whitsunday experience development audit
TRANSCRIPT
Whitsunday Experience Development Audit
Mark Olsen – EarthCheck
$6M ADVERTISING PER
DAY
100+ DESTINATIONS PER
WEEK
397M FACEBOOK POSTS
PER DAY
67% OF DECISIONS BY
WORD OF MOUTH
“It’s critical that we protect this amazing place, and we’d like your help.”
Today’s workshop
1. What sets the Whitsundays apart
2. The Experience Development Audit
3. Areas for improvement
4. Discussion and Next Steps
1. What sets the Whitsundays Apart?
• Brand Story: 74 island wonders
• Core promise: Feel the wonder of Australia's island paradise.
• Brand personality: Charismatic, expansive, inspiring, wide-eyed, worldly.
• Brand values: Pride in the Whitsundays, hospitality, sharing something truly special with visitors
• Hero Experiences:
Diverse Island Wonders
Sailing, Flying, Snorkelling, Diving
GBR & Iconic Landscapes
Airlie Beach and Mainland
3
You can be the only person watching the
worlds best natural event (e.g. coral spawning,
whale migration, turtle hatching).
GBR HERO EXPERIENCES
1
You can learn to snorkel, dive or sail
safely in one of the seven natural wonders of the
world.
2
Visitors come face-to-face with the charismatic
mega marine life of the GBR – the only place on
the planet you can see the ‘Great 8’.
4
Travel guilt-free with high standard operators and participate in the
conservation of the first World Heritage listed reef.
6
On one of nine hundred islands and coral cays
of the GBR you can wake up with a view of
the GBR in your choice of accommodation.
5
Seeing the reef and islands stretch as far as the eye can see reminds you that you are seeing the largest living organism on the planet.
7
Escape the crowds and immerse yourself in the culture and lifestyle of
the island and coastal communities that call the
GBR home.
Is our story starting to get lost in a competitive landscape…?
2. The Experience development Audit
STAGE OF TRAVEL AUDIT APPROACH & DELIVERABLES
Dreaming • Review of ten travel blogs that include articles on the Whitsundays
• Review of ten recent publications or TV programs that feature the Whitsundays
• Engaging key media partners to understand their perceptions of the region
Planning • Review of the five most popular websites for the region
• Review of five destination brochures
• Review of five operator brochures and websites Booking • Review of three bookings websites general / destination content
• Review of the TripAdvisor Discussion Boards
• Review of mystery shopped operator websites and their booking processes
Experiencing • Phone booking of products for mystery shopping
• Phone booking of the Whitsunday Visitor Information Centre
• Review of the 17 operators mystery shopped
Sharing • Review of 50 consumer posts on social media
• Review of 20 Trip Advisor comments
Experience Development is the science of delivering a consistent and inspiring message to consumers throughout their travel experience that will not only motivate them to become ambassadors for your story, but to know how to tell it.
Dreaming
Publication/Program Source
Bran
d P
rom
ise
Destination Heroes GBR USP Themes
Diverse Islan
d
Paradise
Sailing, Flyin
g, Sn
orkellin
g, D
iving
GB
R an
d Ico
nic
Land
scapes
Airlie B
each
and
Main
land
Size and
Use
Diversity o
f W
ildlife
Co
nservatio
n
OV
ERA
LL R
AN
KIN
G (/5
)
The Australian ✓ 3
Fairfax Traveller ✓ 3
News.com.au ✓ 3
Yahoo7 ✓ ✓ ✓ 4
The Guardian ✓ ✓ ✓ 4.5
Travel + Leisure ✓ 4
Rockhampton Morning Bulletin/APN
✓ ✓ 4
Courier Mail ✓ ✓ ✓ 4
New Zealand Herald ✓ 3
Australian Traveller ✓ 3
AVERAGE SCORE 100% 100% 50% 70% 60% 30% 80% 10% 3.6/5
Dreaming
Blog Source
Bran
d
Pro
mise
Destination Heroes GBR USP Themes
Diverse
Island
Parad
ise
Sailing,
Flying,
Sno
rkelling, D
iving
GB
R an
d
Icon
ic Lan
dscap
es
Airlie
Beach
&
Main
land
Size and
U
se
Diversity
of
Wild
life
Co
nserva
tion
OV
ERA
LL R
AN
KIN
G
(/5)
Nomadic Matt 3
Tourism Queensland 4
Billabong 3
Globe Trotting 4
Frugal Frolicker 3
The Wandering Lens 4
That Backpacker 3
Ytravel 2
Young Andventuress 4
The Merrymaker Sisters
3
AVERAGE SCORE 100% 100% 50% 90% 20% 0% 40% 10% 3/5
Planning
Website
Bran
d P
rom
ise
Destination Heroes GBR USP Themes
Diverse Islan
d
Paradise
Sailing, Flyin
g, Sn
orkellin
g, D
iving
GB
R an
d Ico
nic
Land
scapes
Airlie B
each an
d
Main
land
Size and
Use
Diversity o
f W
ildlife
Co
nservatio
n
OVERALL
RANKING (/5)
TourismWhitsundays. com
3.75
Queensland.com 3.5
Australia.com 3
Whitsundays.com.au 3
LonelyPlanet.com 2.5
AVERAGE SCORE 100%
100% 100% 100% 100% 40% 40% 0% 3.2/5
Booking
Booking Website Source
Bran
d P
rom
ise
Destination Heroes GBR USP Themes
Diverse Islan
d
Paradise
Sailing, Flyin
g, Sn
orkellin
g, D
iving
GB
R an
d Ico
nic
Land
scapes
Airlie B
each an
d
Main
land
Size and
Use
Diversity o
f W
ildlife
Co
nservatio
n
OV
ERA
LL R
AN
KIN
G (/5
)
Booking.com
2
TripAdvisor 3
Wotif 3.5
AVERAGE SCORE 67% 100% 67% 100% 100% 0% 0% 0% 2.8/5
Pre Trip
In
form
ation
(/5)
Qu
ality of
Service in
Bo
okin
g (/5)
Signage to
B
usin
ess (/5)
Presen
tation
of
Bu
siness (/5
)
Gu
est A
tmo
sph
ere (/5
)
Level of
Cu
stom
er En
gagemen
t (/5
)
Accessib
ility to
Pro
du
ct In
form
ation
(/5)
Qu
ality of
Service (/5)
TOTA
L SCO
RE
(/40
)
AVERAGE SCORE 3.1 3.6 4.5 3.9 3.8 3.6 3.9 4.0 3.8/5
Experiencing
The average rating on
TripAdvisor is 4.2
Sharing
‘Travellers are sharing more and actively advocate their travel choices. Having experienced their travel dream first hand, this is the point at which travellers plant the seed for others. This sharing is happening in real-time on social media platforms’
Photo Gallery of last 10 Facebook Image Posts (#whitsundaysqld) 62.3K followers
Photo Gallery of last 10 Instagram Image Posts (#lovewhitsundays) 62.3 followers
Photo Gallery of last 10 Twitter Image Posts (#lovewhitsundays) 8,048 followers
3. Areas of improvement Today’s readers are after simple but informative and relatable content and this style of messaging could be improved across all stages and mediums
Active imagery
Sharing Top 5 most common used hashtags Top posts #whitsundays on Instagram
Sharing GSL Aviation tours
Cruise Whitsundays
Airlie Beach Hotel
Embrace the Region Everyone is a part of the Whitsundays Story
What Conservation Story are you Sharing? • The toughest laws protecting any reef enforced by the Great Barrier Reef
Marine Park Authority plus the Reef 2050 future plan
• High Standard Tourism Program rewards those certified through Ecotourism Certification or EarthCheck.
• With the help of six official research stations, The Great Barrier Reef is the best studied tropical marine ecosystem in the world.
• The same year as Finding Nemo the Reef Guardian School Program
started to educate schools.
• Operators contribute to conservation through Eye On The Reef program which even allows visitors to play an active role.
• Since 2010, AMPTO has been working with unemployed youth, training them a recreational dive supervisors to control Crown of Thorns Starfish
• The GBR Visitor Charge which funds research, education and policy development.
• In 2004, the Australian Government increased fishing exclusion zones from 5 per cent to 33 per cent with measuring increases in diversity
4. Next step
GROUP
DISCUSSION
