Member Consultation Session

May 2019

1. WHY REVIEW OUR BOOKING STRATEGY?

2. SUPPORTING DIRECT BOOKINGS FOR MEMBERS

3. HOW MIGHT YOUR MEMBERSHIP PACKAGE

CHANGE?

• Growth in performance at each stage, except 'Booking'

• Visitors use margaretriver.com as a research tool and then book elsewhere.

• In another 3 years, will MRBTA be taking bookings at all?

Stage of customer journey

MRBTA performance 2017/18 3 year growth rate

Dreaming 634,057 organic search traffic +14%

Planning 1,248,111 total website sessions +10%

Booking 12,265 total bookings - 35%

Destination 21,000 App downloads +110 % (2 year growth rate)

Sharing 278,090 total followers +334%

Margaretriver.com: 1.3 million sessions

Your Margaret River Region App: 21,000 downloads

Visitor Centres: 440,000 visitorsAt Busselton, Dunsborough, Margaret River and Augusta

Central Reservations: 50,000 queriesVia phone calls, emails and live web chats

Social media: 200,000 engagementsVia Twitter, Facebook and Instagram

Consumer email database: 36,000 subscribers

1. Technology: Even with a strong digitally focused marketing team, MRBTA is

unable to keep pace with the technology of the OTAs.

2. Operator demand: Would rather attract direct bookings. Only 54% of all

bookable operators offer real time bookings, and only 57% of accommodation

operators offer rate parity through our site.

3. Consumer demand: A international study into accommodation

booking trends by STR Global in 2017 estimates that 41% consumers

book via OTAs, and 35% book direct.

• Viator (TripAdvisor Experiences): no. of bookable experience

listings increased by 86% between 2017 and 2018.

• Airbnb Experiences (launched Nov ‘16): ~1.5 million bookings

per year. Targets locals/‘date night’ market alongside tourists.

• Expedia Local Expert: Sales grew by 20% in Q1 2018. In-

destination kiosks staffed by 400 concierges offer experience

bookings.

• Booking.com Experiences: Owns FareHarbor booking software.

Travelers receive QR code to be redeemed at supported attractions

and are charged as they go.

• Tours & activities sector is growing faster than the total travel market: it will grow to $183 billion in

2020 (Phocuswright, 2017)

• 3 in 4 millennials would rather buy an experience than a physical good (Recode, 2018)

• Personalisation opportunities: 36% people would be likely to pay more if a travel brand tailored

information and overall trip experience based on personal preferences or past behaviour

(Google/Phocuswright, 2017)

Bookable:

✓ No longer restricted by Bookeasy layout and booking functionality

✓ No commissions payable for online bookings

All (bookable and non-bookable):

✓ Greater opportunity to own your customers' journey from the beginning

✓ Greater opportunity for brand interaction

✓ Greater opportunity for tailored calls to action

✓ Increased SEO at your own website

✓ More cost effective referral than Google Ads, and other advertising

mediums

✓ Increased transparency around referrals & performance of membership

The focus for 2019/20 will be to develop a comprehensive training and development

calendar to assist members in providing an excellent customer journey once visitors

land on their site. Opportunities may include:

• Developing your digital assets – photography, video, copy

• Website development

• Channel manager integration

• Online distribution strategies

• Online booking systems

• Embarking on offering bookable products

A range of touchpoints will be offered to members to assist them to make the

change. Opportunities may include:

• Drop-in sessions to help members understand the change and its progress

• Online tools

• Face to face training

It is envisaged the rollout will occur 2019/20 for completion by Easter 2020.

• Utilise margaretriver.com for product information

• Bookings still able to be executed through Bookeasy staff

console

• Central reservations move toward bespoke package

development