
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MEDIA RELEASESHERE ARE SOME TIPS FOR WRITING A MEDIA RELEASE, A ONE-PAGE DOCUMENT SUMMING UP YOUR NEWS :• DON’T BURY THE LEAD – put the most important, newsworthy info in
the first sentence!
• WHO? Your business, your name and your partners
• WHAT? Clearly describe what is happening
• WHEN? Dates for events, opening dates
• WHERE? Property address, route of the tour
• WHY? Why is this news?
• A website / Facebook / Insta page for more info - make sure it is up to date!
• Your contact details
• A link to a Dropbox of high-resolution images
MEDIA KIT 2020
TOURISM AUSTR ALIA
See an example Media Kit in the downlodable workbook.
MEDIA KITNOW IS A GOOD TIME TO CREATE YOUR OWN MEDIA KIT.Here are some things you should include in your media kit:
PHOTOS ARE SO IMPORTANT! For media, follow these golden rules when sending your images:
Fact sheets about your business / tour / accommodation
A backgrounder on your business’ history
Recent awards
Latest brochures
High-resolution images (either on USB or downloadable)
Must be high res, at least 1MB
Update & share regularly
Interior, exterior, views, people
Upload to Dropbox for sharing
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MEDIA CONTACTIf the media contact you, try to respond as soon as possible, even if just to acknowledge the request.
• Find out exactly what they need
• Find out the deadline
• Write down their contact details
• If you are unsure or would like time to prepare, ask to call them back shortly
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THE ROLE OF SOCIAL MEDIAFOR MEDIAThe media often fact-check and look for leads from social media. They will use your social media as their first port of call for more information, make sure it addresses the following.
Demonstrates who your business is - what images / video you may have and who your market is
Tells a story, builds your brand
A source of news and information that Destination Gippsland monitors
Social media is another media channel to reach out - tag @visitgippsland
Use the ‘About’ section of your profile. One of the most important sections of your Facebook page, it is the first place people look for info – including media. Ensure you include:
• Contact details
• Opening days and hours
• Short description of your business
• Awards / achievements
• Product information
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KEEP DESTINATION GIPPSLAND INFORMEDDid you know that Destination Gippsland generates over $12m worth of editorial for the region each year? Chances are the article you see about your town has been generated or managed through our office. So please keep us updated on your news, images and video.
When we create or receive a media release, we:
• Distribute to our media database
• Consider your business for inclusion in famils / requests
• Include your news in seasonal updates
• Pass on your news to Visit Victoria for further distribution
BUSINESS EVENTSIf your business has a meeting and conferencing facility, or if you work with a
conference centre, it’s important to review how you’re going to go back to market once we can have business events once more.
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Keep us informed with your business events news and information. We have a quarterly newsletter which goes out to over 500 Melbourne-based meeting planners.
Be ready with your meeting packages and offers to get bookings back as quickly as possible.
Have a look at your layout configurations – do you need to update them to allow less people and more space and change the maximum number capacity for business meetings?
You might want to create new floorplans to support these changes in your business events prospectus
Review your breakout spaces and activities and make sure they are also social-distancing compliant. Take pictures to send to potential clients so they can see the measures you’ve taken
Start by targeting your past Business Event database, especially those that had to cancel when group restrictions started.
Review your cancellation policy – will it still work in a post-COVID19 world for business events? You might want to consider relaxing your cancellation conditions to get more bookings.
Prepare a media release with your business packages, ready to go to market (particularly good for local area marketing)
Add your cleaning procedures and social distancing messaging to your confirmation process. For example, the number of hand sanitiser stations located within the conference room.
Stay connected with clients and industry on LinkedIn. Post content relevant to your business and tag #visitgippsland and #businesseventsvictoria
Communicating these changes will instil confidence in meeting organisers
HERE ARE A FEW THOUGHT STARTERS FOR YOUR BUSINESS EVENTS PROGRAM: Make sure you have a listing on the Business Events Gippsland website, which is FREE. www.visitgippsland.com.au/businessevents
WORKING WITH THE TRAVEL TRADE
If you’ve ever thought about working with travel trade, there are a raft of benefits to doing so, so now is the time to think it through and possibly add trade bookings to your business mix.
HOW TO WORK WITH THE TRAVEL TRADE Travel trade expect commissions of up to 30% to be built into pricing to allow them to distribute the product on your behalf. Online travel agents (OTAs) usually expect less commission than wholesalers or Inbound Tour Operators (ITOs) but usually offer less service to their customers.
If you’ve always thought about building your opportunity to partner with the travel agency network, now’s the time to do the research to see if your product is a good fit for trade. For more information on working with trade (particularly international), Tourism Australia produce an excellent resource to review. You can find their export toolkit here: Tourism Australia — Tourism Export Toolkit Tourism Australia are also working hard to deliver result through the domestic travel trade network. And if you are working with the travel trade, start thinking about working with Sydney-Melbourne touring to bring your product into the Sydney to Melbourne Coastal drive marketing and promotional activity. For more information visit www.sydneymelbournetouring.com/coastal-drive/
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HERE IS A CHECKLIST TO ASSIST YOU IF YOU ARE CURRENTLY WORKING WITH TRADE:
Be ready to contact trade and provide product or destination information when needed
Are you working with Flight Centre and Helloworld? As the two largest domestic travel partners, you might want to consider contacting them to contract your product through their vast distribution and marketing networks
OTAs: check your listings and update as required with any OTAs you partner with (e.g. Booking.com)
Creating new product? Build commission into your pricing and create a trade friendly package
Update your trade sales kit – including product fact sheets, nett rates, terms and conditions and images.
Don’t forget to send rates to international trade for 2021 and beyond – they are still loading product into their systems for future sales
Destination Gippsland — Trade Marketing will become our trade portal for updates and information. Please keep sending us information about your business that you’d like to share with travel trade.
Stay connected on LinkedIn. Connect with your clients and industry stakeholders here, and post content relevant to your business for trade, tagging it with #visitgippsland
Have a look at the Aussie Specialist Program and get an offer ready to share with Aussie specialists for when they can travel. You might like to add an educational video now to introduce or remind them of your product. Visit https://www.aussiespecialist.com/en-us
v
CRISIS PREPAREDNESS
If 2020 has taught us anything, it’s that we need to be ready
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CRISIS PREPAREDNESSA final point for our toolkit is to remember and review your crisis planning each year, in light of bushfire, flood, and now global pandemic.
Destination Gippsland has developed a number of resources to assist with being crisis ready, and we would encourage you to review the information, and add it to your own business and marketing plans. For more information go to: https://www.visitgippsland.com.au/destination-gippsland/industry-development/crisis-preparedness
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STAY CONNECTED WITH USOur industry website and newsletter contains a mine of information for you as a tourism operator. We love sharing news and stories, so please keep in touch with us too.
Subscribe to our Industry newsletter here: https://www.visitgippsland.com.au/destination-gippsland
Keep us informed, we love hearing from you.
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+61 3 5668 [email protected]. Box 203, Mirboo North VIC 387130 Ridgway (Old Shire Hall, Strzelecki Hwy) Mirboo North
Terry Robinson [email protected]: 0428 595 634
Janine HayesVisitor Economy Manager, [email protected]: 0488 042 838
Kelly McCarthy Public Relations & Marketing [email protected]: 0410 271 794
Lyndel Moore East Gippsland Visitor Economy Recovery [email protected]: 0414 640 660
Alison ConroyMarketing [email protected]: 0419 487210
David ElderProject Manager, Events Gippsland [email protected]: 0487 006 231
Makayla Rimington Industry and Marketing [email protected]: 0417 445 877
Visit us at:Facebook.com/Gippsland
Instagram: @visitgippslandTwitter: @visitgippsland
www.visitgippsland.com.au/destination-gippsland
Nicholas KingProject Manager, Tracks and [email protected] 924 465
Elysa SorahanMarketing [email protected]