Three-Year Strategy 2019/20–2021/22
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TOURISM NORTH EAST THREE-YEAR STRATEGY 2019/20–2021/22 CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 2 1. TOURISM NORTH EAST 4 2. VISION AND SCOPE 5 3. THREE-YEAR STRATEGY 6 4. HIGH COUNTRY PERFORMANCE 6 5. REGIONAL PRODUCT PILLARS 7 6. HIGH COUNTRY BRANDS 9 7. CUSTOMER SEGMENTS 11 8. TARGET MARKETS 12 9. EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENT ANALYSIS 13 10. THREE-YEAR REGIONAL OBJECTIVES 17 11. STRATEGIC FOCUS 17 12. STRATEGIC DIRECTION 18 A. CYCLE TOURISM 18 B. FOOD AND DRINKS 21 C. SNOW 24 D. NATURE-BASED TOURISM 28 E. ARTS AND CULTURAL HERITAGE 31 F. DIGITAL EXCELLENCE 34 G. ORGANISATIONAL GROWTH 37 13. BUDGET 40 14. MEASUREMENT AND CONTROL 41 15. REFERENCES 42 Tourism North East Three Year Strategy 2019/20–2021/22 1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Tourism North East (TNE) is one of eleven regional tourism boards established at the directive of Visit Victoria, the State’s tourism and events entity. TNE represents the region known as the High Country, which includes six shires – Alpine, Benalla, Indigo, Mansfield, Towong and Wangaratta – and the three major alpine resorts of Falls Creek, Mt Buller/Stirling and Mt Hotham. TNE is charged with developing the long-term strategic direction for High Country and establishing it as the lead regional tourism destination in Victoria. TNE has developed a Three-year Strategy to provide focus for its tourism efforts and to clearly define the organisation’s role in realising the strategic objectives outlined in Victoria’s High Country Destination Management Plan 2013-2023. This approach has been adopted to provide synergy between the strategic activities of TNE and its local government and industry partners. The North East currently attracts nearly 3.8 million visitors per annum who spend $1.145 billion when in-region, accounting for 19% of gross regional product and 21% of employment. This Strategy looks to drive continued growth in the region’s visitor economy. To do this, TNE will leverage and enhance the region’s key product strengths – cycle, food/drinks, snow, nature- based, and arts/cultural heritage – and take them to market with engaging pillar brands that resonate with consumer segments. In particular, this offering will target the valuable Lifestyle Leader segment, primarily within the region’s core intrastate market. Several trends are expected to impact the tourism landscape over the life of this plan, and therefore affect the outcomes of the Strategy: broader Australian tourism trends, changing demographics, the growth of the visiting friends and relatives market, the growth of the sharing economy, and climate change. Fast moving, high-impact micro trends will also impact the tourism industry: the rise of civic brands, a challenging attention economy, the rise of neo-kinship, the establishment of the optimised-self, and the conflicting forces of social dislocation and re- engagement. Within this context, TNE is looking to lead Victoria’s North East in achieving regional growth at a level reflective of the long-term targets identified in the Destination Management Plan. This includes increasing total High Country visitation by 8%, growing domestic overnight visitation by 2% and increasing domestic overnight and day visitor spending by 4% and 2% respectively (all against the five year rolling averages for each category). Realising these objectives will require the collective efforts of the entire region, including ongoing investment in infrastructure, product development and marketing campaigns of scale. To achieve these objectives, TNE will look to deliver on seven goals that are consistent with the regional priorities highlighted in the Destination Management Plan: 1. To achieve an ownership position in the cycle tourism space and be recognised as Australia’s premier bike destination 2. To lead innovation in the food and drinks space, creating a competitive differentiator for the High Country that drives tourism related visitation and yield opportunities throughout the region 3. To evolve the winter offering of the major alpine resorts to ensure they continue to appeal to the visitor market and drive visitation, yield and job opportunities throughout the region. 4. To develop and promote a range of leading nature-based tourism experiences that are common across the High Country and drive regional visitation and yield. 5. To establish the region’s arts and culture credentials to both diversify the demographic attracted to the High Country and increase dispersal 6. For the High Country to set industry best practice for the use of digital technologies across all aspects of the region’s offering, delivering a superior consumer experience that differentiates it from competitors 7. Maintain a strong organisation that proactively leads regional tourism efforts and delivers positive outcomes for the High Country 2 Tourism North East Three Year Strategy 2019/20–2021/22 Throughout this Strategy, TNE has defined the strategic approach required to progress and/or deliver on each of these goals, within a set of pillar-specific trends, challenges and considerations. It has noted specific key focus areas under each goal, supported by the key performance indicators and targets required to deliver positive tourism outcomes for the region. The budget required to deliver on this Strategy will be determined on an annual basis and reflected in an annual Business Plan. This budget is subject to funding secured from Visit Victoria, local government partners (councils and resort management boards), industry and various grant funding opportunities (which currently account for 51% of TNE’s budget). The Business Plan will outline the initiatives required to deliver on the strategies and targets identified in the Three-year Strategy. The Business Plan will be reviewed and reported on quarterly, while the overarching Strategy will be reviewed and reported on annually to allow for ongoing program optimisation. 3 1. TOURISM NORTH EAST Tourism North East is one of eleven regional tourism boards established at the directive of Visit Victoria, the State’s tourism and events body. The regional tourism boards (RTBs) were created to act as the peak tourism organisations for their areas, working in partnership with Visit Victoria, industry and a range of government partners to support and develop regional tourism. These RTBs sit within a broader Australian tourism industry, which are interrelated but have their own specific focus areas, as noted in the following diagram: Tourism Australia ––––> National Focus Visit Victoria ––––> State Focus Regional Tourism Boards ––––> Regional Focus Councils / RMBs ––––> Destination Focus Tourism ––––> Business-specific Focus Businesses Tourism North East (TNE) is the tourism board that represents the north-east of Victoria, which is the region known as the ‘High Country’. This region includes six shires – Alpine, Benalla, Indigo, Mansfield, Towong and Wangaratta – and the three major alpine resorts of Falls Creek, Mt Buller/Stirling and Mt Hotham. High Country TNE is governed by a Board of Directors that includes the CEOs of all the shires and resort management boards represented in the High Country, along with up to six skills-based appointees, overseen by an independent chairperson. The Board is committed to sound governance principles, and supportive of a collaborative and innovative company culture that allows for effective regional tourism leadership. TNE is a not-for-profit incorporated association that is primarily funded by the High Country’s councils and resort management boards, Visit Victoria and State and Federal Government byway of various grant funding programs. 4 Tourism North East Three Year Strategy 2019/20–2021/22 2. VISION AND SCOPE TNE is charged with developing the long-term and overarching strategic vision and direction for the High Country region, ensuring a platform for future tourism growth. Its efforts are guided by the following vision and supporting mission statement: Vision: To establish the High Country as the lead regional tourism destination in Victoria, with a thriving visitor economy based on diverse and engaging tourism experiences. Mission Statement: Tourism North East will work collaboratively with government and industry partners to drive visitor economy growth through the strategic development, enhancement and promotion of the High Country’s tourism offering. It will deliver consumer-centric supply and demand side tourism efforts that stimulate visitation, yield and dispersal, and generate strong stakeholder outcomes. In realising this vision, TNE has several key responsibilities: > Regional marketing – developing regional campaigns that look to drive awareness of the High Country and activate latent demand for its tourism experiences > Product development – identifying gaps in the regional tourism offering and working with local government and industry partners to fill them, particularly in areas where the High Country can achieve differentiated product strengths. > Industry development – working with tourism operators to enhance their offering and ensure long term sustainability, delivering a high-quality and consistent regional tourism product. > Promoting tourism investment – identifying infrastructure and investment opportunities and/or partnerships among private and public entities. > Research – collaborating with local government and industry partners to determine common research requirements that can generate insights used for strategic planning for the region. > Advocacy – uniting advocacy efforts across a variety of areas including funding support and legislative and