Draft Discussion Paper Supporting the Development of a Tourism & Event

Draft Discussion Paper

Supporting the development of a

Tourism & Event Strategy

for Moorabool Shire

11/2/2013

Prepared for

Moorabool Shire and

Tourism Moorabool

Prepared by

Cre8ingGrowth:

Table of Contents

Executive Summary 3

Glossary 7

1. Background 9

2. Brand 15

3. The market 18

4. The product 24

5. Events 35

6. Marketing 47

7. Industry development 56

Attachments 62

Cre8ing Growth | Table of Contents 2

Executive Summary

The purpose of this Discussion Paper is to:

1. Outline the key findings from consultation, product and situation analysis 2. Identify the strategic issues impeding the growth, sustainability and effectiveness of tourism in Moorabool 3. Propose alternative ways (options) to address the strategic issues, and gain stakeholder feedback on which options to go forward with

The Plan addresses six key areas: the brand; the market; the product, events; marketing; and industry development. Each of these sections contains a small set of strategic issues, followed by a set of options to address each issue. Some options are mutually exclusive, some could be progressively implemented to transition change.

The brand

Three strategic issues were identified relating to brand:

. The brand essence is confused with the product

. The brand needs a personality applicable to a wider mix of product

. Collateral needs to reflect brand personality

We (the authors of this Discussion Paper1) believe that the brand essence for Moorabool should be rewritten and centred on the personality of key tourism hosts that leads to authentic, memorable interactions with customers. Taking the strongest, clearest words from the Brand Report and putting them together offers an alternative brand statement something like this:

“Moorabool offers direct contact with….honest, down to earth…warm, approachable locals that leads to strong connections with the place”

Three options to address the issues are:

1. Stay the same, leaving it to individual operators and event organisers to use the brand to direct their product development and adopt the brand into their marketing 2. Reposition the brand to reflect leading tourism products over and above supporting products (a low key form of icon-based marketing) 3. Reposition the brand to reflect local tourism orientated personalities, backed by their product, so the personalities become ambassadors

The market

Two strategic issues were identified relating to the market:

. Limited market information specific to the Moorabool Shire . Need for further definition of target markets

To address the need for more local information about the market, three options available to consider are:

1. Stay the same, and wait until the industry becomes bigger to revisit the situation 2. Pay the operators of regional data collection to add additional questions that allow further segmented analysis of data 3. Allocate resources to commission further market monitoring specific to Moorabool

To establish defined target markets, six options available to consider are:

1 The interpretations and any references to ‘we’ are those of the authors (Cre8ing Growth) engaged to provide a professional and independent view of the current situation

Cre8ing Growth | Executive Summary 3 1. Stay the same, and try to satisfy everyone with everything (being all things to all people) 2. Choose leisure target markets that have a natural interest in the area, and will provide a modest ‘slow trickle’ of visitation throughout the year. For example, the Socially Aware, Visible Achievement and Traditional Family Life 3. Choose leisure target markets that have some interest in the area, and will provide short boosts of visitation on long weekends and in school holiday periods. For example, Traditional Family Life and Conventional Family Life 4. Choose markets living in the western and northern suburbs of Melbourne, because they are close by and easy to engage in day trips 5. Choose markets from surrounding regional townships (such as Daylesford, Ballarat and Geelong) because they are close by and already aligned to country ways and easy to convince of frequent short day / evening dinner 6. Choose markets that local bus and coach operator Australian Coach Tours could bring groups to on a regular basis throughout the year

The product

Stakeholders asked said that the two most important areas for the Plan to address, was product development, and industry development. The situation analysis of the limited resources suggests that significant reform to the way resources are allocated should first address industry development, as this will create a more aligned pool of expertise to tackle product development.

The development of additional product is a central challenge for this tourism planning process to tackle. The current Tourism Plan identified as a major strategy the development of new products and enhancement of existing businesses with a focus on local and seasonal food and wine. The consultation associated with this tourism planning process identified that Council’s human resource investment in this area should be higher, and were prepared to trade down allocations in other areas to achieve this. Consultation also identified a diverse opinion as to what product was most important to develop first (let alone where). The consultation process generally identified three approaches competing for limited human resources to make happen:

1. Invest in accommodation – expressed as “we have enough to do but we aren’t making enough money from each visitor” 2. Invest in more quality / distinctive dining options – expressed as “we have enough to do, but there’s not enough to eat” 3. Invest in more picking and interactive food experiences – expressed as they need an authentic experience that’s available year round to put us on the map

Four product development options were identified as priorities through the consultation surveys and workshops:

1. More accommodation to increase length of stay and yield per customer 2. More dining options across the townships (cafes and restaurants open seven days a week) 3. More picking and interactive food experiences 4. More interesting stories to share with visitors

In addition to the options generated by stakeholders, the authors propose a quite different option

5. Consolidate the product base of each village, and then create a ‘shopping list of the minimal product needed for each area (if any) to drive the Region, and by default, what should not be developed in each area to maintain distinctiveness

Cre8ing Growth | Executive Summary 4

Events

Four strategic issues were identified in relation to events:

. Insufficient separation between community and tourism focus . Current emphasis on events rather than festivals . Undefined systems and insufficient communications . Opportunity costs not evaluated (assessment matrix)

Four options are proposed to improve the running and outcomes from events:

1. Council reforms its grants program to better differentiate between events focused on community benefits and those focused on tourism benefits 2. Local community and lifestyle events remain the same (no change to current approach) 3. Cluster and / or theme local community events 4. Council to develop and promote procedures for working and gaining support from council which could include a greater level of assistance when the systems are followed

Four options are proposed to improve the running and outcomes from community-focussed events:

1. Tourism events to remain the same 2. Council reforms its grants program to better differentiate between events focused on community benefits and those focused on tourism benefits 3. Cluster and / or theme local community events 4. Council to develop and promote procedures for working and gaining support from council which could include a greater level of assistance when the systems are followed

Marketing

Three strategic issues were identified in relation to marketing:

. Competing priorities for limited discretionary marketing resource . Opportunity cost of most resources invested in a VIC . Duplication and disfunctionalities across Moorabool websites

Consultation identified three priorities to allocate precious marketing resources to:

1. Create better links to growing city local seasonal food trends 2. Improved directional signage to existing strategically valuable attractions 3. Re-theme collateral to reflect personalities and stories (similar to Option 3 in Table 2.3)

Realigning the VIC or the allocation of limited resources used on visitor servicing to address tourism priorities identified within the discussion paper. This may include repositioning of resources (staffing and financial) and investigating alternative service delivery models such as the modification of operating hours, decentralisation of services, or expanding the service role of the VIC.

Three options were developed to consolidate visitor information:

1. Merge the relevant content and some of the superior structure into the visit Moorabool website and dispense with the growing Moorabool website 2. Replace the existing headline brochures with a suite of themed village trails. Each of the brochures would be supported by a selection of food and beverage as well as accommodation options consistent with the theme and target market it is appealing to (see Figure 6.2 and Table 6.3 for illustrations of a themed trail) 3. When stock runs out either discontinue or redesign the grassy treasures brochure to reflect its role as a vegetation information role rather than a visitor brochure

Industry development

Five strategic issues were identified in relation to industry development:

. Council has very limited resources to support tourism, and most of these are being expended on the Bacchus March Visitor Information Centre – an approach that assumes there is sufficient product and visitors to warrant such an investment. . The local tourism industry is at this point in time, too small, immature and fragmented to provide sufficient human and financial resources needed to run and support an independent local tourism association, and there are no signs this will be achieved before 2015. . A levy supporting tourism development is problematic to implement when the industry is so immature and the benefits so difficult to demonstrate. To draw sufficient funds to sustain an independent association, a levy would have to apply to most businesses and apply for at least a decade. . The surrounding local areas have mature tourism sectors capable of managing the Moorabool area. . Current membership objectives of Tourism Moorabool appear contradictory in seeking a skills-based board AND Ward-based membership (the degree of skills varies across Wards).

There are at least six options for addressing the strategic issue of how best to further develop the tourism industry, and all of them assume Council maintain or enhance its current resourcing of tourism2:

1. Establish a new Local Tourism Association, transfer resource/staff to create two full time positions (Industry / Product Development and Marketing), transfer resource for marketing, produce an annual Business Plan and Budget, form a partnership Agreement between the LTA and Council for service delivery, form a four person Board with an independent chair and two representatives from industry and two from Council, with the Chair having a second vote on tied matters 2. Service delivery through a neighbouring Regional Tourism Association, transfer resource/staff to create two full time positions (Industry / Product Development and Marketing), transfer resource for marketing, produce an annual Business Plan and Budget, form a partnership Agreement between the RTA and Council for service delivery, seek to place one Moorabool representative on their Board 3. Service delivery across two Regional Tourism Boards for separate parts of Moorabool Shire, Bacchus Marsh managed by Daylesford, Ballan west managed by Ballarat, funds from staff positions and the divided funds to separate agreements to service separate areas, local Moorabool representative has a seat on each Board 4. Local Tourism Association with services delivered by private sector, form LTA with Articles of Association, funds from staff positions and $40k transferred to LTA, LTA forms a Board with 50 /50 representation by Council and industry, independent Chair with casting vote, Board tender for above and Secretariat and financial management services 5. Retain delivery in Council and restructure roles to match Tourism Strategy priorities, and wait for industry to grow and mature, re-engineer Tourism Moorabool as an independent body co-funded by Council and industry, partnership agreement, model rules, skills based Boards with Council staff representation, Tourism Moorabool fund raise and apply for grants, restructure Council staff positions to align with Tourism Strategy priorities and make two positions full time, monitor industry to await adoption of alternative model when triggers are reached (could be 200 additional rooms, single accommodation operator with more than 25 rooms, visitation reaching 500,000/annum, and multiple restaurants open seven nights a week – excluding fast food/take away) 6. As per Option 5, but also adopt Option 4 from Section 6 (Council restructure staff positions as full time roles, creating a Tourism and Economic Development role focusing on product and industry development, and creating a Tourism Officer role split between 60% coordinating the VIC face to face service and 40% event development.

2 Restructuring of any permanent positions within Council is a very delicate matter and requires significant consultation / due process as per Council policies. Opportunities for individuals to be redeployed and trained accordingly should be a part of any significant change

Cre8ing Growth | Executive Summary 6

Glossary

Brand: source of a distinctive promise for customers from a product, service or place. Everything the lead organisation does in collaboration with its partners and community should be orientated around delivering and constantly enhancing the promise. A brand is not just a logo.

Brand awareness: the degree to which the brand is present in the minds of prospective customers. When exposed to the name or logo, people should immediately recognise it and form positive associations.

Brand essence: the ‘heart and soul’ or DNA of the brand. It should be a short phrase that is concise and rich in meaning.

Brand match: the degree to which a product reflects the brand essence.

Cultural tourism: movements of persons for cultural motivations such as study tours, performing arts and cultural tours, travel to festivals and other cultural events, visits to sites and monuments, travel to study nature, folklore or art, and pilgrimages.

Event: an occurrence that attracts and gathers people to a place to witness and / or participate in an activity(s), for the purposes of this report, events are conducted over the period of one day

Event (community): designed to attract and satisfy local residents, reflecting the diversity and interests of local residents and increasing the richness of local lifestyles.

Event (tourism): designed to attract and satisfy the needs of visitors, reflecting the area’s brand essence, driving increased visitor awareness of the brand, and increasing visitation and associated economic impact to the area during and after the event

Festivals: A series of events over multiple days that are designed to relate to each other through a binding theme reflective of a local area’s brand. A Festival is designed to attract people to a place and drive repeat visitation to a greater degree than an event.

Feast of March: A Festival designed to cluster several alike events through the theme of local food and wine across the Moorabool Shire, triggered by an annual natural harvesting period that highlights the freshness and local character.

Hard roof accommodation: accommodation such as hotels, motels, bed and breakfast, retreats, resorts and cabins, and excludes camp sites, recreation camps and residential accommodation.

Independence (for tourism organisation): having the expertise to manage day to day tourism marketing, product and industry development on behalf of the Moorabool Shire; having the financial resources to fund this expertise; having a Board with the skills and commitment to stay in the roles for at least two to three years to manage this expertise; and having the financial resources to fund critical marketing activity, and seed fund key industry development.

Local Tourism Association - A Local Tourism Association (LTA) is a not for profit registered organisation governed by Model Rules or Articles of Association. The term local usually refers to a local government area, but may be adjusted to include or exclude areas to reflect the way a visitor may perceive the area. Examples within the region include the Ballarat Tourism Association and Bellarine Tourism Association. The membership usually consists of local tourism operators, local event coordinators, local government and stakeholders benefitting from tourism activity. The common objectives of an LTA are to: provide a unified voice that promotes the development of tourism; maximise industry participation in tourism planning, development and marketing; and educate all businesses that tourism is everybody's business.

Marketing: the management process through which goods and services move from concept to the customer. It includes the coordination of four elements called the 4 P's of marketing: identification, selection and development of a product ;

Cre8ing Growth | Glossary 7 determination of its price; selection of a distribution channel to reach the customer's place, and development and implementation of a promotional strategy.

Market research: the gathering, analysing and interpretation of information to identify marketing opportunities and link an organisation with its marketing environment.

Operator: an individual or organisation that conducts a tourism activity which results in some degree of commercial return.

Product: a good or service (tangible or intangible) than an organisation offers to its customers.

Protected area: an area of land and / or sea dedicated to the conservation, protection and maintenance of biodiversity, natural and associated cultural resources, and managed through legal or other effective means.

Regional Tourism Association – A Regional Tourism Association (RTO) is similar in its goals to a Local Tourism Association (LTA), but operates at a regional level; meaning it represents a collective of local areas. A local example of an RTA is the Daylesford Macedon Regional Tourism Association, an incorporated association operating under an agreement between Tourism Victoria and the councils of Hepburn, Hume City, Macedon Ranges and Moorabool. The area represented is ideally chosen to represent similar or compatible experiences, rather than just because the areas adjoin each other. The membership of the RTA is typically the various LTA's, though the Board structure is typically driven from a skills rather than geographic representation perspective. The common objective of an RTA is to coordinate tourism marketing, so as to provide a more cost efficient and effective approach than would be done at the local level. The RTA may also run industry development and recognition programs, such as tourism awards.

Strategic issues: concerns that create fundamental constraints and / or opportunities, as opposed to more operational day-to-day matters that can be more easily resolved.

Sustainability: a course of action which aims to avoid disadvantaging future generations by considering the living and non-living resource base, the long-term character of the market and the advantages and disadvantages of alternate courses of action. In the context of a Local Tourism Association, sustainability means having sufficient human and financial resources to meet the immediate needs of its members without disadvantaging the future needs

Target market: the portion of actual and potential visitors that an organisation most wants to attract to their destination or product. The target market is chosen because the needs of the market segments chosen most naturally fit what the destination or product can offer and offer the best return on any marketing investment to attract them

Tourism Moorabool: a Committee of Council, formed under Section 86 of the Local Government Act. The function of Tourism Moorabool is to advise Council on: Tourism matters in the Shire; Promotion of whole of Shire tourism opportunities; A conduit for tourism operators to network; Product development for tourism; Promotion of tourism and visitor services across the Shire; and Council’s Tourism Strategy.

Transitioning: shift from one position / state / stage to another. Transitioning structures change in order to reduce potential negative impacts and maximise potential positive ones.

Visitor (local): a person who comes from within village / township within the local government area

Visitor (day tripper): a person who comes to a destination from outside the immediate local area (such as a local government area) and leaves in the same day.

Visitor (overnight): a person who comes to a destination from outside the immediate local area (such as a local government area) and stays overnight within the same immediate local area.

Yield - In the context of a Tourism Plan, yield is the expenditure injections of tourists (sales revenues) or the profitability of catering to different visitor markets. Yield can be defined purely from an accounting perspective (sales revenues per visitor) or the financial rate of return to operators, or gross operating surplus of different industry sectors. Alternatively, the profitability to the tourism industry of different market segments can be assessed.

Cre8ing Growth | Glossary 8

1. Background

1.1 Purpose of this Discussion Paper

In 2009 a Destination Development Action Plan was released for tourism in the Moorabool Shire. This was the first tourism plan for the local area, so it was a major initiative to start focussing efforts to grow and maximise the benefits of tourism to the industry and broader community. The current Tourism Plan is due to expire in 2014. The Moorabool Shire (Council) supported by Tourism Moorabool have commissioned consultants Cre8ingGrowth to prepare a replacement plan, this time covering tourism and events. Figure 1.1 presents the three-stage approach to developing the Strategy.

Figure 1.1 Summary of the approach to developing the Tourism and Event Strategy for Moorabool

Situation Discussion paper Strategy analysis • Situational • Brand • Consultation Analysis • The market • Product & • Target markets • The product analysis • Options for • Events • Priorities strategic • Marketing directions • Industry development

This Discussion Paper comes at the end of the second of the three-stage approach. The purpose of this Discussion Paper is to:

1. Outline the key findings from the consultation, product and situation analysis 2. Identify the strategic issues impeding the growth, sustainability and effectiveness of tourism in Moorabool 3. Propose alternative ways (options) to address the strategic issues, and gain stakeholder feedback on which options to go forward with

It is anticipated that the Final Tourism and Event Strategy will be activated in June 2013, after it is endorsed by Tourism Moorabool and Moorabool Shire Council.

Cre8ing Growth | 1. Background 9

1.2 Approach and consultation undertaken

Consultation has been used to help determine and prioritise the strategic issues that should be addressed in this Discussion Paper, and what existing limited human and financial resources should concentrate on. Four forms of consultation were used to collect these views:

1. Internet-based surveys – one for the local tourism industry and one for the local community 2. Face to face interviews with leaders in the local tourism sector 3. Several local workshops – two for the local tourism industry and one for the local residents 4. A briefing to Councillors as part of their weekly Council meeting

The tourism industry survey generated 44 responses and the community survey 28 responses. Figure 1.1 presents further detail on respondents from the tourism industry survey, and shows that the largest sector of responses came from events / festivals / markets.

Figure 1.2 Profile of respondents from tourism industry survey (data is a % of the 44 response sample size)

Transport

Tours

Destination marketing

Specialty retail

Short term accommodation

Food and Beverage

Attractions

Events / Festivals / Markets

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50

Some 88% of respondents to the community survey were residents of Moorabool Shire and most of the remainder were local businesses. Some 96% of community respondents fully support tourism in Moorabool, and would like to see it grow further. The remainder (4%) were yet to make up their mind. Other responses to the survey are incorporated into relevant sections of this Discussion Paper.

Some 32 stakeholders attended the consultation workshops:

. 12 to the first industry workshop at Bacchus Marsh; . 14 to the second industry workshop at Ballan; and . 6 to the community workshop held at Bacchus Marsh.

This Discussion Paper will be on exhibition in February 2013 on the Council website, at Council offices and local libraries. In late February there will be two workshops run to outline the Discussion Paper and seek verbal feedback. A feedback form is available for interested people to use to make a submission on the Discussion Paper.

Cre8ing Growth | 1. Background 10

1.3 Implementation of current tourism plan

The current Tourism Plan proposed six objectives for tourism to deliver on behalf of visitors, the tourism industry and the broader community:

1. To develop a sustainable tourism industry within the Shire of Moorabool that fosters business and consumer confidence 2. To develop new products and enhance existing businesses with a focus on local and seasonal food and wine 3. To create greater industry ownership and leadership throughout the municipality 4. To provide for quality visitor experiences and services that meet consumer expectations 5. To develop a strong partnership between Council, the tourism sector and local communities 6. To increase visitor dispersal, length of stay and visitor expenditure (yield)

The generic and fairly timeless nature of this collection makes them equally relevant to a new Tourism and Event Strategy.

The current Tourism Plan was structured around three key areas

1. Destination Development

2. Destination Management

3. Marketing

The Plan contained approximately 19 recommendations across these three areas, and Tourism Moorabool chose to prioritise each set (see Section 7.1 for outline of Tourism Moorabool). Table 1.1 presents the recommendations from each of these areas and how they were prioritised by Tourism Moorabool. Table 1.1 also presents the many roles and tasks required of Moorabool Shire’s staff and volunteers to support local tourism activity on a day to day basis. Table 1.1 also presents the current status of implementation of these recommendations, and concludes that:

. of the 10 destination management recommendations, four have been completed, four in in progress and two are yet to start; . of the seven destination development recommendations, one has been completed, five are in progress and one is yet to start; and . of the two marketing recommendations, one is completed and one is in progress.

Based on this summary, it is reasonable to conclude that less than half of the Plan has been completed. Given the current rate of implementation, implementing this Plan will take until late 2014, because there are insufficient resources to concurrently deliver the day-to-day tourism roles, recommendations within the current Tourism Plan, and internal Council administration requirements. The need to re-prioritise and revisit the limited resourcing is the first reason for preparing a new plan now. The second reason is that Tourism Moorabool and Moorabool Shire Council have identified significant change in the operating environment that warrants updating the current Plan now. Changes identified included: new tourism products and experiences; new stakeholders; a population increase; drought conditions; increasing natural and aquatic activities; and State funding opportunities.

Cre8ing Growth | 1. Background 11

Table 1.1 Implementation of the current Tourism Plan for Moorabool Shire3 (TP are recommendations from current Tourism Plan – a number of these actions have been completed in partnership with DMRRTB)

Marketing roles Priority of Implementation status Tourism Moorabool

Fully Partially Not started

1. Implement research program for market segments 2 TP 2. Develop a three year marketing strategy for fresh produce 1 TP 3. Develop Communications Plan for tourism in the community 4 TP 4. Deliver event program and campaign - 'Feast of March' 5. Deliver event program and campaign - 365 Days in Moorabool 6. Refresh and distribute tourism marketing collateral 7. Public relations for tourism 8. Process tourism signage application 9. Introduce and manage tourism entrance signs 10. Manage tourism destination brands

Product and Industry development roles Priority of Implementation status Tourism Moorabool

Fully Partially Not started

1. Retain Section 86 Model 7 TP 2. Operate Tourism Moorabool under Terms of Reference 9 TP 3. Develop a website for business exchange 10 TP 4. Develop Tourism Policy for Sustainable Tourism Development 1 TP 5. Audit of professional development needs 5 TP 6. Grow local business associations through defining roles 8 TP 7. Encourage thematic development of village character 4 TP 8. Produce a Tourism Development Prospectus 5 TP 9. Conduct Regional Annual Forum (for tourism) TP 14. Explore soft adventure activities TP 15. Conduct annual review of product audit TP 10. Organise Tourism Excellence Workshops 11. Provide advice on event development 12. Participate in local business and tourism groups

13. Produce Product Development Plan

3 Some roles (beyond the strategies of the Tourism Plan) were made a political imperative by Tourism Moorabool Councillors, and so implemented as a priority by the Administration

Cre8ing Growth | 1. Background 12

Table 1.1 Implementation of the current tourism plan for Moorabool Shire (TP are recommendations from current Tourism Plan)

Strategic Planning, Reporting and Partnerships roles Priority of Implementation status Tourism Moorabool

Fully Partially Not started

1. Prepare / update Tourism & Events Strategy 2 TP 2. Meet / network to develop partnerships with strategic allies 2 & 6 TP 3. Review membership of Tourism Moorabool 3 TP 4. Set planning guidelines for roadside food stalls 3 TP 5. Prepare Reports to Council on funding, marketing, product and industry development

6. Prepare grant applications and administer grants for tourism projects

7. Prepare evaluation reports to Council and Tourism Moorabool

Administration roles Priority of Implementation status Tourism Moorabool

Fully Partially Not started

1. Prepare Council Reports and Information Bulletins

2. Attend training

3. Organise and attend general meetings

4. Support other Council activities

Table 1.1 confirms the significant number of other services currently undertaken by Council to support tourism in the local area. In Section 7 – Industry Development, it will become clear that the majority of Council’s human resources are being allocated to day to day service support, such as the management of a visitor information centre in Bacchus Marsh and the delivery of basic marketing collateral. This resource allocation is at the opportunity cost of driving strategic imperatives such as product and industry development.

During consultation workshops, stakeholders were given the opportunity to vote on what aspects of the Tourism and Event Strategy that the limited human resources should address. Table 1.2 presents the results of this exercise, and shows that there is less strategic planning / reporting and product development, due to the amount of time spent on administration activities.

Table 1.2 Stakeholder view of which areas of tourism limited human resources should be focussed on

Major area of tourism to invest Preferred allocation Preferred allocation Actual allocation of Difference between limited resources in Bacchus Marsh Ballan industry human resources to desired and actual industry workshop workshop tourism proportion

Product and industry 33% 70% 29% Too low development Strategic planning and reporting 22% 5% 10% About right to stakeholders Marketing 30% 20% 31% Low to about right Administration 15% 5% 30% Too high

Cre8ing Growth | 1. Background 13

In recognition of the limited resources available to address strategic issues, this Discussion Paper will focus on prioritising the most important initiatives, so that what really needs to be done, has a chance of getting done.

1.4 Mission for the next Tourism and Event Strategy

An updated vision:

“Moorabool will be recognised as the destination to experience regional Victorian lifestyle and fresh local produce, grown with passion and pride, right on the city doorstep. Visitors will experience unique country villages, scenic parks and deep river gorges, and share our rich history and cultural heritage. Local businesses, growers and Council will work in partnership to deliver the highest level of hospitality and quality product. ”.

We propose a mission to further support the forthcoming Strategy – and one that is very tactical, so it can be used to evaluate performance towards the end of the Plan’s five-year lifecycle.

“By 2018:

. Moorabool Shire staff or an alternative model will have restructured human resources to tourism management as approximately: 50% product and industry development; 30% marketing; 10% strategic planning & reporting to stakeholders; and 10% administration . Tourism industry development will have transitioned from Stage 3 to Stage 4 (see Table 7.2), highlighted by there being at least 15 to 20 experienced professionals and businesses capable of providing the human and financial support for industry development . There will be between 250 and 300 accommodation rooms and the area will be able to accommodate more than 600 people in commercially run hard roof accommodation4; . There will be at least one accommodation operator with more than 25 rooms; . There will be multiple restaurants open seven nights a week (excluding fast food / take away); . Annual total visitors will continue growth of 13% per annum to achieve between 616,000 and 700,000; . Total nights will have increased from 6.3% annual growth to 9%, resulting in total nights achieved of between 245,000 and 255,000

4 Hard roof accommodation refers to accommodation such as hotels, motels, bed and breakfast, retreats, resorts and cabins, and excludes camp sites, recreation camps and residential accommodation

Cre8ing Growth | 1. Background 14

2. Brand

2.1 Background

Brand was defined in 2009 in a separate report ‘The Visit Moorabool Brand’, released soon after the Tourism Plan. Table 2.1 transfers the exact wording from The Brand Report to present a summary of the reports’ major outputs (the brand essence). We have highlighted (in bold) what we believe to be the brand essence representing the greatest strategic competitive advantage for Moorabool.

Table 2.1 Summary of Visit Moorabool brand essence

Element Detail

Promise Moorabool Tourism provides visitors with a unique regional experience within a short distance of the city. Sampling the food, wine, outdoors, heritage and culture Moorabool has to offer is a rewarding experience that can be easily and often repeated without effort or great expense

What it delivers Moorabool Tourism provides an honest, down to earth regional tourism and travel experience, and can be enjoyed as a travel break or a destination in its own right. It allows convenient day tripping, direct contact with fresh food growers, heritage and culture points of interest and the opportunity to explore and discover hidden delights How it makes us feel The Moorabool Tourism brand embodies the best of provincial Victoria. It is confident, experienced and friendly. It is trusted, surprising, rewarding and embracing. It is young, vibrant and growing whilst maintaining a strong connection with heritage and tradition. Visual expression The Moorabool Tourism identity reflects the characteristics of a trusted brand. It draws upon the warmth, approachability and handmade qualities of the brand personality and echoes pride, craft and reliability. The identity aims to inspire, engage, include and convey the energy of the brand. The logo is the primary device used to convey the Moorabool Tourism brand. It combines the positive / negative shapes of V for Visit and M for Moorabool It is represented as a wood-cut shape, created as a personal and unique impression of the region

The Visit Moorabool brand has strong visual components and is most evident on Council-produced collateral and websites. Current Council-produced collateral includes:

. Visit Moorabool website . 365 days (brochure) . Visit villages (brochure) . Arts, Culture and Heritage (brochure) . Nature and what’s growing (brochure) . Maps

The brand has not been widely adopted by the local industry in their own collateral – with limited use of same fonts, imagery, captions, and logo. Visit Moorabool has the opportunity to further define the brand essence that in turn can be integrated through the industry within Moorabool Shire.

2.2 Strategic issues

The brand essence is confused with the product

The brand essence and promise could be made clearer so that local industry to could adopt and consistently use it. The Brand Report promise statement ”Moorabool Tourism provides visitors with a unique regional experience within a short distance of the city. Sampling the food, wine, outdoors, heritage and culture Moorabool has to offer is a rewarding experience that can be easily and often repeated without effort or great expense” could be made clearer.

Cre8ing Growth | 2. Brand 15

The brand needs a personality applicable to a wider mix of product

Rewriting the brand essence for Moorabool could be centred on the personality of key tourism hosts that leads to authentic, memorable interactions with customers. Taking the strongest, clearest words from the Brand Report and putting them together offers an alternative brand statement something like:

“Moorabool offers direct contact with….honest, down to earth…warm, approachable locals that leads to strong connections with the place”

This approach has been trialled to a limited extent by the creators of the Visit Moorabool website (as illustrated in Figure 2.1). There are many more strong personalities delivering high quality product with business acumen5. This approach could be applied in a broader way and thus gain a stronger position within a very competitive day trip market place.

Figure 2.1 Examples of brand essence from the food and wine section of visitmoorabool (left) and Grow Moorabool (right) websites that the region could emphasise more widely and effectively to consolidate competitive advantage

Collateral needs to reflect brand personality

Current print collateral designed to drive and direct visitation pitches using the strong visual elements of the logo, look and feel of the brand. However, the collateral uses the traditional approach of place/activity and misses the opportunity to emphasise other elements of the brand essence. The consequence is a striking look and feel, but insufficient compelling reason to visit because the content aspects of the brand essence are missing and content is dumbed down to be all things to all people. There needs to be more imagery displaying the brand essence as a visitor interaction with hosts that generate a real benefit. If hosts are shown, they are generally on their own.

2.3 Options

It is now time to choose target markets and concurrently refine and tighten brand essence. This will provide several benefits to the region:

1. It will spread the use of brand essence from fresh produce and food and beverage, to other product bases, such as village retail, events and perhaps nature tourism

5 Examples include the 1,000 Weather Vanes in Ballan, Gordon Hat Shop, The Plough Inn

Cre8ing Growth | 2. Brand 16

2. It will provide a critical frame of reference to direct product development / reinvigoration, built on strategic competitive advantage – the people 3. It will provide the lead for consistent approaches to marketing, and to public relations activity such as visiting travel trade (they seek personalities to drive their stories) 4. From the above, it will increase industry ownership and use of the brand, which will increase the brand strength and recognition among visitors

There are at least three options to refine then optimise the Visit Moorabool brand:

Table 2.2 Evaluation of the strengths and limitations of each option

Option Strengths Limitations

1. Stay the same Current tourism collateral remains relevant Limited strategic competitive advantage Current website partially reflects brand No deep consumer connection The current product mix stays the same Minimal trigger for greater industry take-up engagement Limited direction from product reinvigoration / new product development 2. Revise the brand to Clearer defined perimeters for industry Some products will not fit within the brand reflect leading tourism perimeters products Sets a benchmark of quality Risks pooling of resources into set experiences Gain brand essence traction and products Strengthen Moorabool brand proposition 3. Revise the brand to Spreads the use of brand essence from fresh Requires Council and Tourism Moorabool to reflect local personalities, produce and food and beverage, to other maintain strong brand quality control backed by their product product bases, such as village retail, events and perhaps nature tourism Requires long term commitment Provides a critical frame of reference to direct Relies on industry understanding of the strategy product development / reinvigoration, built on and take up of brand essence strategic competitive advantage – the people Provides the lead for consistent approaches to marketing, and to public relations activity such as visiting travel trade (they seek personalities to drive their stories) From the above, it will increase industry ownership and use of the brand, which will increase the brand strength and recognition among visitors Clear marketing messages to identified target markets Develops a clear understanding within the industry Builds on natural strengths of the Shire Ease of access for new product development by reducing risk

Cre8ing Growth | 2. Brand 17

3. The market

3.1 Background

The greater majority of regular information regarding tourism markets relevant to the Moorabool Shire is collected at the Regional level (Daylesford / Macedon) not the local level6. This means that any differences between Moorabool, Daylesford and Macedon are merged together. However, in response to a major recommendation from the current Tourism Plan, Moorabool Shire commissioned Urban Enterprise Pty Ltd in June 2012 to further analyse the data and generate a snapshot specific to the Moorabool Market (see Attachment A for full report).

Visitation

Visitation to Moorabool Shire has shown health and steady increases over the past four years, increasing at an average of 13.1% per annum, as shown by Table 3.1. Indeed Moorabool Shire has had the highest growth rate in tourist visitation within the Daylesford and Macedon Ranges region, – with 2012 figures up 40% on 2011 and 63% since 2008 (albeit from a smaller base)7.

Table 3.1 Annual visitation and number of nights for the Moorabool Shire 2008 – 20128

Total visitors 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 Overall change Av. annual growth

Moorabool Shire 261,000 273,000 269,000 303,000 427,000 63.6% 13.1%

Total nights 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 Overall change Av. annual growth

Moorabool Shire 132,000 162,000 87,000 174,000 207,000 6.3% 11.8%

Table 3.2 shows that visitation is predominantly from the domestic day-tripper market (82%), with domestic overnight stays representing most of the remaining balance (15%). International visitation is minimal.

Table 3.2 Annual visitation to the Moorabool Shire 2006-2011 and 20129

Visitation 2006-2011 average 2012 visitation 2012 proportional visitation

Domestic day trips 222,000 356,000 82% Domestic o’night visitors 54,833 69,000 15.06% International visitors 2,000 0.04% International o’night 9,000 2% Total visitors 276,833 427,000 100% Figure 3.1 presents the proportion of regional market share that Moorabool receives for day and overnight visitation10

Total visitors Macedon Total nights (24.8%) Macedon Hume (35.8%) (19.3%) Hume (40.1%) Moorabool Moorabool (12.5%) (10.6%) Hepburn Hepburn (30%) (27.1%)

6 Tourism Research Australia, National Visitor Survey - Tourism Victoria Daylesford and the Macedon Ranges market profile year ending December 2011, and Daylesford and Macedon Ranges regional visitor statistics Year Ending March 2012 7 Growth in the same period for Macedon was 7.7%, Hepburn was 13.7% and Hume 14.8% 8 Urban Enterprise Pty Ltd (2012) Snapshot of Moorabool Visitor Market 9 Urban Enterprise Pty Ltd (2012) Snapshot of Moorabool Visitor Market 10 Daylesford and Macedon Ranges regional visitor statistics Year Ending March 2012

Cre8ing Growth | 3. The market 18

Figure 3.2 shows that domestic overnight visitation to the region peaks during Spring; attracting the highest proportion of visitors (32%), and visitation is at its lowest in Winter (19%). It would be incredibly useful to have this data at the local Moorabool Shire scale.

Figure 3.2 Monthly overnight visitation to the Region and comparative average for regional areas across Victoria11

November October September August July Visitation to Victorian Regions June

May Regional Daylesford Macedon April Ranges March February January December

0% 2% 4% 6% 8% 10% 12% 14% 16%

Visitor profile

The most popular activity undertaken by Moorabool daytrip visitors was 'social and others' (dining out, going to pubs and shopping). This was in line with Macedon Ranges and Hepburn.

Regional Data and data collected from the Visitor Information Centre at Bacchus Marsh suggests that Melbourne has and will continue to be the primary source market for the Moorabool Shire. The Urban Enterprise (2012) market snapshot found that when compared to the DMR Region, Moorabool visitor markets have the following attributes:

. Higher number of student visitors and young singles; . Larger ‘Visiting Friends and Relatives (VFR) market; . Lower household income, particularly in the $150,000 bracket; . Higher number of family groups; . Lowest proportion of visitors coming for nature-based activities across the Region (14% versus 17% Macedon and 21% Hepburn); and . Lowest proportion of day visitors coming for arts / heritage / festival activities (4% compared with 9% for Macedon and 13% for Daylesford).

Data collected by the Visitor Information Centre at Bacchus Marsh indicated that:

. 35% of visitors to the VIC came from metropolitan Melbourne, followed by local visitors from Moorabool Shire (24%); . 9% of Moorabool visitors to the VIC were international visitors, with the UK/Europe/USA being the largest international market; and . the most significant interstate market for Moorabool was NSW.

11 Daylesford and Macedon Ranges regional visitor statistics Year Ending March 2012

Cre8ing Growth | 3. The market 19

The regional data from 2011 indicated that domestic overnight leisure visitors were more likely to come from the Socially Aware (38%) and Visible Achievement (23%) Values Segments – see Figure 3.3 for representation of all segments and Attachment B for a description of all the segments.

Figure 3.3 Representation by Roy Morgan Values Segments12

Socially Aware

Visible Achievement

Young Optimism

Real Conservatism

Something Better Victorian Regional average Look at Me Regional data Conventional Family Life

Traditional Family Life

Fairer Deal

Basic Needs

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40%

Current target markets

The 2009 Product Audit proposed target markets as being the three dominant Roy Morgan Value Segments of Socially Aware, Visible Achievement and Traditional Family Life. The same report inferred that Visiting Friends and Relatives, as a major reason for visiting, was another attribute to consider for choosing target markets. A workshop in 2009 supporting the development of the current Tourism Plan identified for the fresh produce sector the primary market of Western Suburbs (families with young children and double income couples without children, then a wide range of secondary markets13.

The 2012 campaign for Feast of March identified the same three Roy Morgan Value Segments (Socially Aware, Visible Achiever and Traditional Family Life).

Visitor monitoring and market research

The current Tourism Plan identified the need for a better understanding of current markets, visitor trends and potential markets. Two of the Plan’s marketing recommendations were to implement an ongoing research program to gain a better appreciation of the market segments; and for Visitor Information Centre(s) to commence gathering data. This has been partially achieved through the one-off Urban Enterprise (2012) market snapshot and monitoring by the Visitor Information Centre volunteers at Bacchus Marsh.

The Campaign for the Feast of March included objectives to increase yield and visitation but this will need to be monitored and evaluated, so one of the major recommendations was for the next event to address this, and implement an ongoing research program to better understand the market segments.

12 Daylesford and Macedon Ranges regional visitor statistics Year Ending March 2012, developed in conjunction with Colin Benjamin of the Horizons Network 13 Secondary markets were: inner Melbourne high income with young children; early retirees (55+) touring; nearby villages; Ballarat and surrounds; and broader Melbourne markets

Cre8ing Growth | 3. The market 20

Economic impact of tourism to local economy

Table 3.3 uses the known visitation to the Moorabool Shire split between domestic day and overnight visitors to determine the economic impact of tourism to the local area. Table 3.3 indicates that domestic tourism currently contributes $39.4M to the local economy, an increase of $3.7M from 2008/9 (or $1.3M / 33% per annum). If visitation to Moorabool by international visitors could be accurately provided, then an additional impact could be added14.

Table 3.3 Estimated economic impact of domestic tourism to the Moorabool Shire15

Month 2008/9 visitation 2008/9 impact 2012 visitation 2012 impact

Day trippers@$80 351,000 $28M 356,000 $28.4M Overnight visitors@$160 48,000 $7.7M 69,000 $11M TOTAL 399,000 $35.7M 425,000 $39.4M

3.2 Strategic issues

Limited market information specific to the Moorabool Shire

It is really hard to make good decisions without good information. There is a need for ongoing information about current visitors to make good decisions about what products to create or reinvigorate, where to invest, who to help, what markets to target and what marketing to develop. Currently the only ongoing data comes at the aggregated regional level from the National Visitor Survey. There are a number of significant differences between Moorabool and the other local areas making up the Macedon / Daylesford data, so this data only has limited use.

There is no significant data on visitation and spend generated from events in the area. This makes it difficult to evaluate the effectiveness of the events and even more difficult for Moorabool Shire to determine which events to assist with and to what degree.

In addition, there is no data on accommodation occupancies, achieved rates and yield. This information is particularly useful to determine the feasibility and subsequent development of additional accommodation.

Need for further definition of target markets

There is currently no definition of who, out of the entire market, are the segments that best fit the Moorabool Shire, who are most easily attracted to visit, spend money and ‘fit into’ the local lifestyle. The result is typically that products can try to be ‘all things to all people’ – never strongly appealing or satisfying anyone, and so never fully realising their potential. Having target markets would give the region a frame of reference to determine what products to develop and in what style, as well as a guide to shape the look and feel of marketing, and the distribution channels to target.

3.3 Options

To address the need for more local information about the market, there are at least three options available to consider:

4. Stay the same, and wait until the industry becomes bigger to revisit the situation 5. Pay the operators of regional data collection to add additional questions that allow further segmented analysis of data 6. Allocate resources to commission further market monitoring specific to Moorabool

The merits of these options are further considered in Table 3.4.

14 Though international visitation to Moorabool is likely to be quite small compared with domestic visitation, it’s higher daily spend would represent a valuable additional impact to the local economy. The Visitor Information Centre handles approximately 9% of its visitors from international sources, so the economic impact may be an additional 9% or more from international visitors. 15 Urban Enterprise Pty Ltd (2012) Snapshot of Moorabool Visitor Market

Cre8ing Growth | 3. The market 21

Table 3.4 Evaluation of the strengths and limitations of each option addressing insufficient market information

Option Strengths Limitations

1. Stay the same, and wait Current collateral remains relevant Industry risk growing in various directions until the industry becomes increasing gaps bigger to revisit the situation Industry driven future Increase in visitation increasing is long term 2. Pay the operators of Further information gathered to define market Information is less specific regional data collection to add additional questions Data is unreliable due to random sampling that allow further segmented analysis of data 3. Allocate resources to Efficiently define market information Need to find resources to support on an ongoing commission further market basis monitoring specific to Effective future monitoring systems put in place Moorabool To establish defined target markets, there are many options available to consider:

1. Stay the same, and try to satisfy everyone with everything (being all things to all people) 2. Choose leisure target markets that have a natural interest in the area, and will provide a modest ‘slow trickle’ of visitation throughout the year. For example, the Socially Aware, Visible Achievement and Traditional Family Life 3. Choose leisure target markets that have some interest in the area, and will provide short boosts of visitation on long weekends and in school holiday periods. For example, Traditional Family Life and Conventional Family Life 4. Choose markets living in the western and northern suburbs of Melbourne, because they are close by and easy to engage in day trips 5. Choose markets from surrounding regional townships (such as Daylesford, Ballarat and Geelong) because they are close by and already aligned to country ways and easy to convince of frequent short day / evening dinner 6. Choose markets that local bus and coach operator Australian Coach Tours could bring groups to on a regular basis throughout the year

Cre8ing Growth | 3. The market 22

Table 3.5 Evaluation of the strengths and limitations of each option addressing no consistently defined target markets

Option Strengths Limitations

1. Stay the same, and try to Broad marketing messages Risk poor word of mouth satisfy everyone with everything Ease of entry for future products Risk being last resort due to visitor confusion The offer not clearly defined and risk of lost opportunities 2. Choose leisure target Consistent visitation Slow to gain traction markets that have a natural interest in the area, and will Ability to draw out products that naturally fit the Requires long-term commitment market provide a modest and constant visitation Assists to drive visitation in low periods Increased attractiveness of destination to targeted market Gives industry a clear frame work for future product development Can easily demonstrate consistent growth 3. Choose leisure target Ability to demonstrate significant spikes in Driving visitation in natural high periods markets that have some visitation interest in the area, and will Insufficient accommodation in LGA can impact provide short boosts of Gives industry a clear frame work for future on this market visitation on long weekends product development and in school holiday periods 4. Choose markets living in Easy market to communicate to Continued use of the “all things to all people” the western and northern strategy suburbs of Melbourne, Leverage location and high population areas Risk not communicating the offer because they are close by and so easy to convince of a day trip 5. Choose markets from Visitors already in the area Continued use of the “all things to all people” surrounding regional strategy townships (such as Ease of access to deliver marketing material Risk not communicating the offer Daylesford, Ballarat and Different ‘offer’ reduces competitive nature Geelong) because they are between LGAs Insufficient connectivity between visitors from close by and already other areas aligned to country ways and easy to convince of frequent short day / evening dinner 6. Choose markets that Increases ability to drive spikes in visitation Requires ongoing commitment and a partnership local bus and coach with the local coach operator operator Australian Coach Increases ability to drive spikes in identified low Tours could bring groups to periods Currently there is a insufficient parking and infrastructure to support coaches at the key on a regular basis Coordinated with options 2 or 3 can increase throughout the year attractions (Avenue of Honour) and local food awareness and word of mouth to identified and beverage options markets Currently there is insufficient businesses such as food and beverage able to cope with regular demand peaks from the group market

Cre8ing Growth | 3. The market 23

4. The product

4.1 Background

Stakeholder perceptions of product value

There is a need for more market or operator research on the local product. Regional and local visitation data produced by Tourism Victoria is broader than this level of information. Staff of Moorabool Shire requested that this document include some relevant information from Statewide research into segments that could be relevant to Moorabool. A review of the Tourism Victoria website (www.tourism.vic.gov.au) found that:

. A commitment to developing niche campaigns, working with industry groups and integrating arts and cultural heritage into destination marketing, including within the Goldfields;

. A recognition that food and wine is one of Victoria’s primary product strengths, and commitments to strengthen this position through Victoria’s Food and Wine Tourism Plan;

. A recognition that nature tourism is one of Victoria’s primary product strengths, and commitments to strengthen this position through Victoria’s Nature Tourism Plan; and

. Recognition that many regional events do not meet the current assessment criteria for cooperative marketing assistance through Tourism Victoria's Events Program, but that some of these events have the potential to develop into significant regional events able to attract intrastate and interstate visitors, and so up to $10,000 per event is offered to assist with this development through The Country Victoria Events Program.

The surveys conducted as part of the consultation process for this Discussion Paper asked stakeholders to identify which products that they believed were the primary motivators driving visitation to the Shire. Table 4.1 shows that the primary motivating products were: protected areas; Avenue of Honour; Farm gate and roadside vendors; and events (markets, food and art). Supporting experiences (not motivators but helpful in lengthening visitor stay and increasing expenditure) were dominated by all types of food and beverage – cafes, restaurants, hotels / pubs and wineries. This group was followed by historic villages and cultural heritage.

Table 4.1 Stakeholder perceptions of the products acting as primary motivators to visit Moorabool Shire

Degree of motivation Tourism industry perception Community perception

Primary motivator to Protected areas (59%) Protected areas (74%) visit destination Attractions - The Avenue of Honour (56%) Attractions - Farm gate and roadside vendors (64%) Attractions - Farm gate and roadside vendors (54%) Events Markets (59%) Events – Markets (54%) Events Art (50%) Event Food (50%)

Supporting F&B Cafes (73%) F&B Restaurants (65%) experience whilst at the destination F&B Hotels/Pubs (72%) F&B Hotels and pubs (65%) F&B Restaurants (69%) F&B Wineries (55%) Attractions Cultural heritage (68%) Attractions Historic Villages (53%) Attractions Heritage trails (68%) Events food (50%) F&B Wineries (58%) Events Food (55%) Retail bric a brac (55%) Retail providor and general stores (54%) The following section provides an updated account of the actual product available in the Moorabool Shire.

Cre8ing Growth | 4. The product 24

Theme based trails to connect the region

Two major vehicle-based touring routes pass through the region – the Pure Indulgence Touring Route (PITR) and the Great Southern Touring Route (GSTR) – and one major walking and cycling trail, the Great Dividing Trail (GDT). The PITR travels from Melbourne along the Western Highway through Moorabool to Ballarat, then north to Daylesford, Malmsbury, Lancefield and heads south to Melbourne via Macedon, Gisborne and Sunbury. The website information clearly focuses the tour upon the Daylesford region and provides extensive profile of the tourism offer and attractions in that region but provides very little information on intervening areas or localities. There is almost no profile of any related existing product within the tour of the project region, largely because the current local product is not suitable for the requirements of the touring route marketing program. The GSTR covers a distance of 800km from Melbourne to Geelong, along the Great Ocean Road, north through the Grampians, and then east back to Melbourne via Ballarat along the Western Highway, travelling through Moorabool. Information is provided on the key locations along the route but excludes any mention of Moorabool within the website. As a consequence

Themed trails within the region

There are six drive-touring routes currently promoted within the local area. None of these drives are clearly signposted and their themes could be better developed in the collateral, see Section 6. Table 4.2 presents the six touring routes and what experience they highlight.

Table 4.2 The six touring routes and what experience they highlight.

Tour Route Features

Route One: (Forest and food) Explores the northern corner of the area highlighted by Wombat State Forest and historic Blackwood Village. Route Two: (Wondrously West) Explores the western corner of the area highlighted by the Villages of Ballan, Gordon, Lal Lal and Wallace, farming landscape and Lal Lal Falls Route Three: (Falls and Flowers) Explores the Southern corner of the local area with a nature-based theme highlighted by the Brisbane Ranges. Route Four: (Sightseers) Explores the North Eastern corner of the local area and features the village of Blackwood and the Eastern side of Wombat State forest. Route Five: (Diggings trail) Follows the route that miners took on their way to the Mount Egerton and Ballarat Gold fields, highlighted by the cultural examining landscape of Mt Egerton Route Six: (Beyond the ranges) Explores the South Eastern corner of the local area to combine the natural (wild flower habitat in season) of the Brisbane ranges with the historic former gold mining settlement of Steiglitz with highlight being panning for Gold and the Court house interpretive centre Major attractions

Table 4.3 lists approximately 13 attractions found within the local area. Since the last product audit in 2009, one attraction has closed and no new ones have entered the marketplace. The biggest attraction within the local area is Kryal Castle, which is being refurbished into a more contemporary proposition. Other attractions include galleries, gardens, farms and historic sites. Some retail venues (such as the Gordon Hat Shoppe) have become individual and popular enough to function as attractions.

Table 4.3 Revised product audit of attractions

Product Operational 2009 Operational 2013

Blacksmith's Cottage and Forge (historic site)   Donegan`s Farm and Maze   Garden of St Erth (historic house and gardens)   Gordon Egerton Gallery   Gordon Hat Shoppe (retail)   Janice Webster's Art Studio & Gallery   Kryal Castle (recreation of European medieval castle)   Lal Lal Estate Farm Tour (historic sheep and cattle farm)  

Cre8ing Growth | 4. The product 25

Omnibus Art Gallery and Studio   Our Lady of Ta Pinu Marian Centre (Chapel)   Serenity Llamas (llama farm and close interaction)  Yuulong Lavender Estate (lavender and herb walks and retail)   Corporate Trout Retreat – (exclusive trout farming Gordon)  

Protected areas providing nature tourism

There are seven nature-based protected areas within the local area offering varying forms of nature tourism Table 4.4 lists the sites and confirms there have been no additions since the 2009 product audit, and reveals the distinctive elements of each natural area - these elements could be used to strengthen the appeal of the attraction and be apart of a improved drive route.

Table 4.4 Revised product audit of protected areas offering nature-based tourism

Protected areas Operational 2009 Operational 2013

Brisbane Ranges National Park (wildflowers and koalas)   Lerderderg State Park (heritage river and gorge)   Werribee Gorge State Park (dramatic landscapes)   Long Forest Nature Conservation Reserve (birds & bull mallee)   Lal Lal State Forest (several waterfalls)   Wombat State Forest (hosts Wombat Forest Drive)   Local trails and sites

Table 4.5 lists seven walking trails and one forest drive found within the local area. Since the last product audit in 2009, there has been no change in the product supply.

There are many trails, paths and tracks within the main parks and reserves that provide a wealth of activity, duration and difficulty visitors

Table 4.5 Revised product audit of trails, paths and tracks

Trails, paths and tracks Operational 2009 Operational 2013

Avenue of Honour River Circuit   Bacchus Marsh Heritage Trail   Blast Furnace Nature Walk   Darley Park Native Garden   Lal Lal Falls   Parwan Lava Tubes   Peppertree Park River Walk (flood affected)   Wombat Forest Drive  

Outdoor Activities

Table 4.6 lists 13 outdoor activities found within the local area. Featuring golf, horse-riding, flying, trout fishing and racing. Since the last product audit in 2009, one attraction (Golf club) has entered the marketplace.

Table 4.6 Revised product audit of sport and recreation facilities

Product Operational 2009 Operational 2013

Bacchus Marsh Golf Club   Bacchus Marsh Motocross Club  

Cre8ing Growth | 4. The product 26

Bacchus Marsh West Golf Club   Doran Park Horse Riding   Victorian Motorless Flight Group   Geelong Gliding Club   Highland Trout Lakes   Hot Shots Paintball   Joy Flights   Millbrook Lakes   Paintball Skirmish   Rolling Thunder Raceway/Speedway   Ballan Golf Club  Food and Wine venues

Table 4.7 lists approximately 43 venues supplying food and wine found within the local area. Since the last product audit in 2009, 11 food and wine venues have closed and 10 new ones have entered the marketplace.

Unlike some areas of Victoria which have built a very strong food and wine profile with associated base business and product development, this segment is still very immature within the project region and may benefit from integration into other market segments and / or campaign regions. Its unique positioning within in an intensive fresh food offering within the attractive clean, natural environment

Table 4.7 Revised product audit of food and wine establishments

Product Operational 2009 2013

Bacchus Hill Winery (vineyard)   Bungeeltap Winery (vineyard)   Parwan Estate (vineyard)  St. Anne's Myrniong Vineyard   Baby Black Espresso Bar (Cafes)   Cobb and Co. Cafe  Fine Foods on Grant  Flour Pot Cafe   Heritage Express Cottage  Keepers Bar and Restaurant  Lerdies on Martin  Loot Cottage Garden Cafe   Lucky 7   Lynn's On Albert  Narmbool   Peppercorn Place Cafe  Sopranos On Main   St. Erth Cafe   The Flying Teapot Cafe and Gallery  While the Billy Boils   Mill Rose Cottage Restaurant & Cafe  Angelos Bakery Café  Wallace Pub  Back to Bacchus Café and Eatery  Burkes on Main  Café Chino on the Avenue 

Cre8ing Growth | 4. The product 27

Modern day bakery and café  Lerdies Restaurant and wine bar The Plough  Lucky Café  Michelle’s Sweet temptation 

Farm gate and roadside vendors

Table 4.8 lists 16 venues selling local fresh produce and in some cases offering the opportunity to pick it – this product is marketed under the brand name “Growing in Moorabool”. Since the last product audit in 2009, one vendor has closed and five new ones have entered the marketplace. The vendors are concentrated in Bacchus Marsh and in particular, along the Avenue of Honour.

Unlike some areas of Victoria which have built a very strong food and wine profile with associated base business and product development, this segment is still very immature within the project region and may best benefit from integration into other market segments and / or campaign regions.

Table 4.8 Revised product audit of food and wine establishments

Product Operational 2009 2013

Bacchus Marsh Berry Farm   Big Apple Tourist Orchard   G & N Dellios   Gibbons Nursery   Jeff Jones Plants and Produce   Joe Proverterie   Michael Hartley  Naturipe Fruits, Strawberry, Peach and Nectarine Farm   Paynes Orchards   Vic Paps   Yendon Gourmet Tomatoes   Fruits of Life  Delicious Apples  Spur’s fruit barn  Wellwood Wallace  Yuulong Lavender Estate 

Accommodation

There is a very limited amount of accommodation within the local area. Unfortunately there has been no formal room and bed stock estimates done, but a broad analysis from the typical stock of the various properties suggests that the area can sleep between 170 and 430 people on any one night. Approximately 40% of the room stock is bed and breakfast and this product is growing faster than the remainder of accommodation types.

The majority of accommodation product within the local area is bed and breakfast providing 2 – 3 bedrooms. Table 4.9 lists approximately 31 Bed and Breakfast products found within the local area. Unfortunately a room stock calculation has not been done, but based on an average of three bedrooms per establishment this probably equates to approximately 60 – 90 beds. This probably equates to a minimum capacity of 60 – 90 people and a maximum of 120 – 180 people. Supply has remained relatively static – since the last product audit in 2009, seven bed and breakfast products have closed and 10 new ones have entered the marketplace.

Cre8ing Growth | 4. The product 28

Table 4.9 Revised product audit of bed and breakfast accommodation

Product Operational 2009 Operational 2013

Ballan Bed and Breakfast   Blackwood Accommodation Bed and Breakfast   Blackwood Bed & Breakfast   Boyd Baker House   Bromwich   Byers Cottage  Cedars Indulgence Retreat   Cobb and Co.  Coventry Cottage  Ellerslie Homestead   Forest Edge Country House  Gisborne Park Stud Bed and Breakfast   Golden Point Cottage   Greendale Country House   Hilltop Cottage   Lal Lal Falls Cottage  Margot`s Bed and Breakfast  Ripley Park Bed & Breakfast  Sherwood Grange   Sunnyside Villas   Wild Trout Downunder`s Anglers Retreat   Ambleside Country House  Bromwich Bed and Breakfast  Lambs at Ballan  Ravensholme  Rose Cottage  The Axemans Rest  View Cottage  Whipstick Cottages  Woodbine Cottage  Woodside Retreat  Table 4.10 lists 19 accommodation products within the local area that make up the remainder of accommodation product within the local area. This product is compromised of one upmarket hotel, three budget motels, five pub style accommodation, three caravan parks, a health retreat and five recreation camps. Unfortunately there has not been any room stock calculations, but an estimate excluding the recreation camps and including cabins in caravan parks probably equates to approximately 110 rooms. This probably equates to a minimum capacity of 110 people and maximum of 250 people. Supply has remained relatively static – since the last product audit in 2009, two products have closed and two new ones have entered the marketplace.

Cre8ing Growth | 4. The product 29

Table 4.10 Revised product audit of other accommodation (excluding Bed and Breakfast)

Product Operational 2009 Operational 2013

Baanya Biami (recreation camp)   Bacchus Marsh Avenue Motel (budget motel)   Bacchus Marsh Caravan Park   Ballan Caledonian Caravan Park  Blackwood Mineral Springs Caravan Park   Blackwood Special School Outdoor Education Centre (recreation camp)   Flanagans Border Inn (pub style)   Kryal Castle (upmarket hotel)  Lady Northcote Recreation Camp   Lake Dewar Lodge YMCA (recreation camp)   Mount Blackwood Health Retreat   Plough Inn Hotel/Motel (budget motel)   Royal Hotel (pub style)   Sunnystones Country Retreat (recreation camp)   Underbank Stud (recreation camp)   Blackwood Hotel (pub style)  Young and Main (Royal Hotel) (pub style)   Brewery Tap Hotel (pub style) 

Shopping and retail

Table 4.11 lists 38 speciality retail shopping venues found within the local area. Overall supply has diminished slightly over the past few years. The main forms of speciality retail are antiques / bric a brac, nurseries, art and craft, bookstores and homewares. Since the last product audit in 2009, 10 venues have closed and six new ones have entered the marketplace.

It is clear that there have been recent investments in tourism-related retail across the Shire. There are now a number of shops selling antiques, collectibles, books and crafts, as well as galleries across the Shire that act as good draw cards for the region and townships. However, there was some difficulty in assessing the direct relationship between some of the retail offer presented and relevance and applicability to the tourism market.

Cre8ing Growth | 4. The product 30

Table 4.11 Revised product audit of shopping and retail establishments

Product Operational 2009 Operational 2013

Bacchus Marsh Antiques   Bacchus Marsh Nursery & Florist   Bacchus Marsh Seedling Farm   Bears ‘n Beads   Beer and Barware Collectibles  Blacksmith's Cottage and Forge   Blackwood General Store Antiques   Blackwood General Store   Country Shack, The   Decadence House of Gordon Wares   Discount Delight   Floralevent   Florewen Art & Craft Supplies  Formosa Nursery   Fruits Of Life, The   Garden of St. Erth   Goodies Galore   Gordon Hat Shoppe   Greendale Hotel and General Store   Interior Motive  Jones Plants and Produce   Meredith Nursery  Mt Egerton General Store  My Little Mate General Store  Raffles Collection  Shambles Antique Centre  Studio Crafts by Karen   Suntuff Natives  The Bookbarn  The Flying Teapot Cafe & Gallery   The House of Salisbury   Woodend Secondhand Bookshop  Johnos Art Work  Quilters of the Bigroom  The Passionate Quilter  Organic Concepts @ home  Curious Crow Books  Golden Budha 

Major product proposals mooted

A major refurbishment of Kryal Castle is nearing completion. The refurbishment covers the attraction, accommodation food and beverage and function and meeting venues. The work represents a very large investment by the private sector into local tourism and is due to be completed in the first quarter of 2013.

Cre8ing Growth | 4. The product 31

Several accommodation products have been proposed for the area, including:

. a refurbishment of the Ballan Hotel . a major retreat near Ballan offering 120 residences targeting the ‘Linton’ . several bed and breakfast products in various villages . Larundel Farm Stay

In addition, an interpretive and business enterprise centre has been proposed within the Avenue of Honour at Bacchus Marsh16. The interpretive and business enterprise centre is reliant on significant public moneys to proceed. A high level feasibility study for the project proposes: an interpretive centre addressing the Avenue of Honour; a visitor information centre; commercial activities (café, function centre and retail); display of regional food and wine; and function facility. The project is seeking $5.3M in grants economic impact of 31.6M over 10 years. The study recommends that Moorabool Council develop the site and lease it to commercial activities. The Study assumes 10% capture rate of current visitation. There is no significant funding procured to date.

4.2 Strategic issues

The imperative for more product

4.3 Options

Four product development options were identified as priorities through the consultation surveys and workshops:

In addition to the options generated by stakeholders, we propose a quite different option

16 Several locations were assessed and the preferred site is reported to be the new Woolpack Road intersection linking to the Western Highway, occupying approximately one hectare

Cre8ing Growth | 4. The product 32

Figure 4.1 Potential new product development locations

Table 4.12 Evaluation of the strengths and limitations of each option

Option Strengths Limitations

1. More accommodation to Will generate more employment and economic There is insufficient supporting product to drive increase length of stay and impact within LGA (accommodation generates significant investment in accommodation yield per customer greatest impact of all tourism sectors) Risk negative word of mouth if products are not Increased length of stay increases chances of mature to sustain visitors for 2 or more days visitors getting the more subtle experiences that deliver brand essence (the locals and their Risk accommodation visitors creating economic stories) leakage (leave LGA to find things to do elsewhere) 2. More dining options Food driven visitation Cafes and restaurant resource ready for 7 days across the townships (cafes a week trading and restaurants open seven Encourages longer stays in the area days a week) Unsatisfied visitors with expectations not met consistently due to insufficient skilled staff

3. More picking and Continue to build on established core experience Limited by seasons interactive food experiences Increase range/diversity of experiences Limited by functionality of picking specific fruits Opens the industry to future augmented products such as cooking classes 4. More interesting stories to Build on local characters and their experience Quality and consistency difficult to monitor share with visitors Face to face experience Characters can come and go Developing a unique selling proposition for the Some villages maybe weak in authentic LGA experiences and or characters 5. Consolidate the product The most strategic way to attract investment is to Stakeholders need to support a regional picture base of each village, and identify the locations where demand is greatest, against a potential perception that their area is then create a shopping list and then go hunting for the development to missing out on something of the minimal product occur needed for each area (if Even a strategic approach can be upset by a any) to drive the Region, This approach would provide further brand development going against the strategy and and by default, what should definition for each village, maximising introducing a product in a place where it was not not be developed in each distinctiveness and tourism role, and minimising scheduled to occur (though Council approval area to maintain unnecessary duplication may be able to influence this) distinctiveness

5. Events

5.1 Background

Events conducted throughout the Moorabool Shire range from weekly craft markets to monthly farmers markets attracting up to 1,200 local residents to annual events attracting up to 5,000 residents and visitors.

Currently there are 54 events conducted within Moorabool Shire. Table 5.1 presents a calendar of events for the 2012 period, and reveals that:

. 11 events take place at least once a month; . nine events are clustered into March and encompass six of the 13 villages of Moorabool themed under the umbrella of ‘Feast of March’; . between April and September Moorabool hosts regular events, but there are only four events that reflect capacity to attract visitors to the area; . the months of October and November are saturated with local community focussed events and tourism events – many competing on the same weekend, with insufficient linkages to cluster or cross promote; and . December and January also have regular events as well as civic events such as Carols, New Years Eve and Australia Day.

There is a need for greater strategic direction and resource allocation to guide event development. There is also a need for greater focus on Moorabool brand match to drive event growth that in turn could create greater return visitation.

Using data from Figure 3.2, Table 5.1 also shows in green the months needing event stimulus (they currently have lower than average visitation). The red shaded cells are periods not requiring event stimulus (have above average visitation), while those in yellow could have further event stimulus but are not critical as they represent the average months of visitation.

Table 5.1 then calculates the stimulus being provided by the number of current events per month to highlight any mismatch to demand and supply of visitation.

. January is a balanced – it needs no stimulus due to visitation being higher than average, and has a healthy number of events, currently all community focussed; . February is a mismatch – it needs stimulus, and receives moderate tourism event stimulus in the first half however the events are competing in the first half of the month whilst the second half is event free . March is a mismatch – it needs minimal stimulus, and receives significant tourism focussed stimulus in the later part of the month only with competing events falling on the same weekend, therefore Feast of March is not yet stretched across the entire month to stimulate repeat visitation over several weekends . April is balanced - it needs no stimulus due to visitation being higher than average, and has a healthy number of events, currently all community focussed . May, June, July, August and September are a mismatch – they need low to moderate stimulus, and receive very little . October is mismatched - it needs minimal stimulus, and receives significant tourism focussed stimulus on competing weekends . November is mismatched - it requires minimal stimulus, and receives significant tourism focussed stimulus on competing weekends one and four . December is balanced - it needs minimum stimulus due to visitation being higher than average, and has a healthy number of events, currently all community focussed

Cre8ing Growth | 5. Events 35

Table 5.1 2012 Event Calendar for Moorabool Shire. Green weeks need more events (they have low visitation). Red months do not need event stimulus (they have high visitation and are over saturated with events at times with events competing on the same weekends). Yellow weeks could receive more events but are not as high a priority as the green periods) * Community # Tourism LGA Location January February March April Wk1 Wk2 Wk3 Wk4 Wk1 Wk2 Wk3 Wk4 Wk1 Wk2 Wk3 Wk4 Wk5 Wk1 Wk2 Wk3 Wk4 Bacchus Marsh * * * ** * # * * * * * * # * * * * * * Ballan * * * * # * * # # * * Blackwood # # * Gordon # Greendale Dunnstown # Elaine Lal Lal Mount Egerton Myrniong # # # Parwan Wallace # Fiskville * * Visitor demand 10% 4% 9% 10% LGA Location May June July August Wk1 Wk2 Wk3 Wk4 Wk1 Wk2 Wk3 Wk4 Wk5 Wk1 Wk2 Wk3 Wk4 Wk1 Wk2 Wk3 Wk4 Wk5 Bacchus Marsh * * * * * * # * * * * * * # * * * * Ballan * * * * * * * * * Blackwood Gordon Greendale Dunnstown Elaine Lal Lal # Mount Egerton Myrniong * Parwan Wallace Fiskville Visitor demand 9% 7% 8% 5% LGA Location September October November December Wk1 Wk2 Wk3 Wk4 Wk1 Wk2 Wk3 Wk4 Wk1 Wk2 Wk3 Wk4 Wk5 Wk1 Wk2 Wk3 Wk4 Bacchus Marsh * * * * * * * * * * # * * * * * * * * Ballan * * * * * # # * * * # # * * Blackwood # # Gordon Greendale # Dunnstown Elaine Lal Lal * Mount Egerton Myrniong * Parwan Wallace Visitor demand 8% 11% 13% 7%

Cre8ing Growth | 5. Events 36

Events can differ in their goals and objectives. Local community events seek to attract local residents and increase their quality of life, while tourism events are designed to attract people from further afield and introduce them to the areas brand. Tourism events should therefore reflect brand values available within the local area throughout the year. This is currently being demonstrated through events clustered into the “Feast of March”.

Brand match

One of the challenges of a Moorabool wide event strategy is determining a meaningful and universal definition of the word "consistency" with the second challenge being how do you put "consistency" into practice? How do you sustain it? How do you communicate it? Once you think you understand it, how do you enforce it? By developing an event strategy based around brand match that has been drawn from the unique competitive advantages identified and aligned to the target markets established for the Shire and the events guidelines can be put in place to ensure future events have a tight framework to work within and therefore reduce resource hungry events to more successful sustaining events marketed to a specific market with a natural tendency towards what is on offer.

Table 5.2 presents a subjective assessment of the degree to which events match the Moorabool brand (see Table 2.1 for brand elements)17. Table 5.2 indicates that in 2012 there were:

. nine ‘all rounder’ events (covering most of the brand) . seven ‘specialists’ (covering several elements of the brand) . 37 ‘minimalists’ (covering little to none of the brand and mainly being of a local nature) . 7 events are highlighted are potential tourism events that currently sit close to the brand

Further development of the complete spectrum of brand essence and values would give strategic direction to event development for the Moorabool Shire.

17 Note that there is no empirical evidence supporting this assessment, and further clarification of the brand and work on this tool could improve the accuracy and reliability of the results

Cre8ing Growth | 5. Events 37

Table 5.2 Match of events to Moorabool brand

Brand elements extracted from Table 2.1

Sampling Sampling Cultural Connection Interactions Total Brand Event Food Wine Heritage to local with host Score match crafts out of 15

Ballan Farmers Market *** * * *** *** 11 All-rounder Ballan Market *** * ** ** ** 10 All-rounder Blacksmith’s Cottage * * 2 Minimal Museum Book Barn in the Old Forge * 1 Minimal Blackwood Academy of ** * 3 Minimal Bluegrass & Old Time Music Catholic Museum of * 1 Minimal Bacchus Marsh Darley Market ** * ** ** ** 9 All-rounder Marsh Chooks Poultry Club 0 Minimal Country Craft Market * 1 Minimal Steiglitz Court House * 1 Minimal Bacchus Marsh Hospital 0 Minimal Ladies Auxillary Australia Day Celebrations 0 Specialist Australia Day Weekend 0 Specialist Senior & Junior David Calleja Memorial Car * * *** 5 Specialist Show Truffle Society Cooking with *** *** *** *** 12 Specialist Truffles Education Day Yaloak Polo Club 0 Minimal Tournament Ballarat Polo Cup at Yaloak 0 Minimal Estate Ballan Vintage Machinery *** * * 5 Specialist Rally & Tractor Pull Moorabool’s Longest Lunch *** *** *** ** ** 13 All-rounder Wallace Wants a Wife & *** *** *** 9 Specialist Second Chance Autumn Festival @ St Earth ** 2 Minimal Mountain of Fun Run 0 Minimal Bacchus Marsh Harvest *** * ** *** 9 All-rounder Festival Ballan Annual Art Show * ** 3 Minimal Myrniong Live Music in the * 1 Minimal Annual Community Plant 0 Minimal Stall Ballan Autumn Festival * * 2 Minimal Blackwood Woodchop & * * * * 4 Minimal Easter Carnival Myrniong Historic Car Sprint * * * * 4 Minimal Sculpture & Book Festival * * 2 Minimal

Cre8ing Growth | 5. Events 38

Table 5.2 Match of events to Moorabool brand (cont)

Brand elements extracted from Table 2.1

Sampling Sampling Cultural Connection Interactions Total Brand Event Food Wine Heritage to local with host Score match crafts out of 15

Yuulong Estate Lavender * * 1 Minimal Farm 100 years of Balliang East 0 Minimal Primary School Centenary Celebration. Ballan Hospital Annual Ball 0 Minimal Bacchus Marsh Rotary Art * * 2 Minimal Show Bacchus Marsh Dog Club 0 Minimal Lal Lal Moorabool ** * 3 Minimal Photographic Exhibition/Competition Relay For Life 0 Minimal Ballan Feast 2013 *** ** * 6 All-rounder Spring Festival @ St Erth * * ** * 5 All-rounder Fiskville Cup 0 Minimal Show & Shine & Swap Meet 0 Minimal Brisbane Ranges Wildflower * 1 Minimal Show Biennial Lal Lal Makers Market *** *** *** * 10 All-rounder 150th Celebrations 0 Minimal Literacy Week * 1 Minimal Greendale Country Market * * * * 4 Minimal Strawberries and Cherries ** *** ** *** 10 Specialist Festival Oaks Day at The Plough 0 Minimal Blackwood Spring Antiques 0 Minimal Roadshow Ballan Cycling Classic 0 Minimal Cup Day – Round Robin 0 Minimal Tournament Top Hat & Fiddle Festival * * * * *** 7 All-rounder (proposed vent for 2013)

Events within Moorabool Shire should take the opportunity to emphasise the identified brand strength of the host village / town. This approach demonstrates event growth based of matching brand essence on location to event experience; an example of this is Healesville – Walk, Talk and Taste event, which is a foodie's heaven. Healesville is home to some of Victoria's best known artisan producers and providores, all within easy walking distance along the main street of this beautiful town, only 50 minutes drive from Melbourne, historically the closer the match the more successful the event and its objectives are realised.

Source markets

As with brand matching, there is an opportunity to match the event experience to the source market identified – this will dictate future growth and product development.

Cre8ing Growth | 5. Events 39

Tourism Victoria’s Events Tourism Market Profile Year Ending June 2011 report investigates event visitor behaviour and identifies the target markets most likely to attend events in Victoria, with Visible Achievement (21%), Socially Aware (19%) and Traditional Family Life (16%) segments being of greatest importance. These segments have set values and expectations that attract their attention. Therefore, by targeting events and/or repositioning current events to meet theses values and expectations, greater uptake of visitation can be realised. With the segments Socially Aware and Traditional Family Life already identified as a core market for the Moorabool Shire it is therefore crucial to build events around this framework.

Economic impact

In addition to community development, events generate economic benefits to the host economy, and this is best satisfied through maximising visitor spend through length of stay and thus overnight stay. To determine economic impact of events held in Moorabool Shire, each event has been assessed to determine its proportional market representation three segments:

. Visitor (local): a person who comes from within village / township within the local government area . Visitor (day tripper): a person who comes to a destination from outside the immediate local area (such as a local government area) and leaves in the same day. . Visitor (overnight): a person who comes to a destination from outside the immediate local area (such as a local government area) and stays overnight within the same immediate local area.

Table 5.3 presents an assessment of the visitor mix, and using standard average spend per segment, the subsequent economic impact of each event. Economic impact of events is measured by the formula of locals having no economic impact, day trippers having an estimated spend of $84 per person and over night visitors have a spend of $161, the estimate spends have been drawn from the findings of the Moorabool destination plan 2009. Based on the overnight visitation these eight events have an impact of $198,835 over the 12 months of the year they are conducted. (Events indentified are David Calleja Memorial Car Show, Wallace wants a wife & second chance, Bacchus Marsh Harvest Festival, Ballan Autumn Festival, Myrniong Historic car Sprint, Strawberries and Cream Festival, Oaks Day at The Plough & Top Hat & Fiddle Festival)

Table 5.3 suggests that in 2012, of the 54 events conducted throughout the year, 20 events have reflected a measurable proportion of attendees believed to be day-trippers. Across this achievement, day-tripper proportions vary from 10% (Love is in the air and Relay for life) to 80% of (Autumn Festival @ St Erth).

Eight of the 54 events attract over-night visitation. The events attracting the most significant overnight visitation were (in order of largest to smallest): David Calleja Memorial Car Show (300), Bacchus Marsh Harvest Festival (250) and Wallace Wants a Wife & Second Chance and Top Hat & Fiddle Festival (proposed event for 2013) (both 200 each).

Table 5.3 suggests that the top five economic impact-generating events were those that attracted the largest day-tripper visitation:

1. Strawberries and Cherries Festival generating $584,000 2. Show, Shine & Swap Meet generating $352,00 3. David Calleja Memorial Car Show generating $336,000 4. Bacchus Marsh Harvest Festival generating $196,000 5. Ballan Autumn Festival generating $188,000

Cre8ing Growth | 5. Events 40

Table 5.3 Assessment of visitor mix and subsequent economic impact of events within Moorabool Shire in 2012

Regular events Source Economic Impact

Visitation Locals Day O'Night Visitor O'night Visitors + trippers impact $80 impact $160 O'night

Ballan Farmers Market 1000 600 400 $32,000 $0 $32,000 Ballan Market 500 450 50 $4,000 $0 $4,000 Blacksmith’s Cottage Museum 100 30 70 $5,600 $0 $5,600 Book Barn in the Old Forge 50 25 25 $2,000 $0 $2,000 Blackwood Academy of Bluegrass & 50 25 25 $2,000 $0 $2,000 Old Time Music Catholic Museum of Bacchus Marsh 50 35 15 $1,200 $0 $1,200 Darley Market 1200 1000 200 $16,000 $0 $16,000 Marsh Chooks Poultry Club 50 35 15 $1,200 $0 $1,200 Country Craft Market 500 450 50 $4,000 $0 $4,000 Steiglitz Court House 50 15 35 $2,800 $0 $2,800 Bacchus Marsh Hospital Ladies 50 50 $0 $0 $0 Auxillary Australia Day Celebrations 1000 900 100 $8,000 $0 $8,000 Australia Day Weekend Senior & 100 50 50 $4,000 $0 $4,000 Junior David Calleja Memorial Car Show 5000 900 3800 200 $304,000 $32,200 $336,200 Truffle Society Cooking with Truffles 50 25 25 $2,000 $0 $2,000 Education Day Yaloak Polo Club Tournament 100 60 40 $3,200 $0 $3,200 Ballarat Polo Cup at Yaloak Estate 100 40 60 $4,800 $0 $4,800 Ballan Vintage Machinery Rally & 2000 800 1200 $96,000 $0 $96,000 Tractor Pull Moorabool’s Longest Lunch 1500 600 900 $72,000 $0 $72,000 Wallace Wants a Wife & Second 600 300 100 200 $8,000 $32,000 $40,000 Chance Autumn Festival @ St Earth 1500 300 1200 $96,000 $0 $96,000 Mountain of Fun Run 100 80 20 $1,600 $0 $1,600 Bacchus Marsh Harvest Festival 5000 2500 2250 100 $180,000 $16,000 $196,000 Ballan Annual Art Show 500 440 60 $4,800 $0 $4,800 Myrniong Live Music in the 1500 750 750 $60,000 $0 $60,000 Annual Community Plant Stall 100 100 $0 $0 $0 Ballan Autumn Festival 8000 5500 2200 80 $176,000 $12,800 $188,800 Blackwood Woodchop & Easter 3500 3000 500 $40,000 $0 $40,000 Carnival Myrniong Historic Car Sprint 1000 800 100 $8,000 $0 $8,000 Antique, Sculpture & Book Festival 400 120 280 $22,400 $0 $22,400 Yuulong Estate Lavender Farm 100 30 70 $5,600 $0 $5,600 Ballan Hospital Annual Ball 100 60 40 $3,200 $0 $3,200 Bacchus Marsh Rotary Art Show 1000 500 500 $40,000 $0 $40,000 Bacchus Marsh Dog Club 50 25 25 $2,000 $0 $2,000 Lal Lal Moorabool Photographic 1000 500 500 $40,000 $0 $40,000 Exhibition/Competition

Cre8ing Growth | 5. Events 41

Table 5.3 Assessment of visitor mix and subsequent economic impact of events within Moorabool Shire in 2012 (cont)

Regular events Source Economic Impact

Visitation Locals Day O'Night Visitor O'night Visitors + trippers impact $80 impact $160 O'night

Relay For Life 200 180 20 $1,600 $0 $1,600 Ballan Feast 2013 2000 800 1200 50 $96,000 $8000 $104,000 Spring Festival @ St Erth 1500 500 1000 $80,000 $0 $80,000 Fiskville Cup 100 80 20 $1,600 $0 $1,600 Show & Shine & Swap Meet 5000 400 4200 100 $336,000 $16,000 $352,000 Brisbane Ranges Wildflower Show 100 90 10 $800 $0 $800 Biennial Literacy Week 100 80 20 $1,600 $0 $1,600 Greendale Country Market 1500 1200 300 $24,000 $0 $24,000 Strawberries and Cherries Festival 10000 3900 7000 150 $560,000 $24,000 $584,000 Oaks Day at The Plough 100 25 70 5 $5,600 $800 $6,400 Blackwood Spring Antiques Roadshow 400 120 280 $22,400 $0 $22,400 Ballan Cycling Classic 200 100 100 $8,000 $0 $8,000 Cup Day – Round Robin Tournament 100 50 50 $4,000 $0 $4,000 Top Hat & Fiddle Festival 2000 1000 800 $64,000 $0 $64,000

Total $2,458,800 $197,600 $2,656,400 Map of event impact areas

Currently the ‘365 days’ visitor brochure categorises local events into seasons. The seasonal visitor driven approach is a practical way for visitors to easily determine whether there is an event that they are interested when they want to visit, and appears to be particularly effective for both Bacchus Marsh and Ballan. The approach is also a strategic way to ensure that events are timed for lower periods needing a visitation boost.

Figure 5.1 presents the location of events across the Moorabool Shire, and reveals that events are concentrated in Bacchus Marsh and Ballan, probably due to these areas having the greatest supporting infrastructure and local populations to support the events. However, Figure 5.1 also reveals that there are many villages promoting themselves to visitors, seeking visitation, but without much event activity. This map could be further utilised to concurrently show event timing.

Cre8ing Growth | 5. Events 42

Figure 5.1 Locations of events across Moorabool Shire in 2012

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5.2 Strategic issues

Insufficient separation between community and tourism focus

Any event could generate benefits to the local community and / or visitors. There needs to be a preparedness to state up front whether an event is being created to predominantly attract and meet the needs of the local community, or visitors.

Each event should start preparing its event strategy to clearly express who it is fundamentally there to attract and satisfy. This might mean breaking up total visitation into proportions of local community, day-trippers then overnight visitors, then perhaps market segments that the biggest of these segments should reflect. For example, a tourism-focussed event might be seeking to attract: 75% day-trippers; 20% locals and 5% overnight visitors. The 75% day trippers might then be further broken down into 40% Socially Aware, 25% Traditional Family Life and 10% Visible Achievement.

Beyond some confusion over who an event is being designed for, there is also an opportunity to clarify the Moorabool Shire’s grants role and tourism management role. Grant applications should be designed to require event organisers to state their desired markets as above, and state their tourism-orientated objectives (assuming they wish to attract visitors).

Events versus festivals

Events typically run for a day and festivals for a number of days. For this reason, festivals have greater potential for economic impact generation – they keep visitors longer, they generate opportunities for word of mouth and opportunities for repeat visitation by the same visitors. It is more effective to have two or three festivals than 10 or 20 events. If the events are coordinated centrally and work together, then resources can be shared and economies of scale achieved.

Cre8ing Growth | 5. Events 43

Moorabool Shire has one festival (Feast of March). Perhaps there is an opportunity to move and merge some other events throughout the year which have similar objectives and or themes to form a second festival month, timed to reflect periods needing an economic stimulus.

Undefined systems and insufficient communications

There are events being designed and organised that require Council assistance, or Council approval, but some event coordinators are not approaching Council at all, or approaching Council too late for assistance to be effective. Some events are activated without essential Council approval and licensing, rendering them at great risk. Clearer protocols and persons responsible need to be communicated to event organisers, and event organisers need to use these.

Opportunity costs not evaluated (assessment matrix)

Council does not have an assessment matrix to evaluate the merit of one off events approaching them for support. Other Councils (such as Newcastle City Council) have developed assessment tools that provide measurable ways to determine the relative value of events. The tools assess elements such as brand match, forecast visitation, visitor mix, potential economic impact, flexibility to time the event when Council wants it etc. Without this tool Council could give away all its limited support to the first proponent that approaches them, and miss an opportunity for a better outcome from a second proponent.

5.3 Options

Options to enhance community events

Four options are proposed to improve the running and outcomes from events:

Table 5.4 evaluates the five options in terms of strengths and limitations of each.

Cre8ing Growth | 5. Events 44

Table 5.4 Evaluation of the strengths and limitations of options to address event development

Option Strengths Limitations

1. Council reforms its grants Increased opportunity to showcase local Some event coordinators may choose to ignore program to better strengths differentiate between events Some events may not have the resources to focused on community Increase resident lifestyle through professional continue to develop and meet the specifications benefits and those focused events of council on tourism benefits Current events have a frame work for future event development

Event organisers have a clear frame work to develop new events Opportunity to showcase the best of Moorabool Increased coordination between council and event organisers or organisations Reduced opportunities lost through identified event attraction, reducing the risk of events that don’t fit the area

2. Local community and Current situation remains relevant High demand on resources minimum return lifestyle events remain the same Future community/lifestyle events continue to Inconsistent and growth is not strategic appear Tend to have low economic impact on the area but remain resource hungry Reduced ability to attract visitors from outside local village 3. Cluster and / or theme Increase marketing appeal to visitors Theming and clustering may not support natural local community events strengths of village and can confuse visitors Increased ability to attract visitors from outside expectations the Village

4. Council to develop and Greater potential for organised and Greater potential for disorganised and promote procedures for communicative event coordinators to receive uncommunicative event coordinators to receive working and gaining support council assistance capable of enhancing the less council assistance capable of enhancing the from council which could event event include a greater level of assistance when the Improved events with lower risk and greater More time and expectations could be placed on systems are followed outcomes already stretched council staff, requiring restructuring of the role or additional resources Options to enhance tourism focussed event

Four options are proposed to improve the running and outcomes from community-focussed events:

Cre8ing Growth | 5. Events 45

Table 5.5 Evaluation of the strengths and limitations of options to address event development

Option Strengths Limitations

1. Tourism events to remain Summer months are occupied with events Does not encourage events through natural low the same periods to attract visitors

Lost opportunities to highlight natural strengths

2. Council reforms its grants New events identified to highlight natural Current events may not fit within the new frame program to better strengths and matching brand work differentiate between events focused on community Current events have a frame work for future Limits diversity of events event development benefits and those focused Limits growth of events that do not reflect the on tourism benefits Event organisers have a frame work to develop natural assets new events Reduced funding for events that fall outside the Strategic growth of event industry frame work Higher level of quality guarantee of events to visitors Increased ability to attract events that support the area Reduced opportunities lost through identified event attraction, reducing the risk of events that don’t fit the area 3. Cluster and / or theme Increased brand matching of events to local local community events strengths Improved ability to attract visitors from outside the Shire 4. Council to develop and Greater potential for organised and Greater potential for disorganised and promote procedures for communicative event coordinators to receive uncommunicative event coordinators to receive working and gaining support council assistance capable of enhancing the less council assistance capable of enhancing the from council which could event event include a greater level of assistance when the Improved events with lower risk and greater More time and expectations could be placed on systems are followed outcomes already stretched council staff, requiring restructuring of the role or additional resources

Cre8ing Growth | 5. Events 46

6. Marketing

6.1 Background

The current Tourism Plan recommended marketing to be a low priority while discretionary human and financial resources were invested in product and then industry development, and this remains totally appropriate for the next few years to come.

The major marketing thrust from the current Tourism Plan was to develop and build a brand (covered in Section 2), and then prepare a three year Marketing Strategy with a focus on the fresh produce available at the farm gate. Other product and destination marketing was to be limited until the Marketing Strategy was completed and additional products / experiences completed. While no Strategy document was developed, significant work by Moorabool Shire has been done to support fresh produce at the gate product through an event-based campaign and supporting collateral for fresh produce attractions.

The stakeholder survey conducted as part of the consultation for this Discussion Paper sought an opinion on which products should receive greater marketing attention. There was a diverse view on this, making it very difficult to resolve. The list included: food and beverage (wineries, restaurants and hotels / pubs); attractions (galleries and historic villages farm gate roadside vendors) and retail (antiques / bric a brac).

Campaigns

The single biggest campaign effort by Moorabool Shire has been focussed on driving visitation to the Feast of March 2012 Festival (a month long program of food and wine events across the villages of Moorabool Shire). The campaign was created to increase visitation to and yield from the existing events and targeted the Socially Aware, Visible Achiever and Traditional Family Life segments. Table 6.1 presents the core channels used to market the 2012 Festival and some of the results from these channels.

Table 6.1 Marketing effort for Feast of March

Marketing channel Detailed effort Results

Event Program distribution Hard copies 5,000 copies distributed Website downloads 234 from visit and growing Moorabool websites Media DMR eNews 27,000 electronic distribution list Visit Victoria 1,000 travel journalists Moorabool News Three stories including front page Leader Two stories Moorabool Matters Program overview Advertising / web listings VisitVictoria Event listing VisitMoorabool Home page link to FoM page GrowingMoorabool Home page link to FoM page Moorabool.vic.gov.au To visit Moorabool Herald Sun 2*1/3 page advertisements

The campaign significantly increased traffic to the visitmoorabool website and VIC at Bacchus Marsh and was well received by event organisers. The campaign generated an 83% increase in visits to the visit Moorabool site and there was a 12% increase in visitation for March 2012 compared to the previous year.

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Tourism Victoria

The Moorabool Shire is part of the Daylesford / Mount Macedon Region. In 2009 the Tourism Product Audit Report identified that the Moorabool Shire had a very low profile within the Tourism Victoria Regional Profile. The situation has not changed – only Bacchus Marsh is given any coverage. The Report also identified that a search on the website for Moorabool Shire yielded no results – the situation has not changed.

Local accommodation sector marketing

The 2009 Moorabool Tourism Product Audit identified that 25 of the 40 listed providers of accommodation had a dedicated website, but only six offered some form of on-line booking service and seven offered a formatted email enquiry form. The same report identified that only one of the 40 providers was listed on the visitvictoria.com website. Table 6.2 contrasts the results with the current situation, and reveals that at 2013:

. 23 (46%) of the operators had their own website, but 6 of these had broken links from the visitmoorabool site; . 21 (42%) of the operators used a third party website; and . only 10 (20%) of the operators had real time online booking capability, and another 17 (34%) at least had an enquiry system.

There are many third party sites that these businesses could link with to further promote their product, and perhaps some training may help address this lag.

Table 6.2 Marketing by the local accommodation sector

Business name Own Website link 3rd party Online Online real functioning broken website booking time booking website enquiry

Ambleside Country house 0 1 Baanya Biami 0 1 1 Bacchus Marsh Avenue Motel 1 1 Bacchus Marsh Caravan Park 1 1 Ballan Bed and Breakfast 0 1 1 Ballan Caledonian Caravan Park 0 1

Blackwood Accommodation Bed and Breakfast 0 1 Blackwood Bed & Breakfast 0 1 Blackwood Hotel 0 1 1 Blackwood Mineral Springs Caravan Park 1 1 Blackwood Special School Outdoor Education Centre 1 1 Boyd Baker House 1 1 Brewery tap hotel 0 1 1 Bromwich Bed and Breakfast 0 Byers Cottage 0 Cedars Indulgence Retreat 1 1 1 Cobb and Co 0 1 Coventry Cottage 0 1 1 Ellerslie Homestead 1 1 Flanagans Border Inn 0 1 Forest Edge Country House 0 1 Gisborne Park Stud Bed and Breakfast 1 1 Table 6.2 Marketing by the local accommodation sector (cont)

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Business name Own Website link 3rd party Online Online real functioning broken website booking time booking website enquiry

Golden Point Cottage 1 1 Greendale Country House 0 1 1 Hilltop Cottage 1 1 Kryal Castle 1 1 1 Lady Northcote Recreation Camp 1 1 1 Lake Dewar Lodge YMCA 1 1 1 Lal Lal Falls Cottage 1 1 Lambs at Ballan 0 1 1 Margot`s Bed and Breakfast 0 1 1 Melton Motor inn 1 1 Mount Blackwood Health Retreat 1 1 Plough Inn Hotel/Motel 0 Ravensholme 0 Ripley Park Bed & Breakfast 0 1 1 Rose Cottage 0 Royal Hotel 0 Sherwood Grange 1 1 Sunnyside Villas 1 1 Sunnystones Country Retreat 0 1 The Axemans Rest 0 Underbank Stud 1 1 View Cottage 0 Whipstick Cottages 1 Wild Trout Downunder`s Anglers Retreat 1 1 Woodbine Cottage 1 1 1 Woodside Retreat 1 1 1 Young and Main (Royal Hotel) 0 Total 23 6 21 17 10

Proportion 46% 12% 42% 34% 20%

Visitor information generated by Moorabool Shire

Over the past few years the other major marketing efforts by Moorabool Shire have been:

1. Refreshing the look and feel of the Visit Moorabool website to reflect the brand 2. Refreshing / producing new print collateral to reflect the Visit Moorabool brand 3. Operating an accredited Visitor Information Centre (VIC) based at Bacchus Marsh seven days a week on an indefinite basis

The first two tasks were strategic projects with a short-term workload that has subsequently diminished. Some solid work has been done in producing village-based marketing collateral. The 2009 Product Audit Report also proposed touring guides across locations and themes, as thematic approaches can better link with target market needs. Themes suggested included: food and wine; heritage; local legends; off road and cycling trails; and art and antique products; traditional pubs.

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The establishment of a VIC resulted from a strong local community push to Council to have an accredited facility. To achieve this required Council to fund a Tourism Officer that could coordinate the operation, and its pool of volunteers. The accredited VIC operates 9am to 5pm seven days a week and this commitment requires a vast pool of volunteers to be trained, coordinated and incentivised by a full time Tourism Officer paid for and managed by Council. The VIC represents the single largest use of human resources to support tourism within the Shire, greater than any other initiative by threefold, and ongoing. The healthy sized pool of volunteers is motivated and present well to the customer. There is a good range of printed information on display, though the brochure displays need more structure to separate regional from local information, and information on weeds and vegetation disease. At a more local level, the Visitor Information Centre at Bacchus Marsh reported increased patronage of approximately 17% per year between 2008 and 2011. Table 6.3 identifies that the information sought by visitors is quite diverse, with no single need standing out. The VIC does not facilitate bookings for tourism businesses. The VIC has unmet demand for souvenirs reflecting the local area, an economic evaluation of merchandise conducted in 2011 found the new lines of proposed merchandise to be an unviable option so therefore VIC direct visitors to the local newsagency (which does not carry much stock but little has been produced).

Table 6.3 Information requested by visitors to the VIC at Bacchus Marsh

Type of information Proportion of total requests

Directions / maps 22% Local businesses (including fruit picking, markets and shops) 20% General (including rest rooms) 18% Tracks, trails and State Parks 13% Day trips (including local parks holidays and families) 8% Purchase tourism merchandise 8% Accommodation (including caravan parks and camping areas) 5% Wineries and restaurants 4% History and historic sites 3%

6.2 Strategic issues

Competing priorities for limited discretionary marketing resource

The overall low priority of marketing over product development and then industry development remains relevant for the next few years. Since this position was established in 2009, recent consultation has identified that stakeholders perceive the overall resource allocation to be about right, but have differing views on how any precious discretionary human and financial resources available for marketing should be allocated. The top three priorities were:

1. Create better links to growing city local seasonal food trends 2. Improve directional signage to existing strategically valuable attractions 3. Re-theme collateral to reflect personalities and stories

The first priority refers to the need to ensure that the market has a clear idea of the seasonal opportunities, so that they don’t perceive the area to be a short term (seasonal attraction) based on a very few food sources (such as strawberries and stone fruit). The second priority does not have widespread agreement on what a strategically valuable attraction is, though parks and reserves were mentioned the most.

Opportunity cost of most resources invested in a VIC

This Discussion Paper supports the role and potential of face to face VIC’s. However, this section seeks to contemplate whether any alternative service could resolve how precious human resources can be found to achieve the higher priorities of product and industry development. While the VIC at Bacchus Marsh is a popular and high profile service, the

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substantial investment in running it represents a substantial opportunity cost to Moorabool. Most of the tourism human resource is allocated to coordinating this initiative, so priority initiatives within the current Moorabool Tourism Plan (particularly product development) remain delayed and under-resourced.

A second strategic issue with such significant proportional resourcing allocated to operate a VIC is whether the same resource could be better allocated to alternative forms of visitor information services. Some destinations have decided to:

. scale back from seven day face to face operations to weekend / school holiday services; or . replace with more contemporary / continually refreshed websites and mobile applications; or . replace with touch screens in multiple locations.

Technology can deliver visitor information where and when visitors want it (rather than asking them to travel to one end of the region, can feature more exciting media to convey the essence of an experience (such as film clips and testimonials) can be easily updated to feature seasonal product and events, as well as monitor usage to evaluate what visitors want.

Duplication and disfunctionalities across Moorabool websites

Duplication between the two websites can create confusion amongst already crowded similar destination websites. Compounding this is that the visit Moorabool website reflects a different structure to the four themes represented by the five leading visitor brochures (natural attractions, arts, culture and heritage, visit villages, feast of march and 365 days). The structure for the website should be the same.as the structure for the headline brochures. The growing Moorabool website reflects a superior structure based on the leading information requirements of the target markets. Figure 6.1 contrasts the three structures as currently presented to visitors.

Figure 6.1 Structures of visitor information presented by visit Moorabool website, growing Moorabool website and the five headlining brochures

365 days in Moorabool Shire (events)

Visit Villages

Feast of March

Arts, Culture and Heritage

Natural Attractions

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6.3 Options

Competing priorities for marketing focus

Consultation identified three priorities to allocate precious marketing resources to:

VIC realignment

Options for consolidating visitor information

Three options were developed to consolidate visitor information:

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Figure 6.2 Example of a themed village trail

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Table 6.4 Example of a themed village trails ‘Bacchus to Bacchus – Historic fine food trail’

DAY ONE First experience mix Bacchus Marsh – Fresh produce Orchards/ Market garden picking Avenue of honour Morning tea at Baby Black Second experience mix Ballan – Creative Walk through historic street find 1000 wind vanes Flying teapot mosaics – shop for something unique Third experience mix Gordon - Ecentric Settlers burial ground Shopping at Hat Shoppe, Decadence house of Gordon wares, bric a brac shops Lunch at While the Billy boils Fourth experience mix Dunnstown - Quirky Cellar door - Cotton woods heritage bluestone building and tour Drive rural landscape Checkin at Kryal Castle for the night DAY TWO Fourth experience mix Dunnstown Kryal Castle tour Fifth experience mix Lal Lal - Outdoors Historic relics walk Blast furnace Sixth experience mix Mt Ecerton – Scottish history Historic church and buildings walk Yuulong Lavender estate – tea rooms for lunch Seventh experience mix Greendale - Walk through wombat state forest Historic drive trail

Eight experience mix Myrniong – Fine food Checkin to the Plough Food and wine match meal Stay over night DAY THREE Ninth experience mix Bacchus Marsh Breakfast at Little lucky cafe Pick some fruit and head home to Melbourne

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Table 6.5 Evaluation of the strengths and limitations of options to address marketing

Option Strengths Limitations

1. Create better links to Maximise visitor satisfaction and reduce Some visitors may choose another destination growing city local seasonal potential visitor disappointment on arrival and on realising that the product on offer is food trends finding there are no opportunities at that moment unavailable at that time 2. Improved directional Maximise ease of navigation, use of strategic Additional cost to Council for installation and signage to existing facilities and visitor satisfaction with the arrival ongoing maintenance strategically valuable experience attractions 3. Re-theme collateral to Increased differentiation from traditional Perception that ease of access to the basic reflect personalities and destination marketing based on places and visitor information (places and things to do) may stories things to do without any personality be hindered 4. Council restructure the The roles would be aligned to current industry Council may need to fund approximately 15-20% staffing roles adjusting the priorities (product development, industry more salary and on costs to bring the positions percentage of time spent on development and event development to full time status services delivery and development The current face to face VIC service would Council’s Communications unit would lose some continue of the supporting communications roles of the current Tourism Officer and Special Projects positions There would be a need to determine whether either of the two roles need to be re-recruited, which could place some stress on the incumbents 5. Modify VIC operating Greater resources to achieve priority areas of Perception that some visitors may miss out on a hours to allow for the product and industry development personal visitor information service and hence reallocation of staff time to be unsatisfied with their visit in some way high strategic priorities 6. Transfer VIC to a Potential greater visitation to and use of the VIC, Challenge to find a suitable operator with significant tourist attraction, because it is located at an attraction and so medium term commitment with Council funding offers two reasons to stop accreditation and signage Risk that the VIC service will not be provided to and percentage of staff Greater involvement of a strategically important a consistent standard tourism operator in the marketing of the region time, attraction operator Risk that some volunteers may leave the service providing paid staff person Opportunity for Council to redirect some savings because working with the operator does not suit as core service provider and into critical priorities (product and industry them funding development) 7. Decentralise visitor Decentralisation of visitor information places it The technology medium is less desirable to information to multiple where and when visitors want it, and the medium some of the traditional markets distribution points, is highly appealing to mobile phone and supported by touch screens computer literate users Some volunteers will cease to have a role, while a mobile phone application, others may be challenged by alternative roles and transfer staff saved time Visitor information is more easily updated and supporting the new technology to high strategic priorities can feature visual clips, seasonal changes and (such as product / industry festivals development) Use of the visitor information can be monitored and the feedback used to expand / enhance certain areas over others based on visitor demand 8. Council expand the VIC Enriched role of the VIC increases its utility and Additional human resource expertise in to become a processing and value to Council and the local community economic development required to coordinate customer service role for additional role ‘treechangers’, potential new businesses and retention of permanent residents (live/work/invest) 9. Merge the relevant Reduction in unnecessary duplication will Supporting roles of the growing Moorabool content and some of the increase use and support of one website website may be lost in the consolidation superior structure into the visit Moorabool website and The visit Moorabool website will become more dispense with the growing user friendly Moorabool website Visitor satisfaction with the visit Moorabool site will increase

Table 6.5 Evaluation of the strengths and limitations of options to address marketing (cont)

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Option Strengths Limitations

9. Replace the existing Increased differentiation from traditional Perception that ease of access to the basic headline brochures with a destination marketing based on places and visitor information (places and things to do) may suite of themed drive routes. things to do without any personality be hindered Each of the brochures would be supported by a Greater reflection of the brand in marketing selection of food and collateral beverage as well as Greater appeal of the marketing collateral to the accommodation options target markets consistent with the theme and target market it is appealing too 10. When stock runs out Reduced visitor confusion with visitors thinking Additional cost for the publishers of Grass either discontinue or the Grass Treasures represents a range of Treasures to change the look and feel and redesign the grassy unique grassland experiences reprint the brochure treasures brochure to reflect its role as a vegetation information role rather than a visitor brochure

7. Industry development

7.1 Background

Council’s role in tourism

The Moorabool Shire has, and continues to play the fundamental role in providing product, developing the industry and marketing the product. Key roles include:

. product development (infrastructure provision and maintenance, including themed village trails, signage and public toilets); . product development (events, including events kit and grants program); . industry development (including funding of Tourism and Events Strategy, secretarial support for Tourism Moorabool and support for Regional Conference); and . marketing (including provision of marketing websites and collateral, and the management of a visitor information centre at Bacchus Marsh).

In 2010 the Sustainable Tourism Cooperative Research Centre released the results of a three-year nationwide study (The Sustainable Regional Tourism Destinations Project) that identified best practice principles in this field. The Moorabool Shire’s performance against these principles was then assessed and the conclusion was made that the Shire’s tourism structure and activities aligned with strategic planning, development and marketing principles, but that there were gaps in visitor monitoring and research and community understanding of the benefits of tourism and the subsequent need to support it.

Council’s current tourism and marketing unit (called Public Relations, Marketing and Communications) was formed to improve Council’s communications; tourism is an extension of the marketing role. The Unit is comprised of four people:

1. Manager Public Relations, Marketing and Tourism (full time, reporting to the CEO, 25% coverage of tourism) 2. Strategic Project officer (part time, 0.70 eft, 60% coverage of tourism) 3. Tourism Officer (full time, 100% coverage of tourism) 4. Communications Officer (full time, 10% coverage of tourism)

Beyond this is a significant pool of approximately 50 volunteers that run the Visitor Information Centre at Bacchus Marsh.

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Only one position (Tourism Officer) is full time focused on tourism, and the majority of this role is to coordinate the day- to-day operational role of VIC volunteer management. So the Moorabool Shire has approximately 1.5 persons a typical week addressing tourism, but perhaps just 0.6 of a person available to do anything beyond the operational demands of the VIC. So there is very little time to drive tourism in Moorabool Shire, and even less to address strategic opportunities. In addition, some of the current Position Descriptions are out of date to the re-prioritised roles driving day-to-day work (particularly the Communications Officer). Furthermore, none of the Position Descriptions have their roles prioritised or their many responsibilities given proportional time allocations – so the positions are not strategic and their value is under- realised.

Table 7.1 presents the Moorabool Shire Council tourism unit’s resource allocation increase over the past 5 years.

Table 7.1 Moorabool Shire Council resources allocation 2008 - 2012

2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 Strategic Project Officer Strategic Project Officer Strategic Project Officer Strategic Project Officer Strategic Project Officer (tourism) 0.8 EFT (tourism) 0.6 EFT (tourism) 0.6 EFT (tourism) 0.6 EFT (tourism) 0.7 EFT

Admin (VIC) 0.2 EFT Admin (VIC) 0.2 EFT Admin (VIC) 0.2 EFT

Tourism Officer, Visitor Information Centre 1 EFT

Economic Development Economic Development Economic Development Officer (nil Tourism) Officer (nil Tourism) Officer (nil Tourism)

Manager (Strategic & Manager (Strategic & Manager (Strategic & Manager (PR, Marketing Manager (PR, Marketing sustainable sustainable development) sustainable development) & Tourism) 1 EFT & Tourism) 1 EFT (20% development) Administration only Administration only tourism) Administration only

0.8 EFT 0.8 EFT 0.8 EFT 2 EFT 2EFT

To support tourism development in Moorabool Shire, Council has made a gradual increase in resources allocated to this task. These increases have been in response to the continued growth in visitation from strategic tourism initiatives, VIC accreditation requirements, and the growing focus on tourism as a key economic driver for the shire. Substantial achievements have been made including local and regional partnerships, industry development, tourism branding and collateral, and enhanced visitor servicing. The creation of the PR, Marketing and Tourism unit provided central coordination of marketing messages and greater staff skill base supporting tourism.

Tourism Moorabool

At present, Tourism Moorabool is a Committee of Council, formed under Section 86 of the Local Government Act. The function of Tourism Moorabool is to advise Council on the following matters:

1. Tourism matters in the Shire; 2. Promotion of whole of Shire tourism opportunities; 3. A conduit for tourism operators to network; 4. Product development for tourism; 5. Promotion of tourism and visitor services across the Shire; and 6. Council’s Tourism Strategy

Actions that Tourism Moorabool are to take include:

1. Tourism industry development initiatives in support of the Tourism Strategy 2. A new Tourism and Events Strategy

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3. An annual Plan and Budget for Council approval by February each year

Tourism Moorabool can, on a year-by-year basis, have a budget set to deliver tourism-related activity. This has not really occurred to any degree to date.

In the debate for Council to support tourism, a clause was put into the Tourism Moorabool Terms of Reference that Tourism Moorabool be reviewed and a report submitted to Council with funding options for it to be independent of Council by October 2013. Some stakeholders have reported Council achieving this to reduce costs or at least redirect expenditure to other priority areas. Those running Tourism Moorabool share the objective for more independence from Council, but with Council providing the core financial support to make the venture viable. Critically, there has been no definition of what independence should mean in either a financial or operational sense. Within the tourism sector, the term independence has been traditionally earnt from substantive, collaborative and ongoing leadership. The leading tourism businesses within the local area are largely run by ‘treechangers’ who have set up niche products backed by high levels of business acumen, passion and commitment. These businesses have tapped into local/regional markets more than tourism to survive – so the individuals leading them are unlikely to lead a Local Tourism Association for more than a year or two. Therefore, even the leading business people are in short supply to drive an independent Association.

The Council Report did not detail what was meant by independence or sustainability. Independence to the authors of this Discussion paper means:

1. Having the expertise to manage day to day tourism marketing, product and industry development on behalf of the Moorabool Shire; 2. Having the financial resources to fund this expertise 3. Having a Board with the skills and commitment to stay in the roles for at least two to three years to manage this expertise 4. Having the financial resources to fund critical marketing activity, and seed fund key industry development

In essence, independence to the authors of this Discussion paper means human and financial sustainability, and this is out of reach of the local industry for several years yet. Indeed, ongoing equivalent if not more support from Council is required to move towards financial sustainability.

Local government areas are in varying states of development and maturity. Table 7.2 presents a typical five-stage process for industry maturation that to some extent results from varying forms of local government support.

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Table 7.2 The typical five stage evolutionary process of a local tourism sector and the role of local government in each

Stage Industry characteristics Local government support

1 The industry is very small and fragmented, and its Some Councils recognise the opportunity of tourism to grow the competitive advantages are not yet developed local economy, and so they allocate resources to start coordinating the development of the industry, its product and its marketing. At this point industry development is typically done by Council with informal input from a few operators 2 Council’s support triggers a few of the emerging leaders Council is buoyed on to at least maintain their investment, and in to band together and work together to provide a private some cases, increase the investment through the provision of a sector /entrepreneurial perspective. Competitive Visitor Information Centre and more senior and experienced advantage and brand begins to emerge tourism staff. At this point industry development is typically done by Council with the input of a small Advisory Committee 3 The cooperative approach attracts several additional Industry development is typically done as a partnership between private sector investments in the form of significant Council and a formal Committee of Council. The formality scaled accommodation (greater than 20 rooms) and introduces new expectations of each party, greater monitoring of perhaps a new significant attraction. The key result of activity and greater transparent monitoring of results and even this investment is that there is sufficient scale in the some evaluations of more significant projects tourism sector to now offer over 10 experienced professionals with sufficient business support to permit them to provide significant free time to growing the local tourism sector. These businesses are also profitable enough to provide significant financial investment in cooperative marketing ventures that reduce dependence on Council 4 Competitive advantage is now clear enough to formulate There is now capacity to implement a long term Local Tourism a clear brand, and marketing collateral now reflects this. Association – this is typically led by a major accommodation The cooperative approach and further growth in the local operator, as they have the resources to spare the time and make tourism sector means that there are now at least 15 to equivalent financial contributions to cooperative initiatives. There 20 experienced professionals and businesses capable of are enough willing participants to support three two year providing the human and financial support for industry placements of a five person Board development outlined in Stage 3 5 The cooperative approach has transitioned to the Council’s typically have several options available to them: pass industry taking the lead role in tourism industry the resources to the Local Tourism Association to continue development and Council the supporting role growth and economic benefits; downgrade Council resourcing and hope the industry somehow ‘picks up the difference’; or downgrade Council resourcing but introduce a levy on the beneficiary businesses to ensure a stable financial income stream to the agreed goals of the Local Tourism Association We believe that the Moorabool Shire remains in the latter form of Stage 2 of its evolution. In essence, there is insufficient investment from local government or the private sector to progress to a state where an independent viable body could be formed (Stage 4). The key triggers that are missing are:

. Significant private sector investment in accommodation (greater than 20 rooms) . Significant private sector investment in a major attraction business that is aligned to the local area’s brand . Provision of multiple brand-matched food and beverage offerings across the local government area that provide for all three meals for at least a few days a week

We believe that the local tourism industry is not yet mature enough to transition to some form of independent local tourism association. We also believe that this is not the time for Council to reduce any of its human or financial resourcing of the local tourism sector. Section 3 identified excellent growth over the past four years, and a concerted effort to focus on product and industry development will further increase growth and stimulate much greater investment and employment.

Irrespective of any level of future independence, an ongoing relationship is required between the local industry and Council.

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7.2 Strategic issues

1. Council has very limited resources to support tourism, and most of these are being expended on the Bacchus March Visitor Information Centre – an approach that assumes there is sufficient product and visitors to warrant such an investment. 2. The local tourism industry is at this point in time, too small, immature and fragmented to provide sufficient human and financial resources needed to run and support an independent local tourism association, and there are no signs this will be achieved before 2015. 3. A levy supporting tourism development is problematic to implement when the industry is so immature and the benefits so difficult to demonstrate. To draw sufficient funds to sustain an independent association, a levy would have to apply to most businesses (well beyond direct beneficiaries) and apply for at least a decade. 4. The surrounding local areas have mature tourism sectors capable of managing the Moorabool area. 5. Current membership objectives of Tourism Moorabool appear contradictory in seeking a skills-based board AND Ward-based membership (the degree of skills varies across Wards).

7.3 Options

18 Restructuring of any permanent positions within Council is a very delicate matter and requires significant consultation / due process as per Council policies. Opportunities for individuals to be redeployed and trained accordingly should be a part of any significant change

Cre8ing Growth | 7. Industry development 60

6. As per Option 5, but also adopt Option 4 from Section 6 (Council restructure staff positions as full time roles, creating a Tourism and Economic Development role focusing on product and industry development, and creating a Tourism Officer role split between 60% coordinating the VIC face to face service and 40% event development.

Table 7.3 Evaluation of the strengths and limitations of options

Option Strengths Limitations

1. Local Tourism Industry leadership Less administration support for Council Association Communications Unit Transitional independence No funds for indirect costs, such as insurance, Conversion of 20% of administration time to workers compensation, office and priority work communication expenses (valued at an additional $50k/annum) Current position descriptions not reflective of desired roles 2. Service delivery through Economy of scale in service provision Less localised influence / independence a neighbouring Local Tourism Association Greater expertise access No funds for indirect costs (approx. $30-40k needed) Greater synergy, especially in cooperative marketing Less administration support for Council Communications Unit

Current positions not reflective of priorities 3. Service delivery across Marketing aligned with complimentary Minimal localised influence / independence two Regional Tourism destinations Boards for separate parts of Reduction in productivity to cover on costs Match new expertise to priority focus areas Moorabool Shire Less administration support to Council Opportunity to source markets from Communications Unit neighbouring areas

Access to specialist skills, such as event development / reinvigoration Staff may have the opportunity for reallocation 4. Local Tourism Tourism Moorabool transition to independent Less administration support for Council Association with services local industry Communications delivered by private sector Match new expertise to priority areas Private sector may not consider resource reallocation (ie staffing) Professional business expertise is broader and more flexible than a permanent staff model Conversion of 20% of administration time to priority areas Most on-costs already borne by business 5. Retain delivery in Council Transition towards independence is based on Council need to continue funding on costs of and restructure roles to capability of local tourism industry to take up a staff match Tourism Strategy greater role priorities, and wait for Some uncertainty for Council staff that may limit industry to grow and mature Better match of expertise to Tourism Plan their satisfaction and productivity priorities

6. As per Option 5, but also As per Option 5 As per Option 5 adopt Option 4 from Section 6 The critical priorities of product and industry Council may need to fund approximately 15-20% development would be accelerated more salary and on costs to bring the positions to full time status Roles would be aligned to current industry priorities (product development, industry Council’s Communications unit would lose some development and event development of the supporting communications roles of the current staff positions

There would be a need to determine whether either of the two roles need to be re-recruited, which could place some stress on the incumbents

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Attachments

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Attachment A: Snapshot of visitors to Moorabool Shire

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SNAPSHOT OF MOORABOOL VISITOR MARKET 2 Urban Enterprise Pty Ltd JUNE 2012

Cre8ing Growth | Attachments 64

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SNAPSHOT OF MOORABOOL VISITOR MARKET 3 Urban Enterprise Pty Ltd JUNE 2012

Cre8ing Growth | Attachments 65

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SNAPSHOT OF MOORABOOL VISITOR MARKET 5 Urban Enterprise Pty Ltd JUNE 2012

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Attachment B: Detail on Roy Morgan Values Segments

Basic Needs© refers to a pattern of responses offered by respondents who are focussed on "getting by" on a day to day basis. They are often in their "twilight years", retired, pensioners and people on social security.

To many it appears as if they have given up on life, however this segment is generally happy and contented with what they have. They are not looking for more and enjoy watching the world go by but feeling a part of it as it does. They have that sense of wisdom and happiness which comes with grey hair

The Basic Needs© segment has a strong sense of community and are often involved with programmes such as Safety House and Neighbourhood Watch, also partly because of their desire for order and security in their environment. They promote a strong Christian ethic as basic values and are more likely to be regular church attendees.

This segment tends to be heavy consumers of free media, suburban newspapers, television, and radio. Longer running and more conservative television programmes tend to predominate with this segment including The Bill, Midsomer Murders, Australian Story, & Border Security; they’re also heavy watchers of daytime soap operas such as The Bold & The Beautiful. Being keen viewers of documentary and news programmes, such as the Seven Nightly News, 7:30 Report, Today Tonight and Stateline reflects their interest in keeping track with what is going on around them. They also enjoy TV Quiz/Game Shows such as Deal or No Deal and Rich List. Their radio listening tastes tend to revolve around Racing Radio and NewsTalk.

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A Fairer Deal© refers to the pattern of responses offered by respondents who are the most likely to feel they get a raw deal out of life. Pessimistic, cynical and often struggling financially, they think everyone gets all the fun and they miss out. It can relate to a belief that life has treated them unfairly and anger, disillusionment and hostility can build until it manifests in violence or self destructive behaviour.

They want to get back at the system which has treated them unfairly, looking for loopholes, rorts or other ways of bucking the established order. They often feel that the world is coming apart at the seams. A Fairer Deal© often see escape, either with their mates and a beer or the TV, as the only way to deal with their frustration and anger.

Within this segment there is an emphasis on physical things and things they can do with their hands, perhaps as this is all they really have that they can control. They often hot up cars, they like loud motorbikes, get into martial arts; get tattoos - things which are not socially acceptable.

What they earn at work for a fair day's work is more important than the work they do. In the workplace they generally expect managers to make decisions, take responsibility and tell them what to do.

They tend to be heavy consumers of radio and television, but their newspaper and magazine readership is light. The magazines they read also tend to reflect their need to escape from their current lives and their interest in things which are physical and "hot". They enjoy reading bike and car magazines such as Street Machine, Two Wheels and Live To Ride, with soft pornography magazines like Picture and People also appealing; magazines laden with the stories of ordinary folk and including countless competitions, in particular, That’s Life & Take 5, also hold a strong appeal. TV Week and TV soap which focus more on Australian celebrities also hold greater appeal than the more internationally focused titles.

Television is one of this segment’s methods for escaping from a world which is out of control; hence they tend to be attracted to the more exciting worlds portrayed in adventurous programs like Stargate Atlantis and Prison Break and also in youth orientated programmes like Home & Away and Neighbours. There is also a heavy appetite for the Reality TV of Australian Idol, X factor and Big Brother where average people they identify with can achieve a certain level of fame. Their comedic tastes are met by The Simpsons and Two and a Half Men.

Traditional Family Life© refers to a pattern of responses associated with the older counterparts of the Conventional Family Life© segment. The Traditional Family Life© segment are motivated by similar values in terms of security, reliability and providing better opportunities for their family. However, they are now, within Australia, generally empty- nesters or extended families.

With their children grown their focus is on re-building their relationship with one another, finding time to do all things they never could while their children were growing up. But with such a strong focus on the family, they spend a great deal of time and energy getting the family to visit them, babysitting, weekend BBQ's and buying lollies for the grandkids which their parents won't let them have.

Not liking change, old and familiar environments are important in the Traditional Family Life© segment. This is often reflected in a proliferation of family photographs adorning the walls of their home and a reluctance to leave the family home.

This pattern of responses tends to be associated with people who value and try to hold onto traditional family roles and structures. They mourn over divorces and broken homes, but love and support of their children drive them to accept these situations even if they don't like them.

Having more time on their hands, they are more likely to be heavy readers of the daily newspaper. They do not tend to be magazine readers although their interest in gardening leads to a high readership of Better Homes & Gardens, Burke’s

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Backyard, Gardening Australia (they are also heavier viewers of that TV programme) and Your Garden. They are also higher than average readers of older, more conservative magazines such as Woman's Day, Women’s Weekly, New Idea and Auto Club magazines. Newspaper inserts of TV magazines are also popular due to their higher than average television viewing habits.

The Traditional Family Life© television viewing habits suggest an interest in solving problems or puzzles and keeping mentally agile, but in a safe, vicarious way. They tend to be heaviest watchers of the ABC, watching programmes such as Australian Story, New Tricks, Midsomer Murders, Taggart and Einstein Factor. Information based programmes such as the News, The 7:30 Report, Stateline, Four Corners and various documentaries remain circled in their TV guides.

They are one of the segments least likely to listen to commercial radio.

Conventional Family Life© refers to the pattern of responses offered by respondents who represent the core of "middle Australia", with values centred around the significant events in their personal and family lives. It tends to relate to people seeking greater financial security, struggling to improve their basic living standards and give their families better opportunities than they had in their own childhood.

Within the Conventional Family Life© segment exists the great Australian dream of owning your own home in the suburbs, driving a good, solid car (a white Holden Commodore of course), having 2.5 children and going on family BBQ's on the weekend. But with this comes the worry of a mortgage, playing it safe at work so you don't risk losing your job, worrying about the safety of the children, being the family taxi service and ferrying the kids to and from T-Ball, Basketball, their friends place and making sure there are always cookies on the table when the kids bring their friends home from school.

Good, solid and reliable products are important with Conventional Family Life©. Generally seeking value for money in their purchases, they select a mixture of branded, longer life and generic or store brands for everyday use. They often have to make compromises in quality due to price, but they like to know what they're buying and it’s important that it will always be the same. This drives them to places like McDonalds where they always know what they'll get and they know the kids will enjoy it. This doesn't only apply to products. When they take out loans, for instance, they like to know how much they will have to pay not what the interest rate is. When faced between a choice of A and B, they will tend to choose the safest option, the one they know the most about.

A warm, friendly and caring segment, trust is important to them as is how they "feel" about a product or company. As a consequence, many of the advertisements targeted to this segment feature highly emotive visuals and jingles, particularly relating to children - who are the central focus of their life, whether they have them yet or not.

Not having a great deal of time outside of family activities and earning a living, this segment tends to be light readers of newspapers in general. An interest in the local community, however, leads to higher than average readership of suburban newspapers.

Whilst they are also light readers of magazines in total, their interest in the home and family results in higher than average readership for homemaker magazines such as Better Homes & Gardens and Super Food Ideas, parenting magazines such as Mother & Baby and Child Publications, as well as major women's magazines such as Woman's Day, Women's Weekly and That’s Life.

Television viewing is average. They enjoy the vicarious excitement of following the contestants on Master Chef and Biggest Loser, and the light "drama" of how other families cope in soaps such as Days of our Lives and Home & Away. Desperate Housewives and Criminal Minds are other popular Conventional Family Life© programmes, where crises are dealt with on a regular basis, middle Australian/American values are retained and daily issues are explored in depth.

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Look At Me© They are looking for fun and freedom away from the family, being a part of "their generation", the in-crowd of their peers. They are fashion and trend conscious, wishing to stand out from their parent's generation but are very conscious of conforming to their peer group.

Whilst this pattern of responses is more often found amongst teenagers, trying to "stand out" to seek recognition by the family for being "grown up" can occur at any time in a person's life.

Being very active socially, they prefer a party to staying at home. They like to be seen as "outrageous" and taking part in "cool" or "hip" activities. They tend not to get involved in social or political issues. Sport, leisure and fun are too important to be interfered with by longer term commitments.

The Look At Me© pattern of responses tends to be associated with hedonism, only living for today and often considering themselves invincible. Not considering the consequences of their actions is a common feature in this segment.

Short term thinking also features strongly in this segment, looking at getting jobs not having a career, and working for wages (9-5) not salaries which carry more responsibility. They may say they want responsibility but only to the extent that they don't want anyone looking over their shoulder and telling them what to do. They still expect the family to support them, feed them, do their laundry but definitely not clean up their room - that's private.

Money is very important to them, but not if it requires financial planning or thought for tomorrow. Money is essentially a means to an end - something you need to enjoy yourself.

Music is an important form of expression for Look At Me©and a key mechanism for rebellion against the family. Consequently, music related purchases are high on their list of expenditure — iPods and rock concerts. They are heavy viewers of music based television programmes including triplej tv, rage and Video Hits, more likely to be readers of magazines such as TV Hits and Rolling Stone and more likely to listen to Top 40 radio stations.

They are also attracted by media which reflects their peer group and generation, particularly programmes such as Neighbours, and Reality TV shows like Australian Idol, X factor, Big Brother & Biggest Loser. TV Comedies are favourite in particular animated shows like The Simpsons and Futurama.

Their reading interests in magazines are similarly self-reflective with Girlfriend, Dolly, Cleo, and Cosmopolitan etc. being among the highest read. Males tend to reflect their peer interests in cars and bikes with Fast Fours & Rotaries, Hot 4s and Performance Cars and Top Gear, in women with Zoo Weekly, FHM and Ralph, in sports with Alpha, Rugby League Week and AFL Record and video gaming with Hyper, Official Xbox 360, PlayStation and PC Powerplay.

Something Better© refers to the pattern of responses associated with people wanting a bigger, better deal out of their life. They tend to be competitive, individualist and ambitious people who are seeking more out of their life. They want more than they've got, more than their parents had and more than others have - and they want it all now!.

This pattern of responses tends to be found amongst "the Jones's", who always have something better than the rest. As a consequence they may over-extend themselves financially purchasing things which will demonstrate their success to others - and cutting corners in areas where people will not notice. Having other people look up to them and consider them successful is important to the Something Better© segment, so they are very concerned about image - wearing the right clothes, driving the right car, living in the right area etc.

They key issue with this segment is that everything is a comparative. They can only be or have something better when it is compared to something or someone else. As a consequence they tend to be concerned about what other people are doing or thinking. When relating to products they not only want to know what others are doing but also how one product compares to another.

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Sometimes considered egotistical, they are very focussed on getting what they want out of life. They are conscious of social status and mixing with the right people - networking is the name of the game. This segment is often associated with the salesforce of Australia.

They tend to be light readers of newspapers and magazines, seeking their information quicker, easier, and only what they need. The magazines they read tend to provide information on how to be better at something (Practical Parenting, Mother & Baby), what is the best product/deal available (Live to Ride, Street Machine), or what other people are doing (That’s Life, Take 5).

Something Better© tends to be medium to heavy in television viewing, enjoying the American style dramas such as House, NCIS and sitcoms such as How I Met Your Mother, My Name is Earl; and reality TV programmes such as The Amazing Race, Australian Idol and Biggest Loser; they also enjoy the escapism offered by the perennial Australian soaps, Neighbours and Home & Away.

Real Conservatism© refers to a pattern of responses offered by respondents who are cautious about new things and ideas. Generally part of the "establishment", a central concern in this segment is maintaining a disciplined, predictable and safe society. They hold very conservative social, moral and ethical values and generally feel that things are not as good as they used to be.

They are willing to pay more for products that guarantee consistent value and quality, and are particularly attracted to older, well established brands.

Part of their conservative nature and a strong belief in the merits of saving drives them to accumulate assets. This will usually be property, antiques, art and gold - things that will hold their value. However, whilst they generally are asset rich, they are cash poor. They dislike and distrust anything new, speculative or innovative.

Growing up in the "old school" they very much believe its not what you know but who you know. The "old school tie" is important with this segment, providing a sense of tradition and reflecting the long term, binding nature of their relationships. Marriage is for life, you work your way up in your job from office clerk to CEO, and you show loyalty to your friends, family and employer.

Believing strongly in the established order of things, this segment is often dictatorial, distant (you keep yourself to yourself), believe that children (and subordinates) should be seen and not heard, and that a woman's place is in the home.

The Real Conservatism© segment tends to be slightly heavier readers of newspapers, particularly Sunday and suburban due to their greater interest in their own local community. Their magazine readership tends to be medium to light, concentrating on older, established and more conservative magazines such as Woman’s Day, Women's Weekly, Better Homes and Gardens, Readers Digest and the various Auto Club magazines.

Their commercial television viewing on the whole is average, although they are inclined to watch current affairs programmes such as Today Tonight and Sixty Minutes; and they’re voracious watchers of News programmes including stations such as ABC News 24hrs. They are also interested in documentary feature style programmes such as True Story.

Young Optimism© refers to a pattern of responses associated with optimism and seeking to improve their prospects in life to gain a respected place in society.

Also more likely to be found amongst young people, the Young Optimism© segment are into image and style (not fads and fashion). They are conscious of the image they project and want to make the right one. Long term thinkers, they are busy planning careers, attending university and thinking about the future. It tends to be associated with people who want

Cre8ing Growth | Attachments 71

to experience all life has to offer: travel, a career, friends, family - and they are still idealistic enough to believe they can have it all.

Young Optimism© wants to try everything - bungy jumping, ski diving, white water rafting, skiing.... work hard and play hard because they still have the energy to do it. However, this motto often creates a situation where people are personally and financially disorganised, living on credit, forgetting to pay bills, forgetting to go shopping, buying take- away Chinese and then living on it for the next 3 days.

Young Optimism© are innovative and interested in technology. They can be young technocrats, surfing the internet and developing an international perspective on the world - eating international food, watching the ABC and SBS and dreaming of going to work in New York or London for a few years to further their career prospects.

Their interest in learning more and having a broader perspective makes them heavier readers of newspapers, particularly the major daily newspapers (with a leaning towards the national and world news sections), national newspapers and weekend newspaper inserts such as Good Weekend.

They are also very heavy readers of magazines, covering a wide range of titles. They read the magazines orientated towards the younger market with Cosmopolitan and Cleo. However they also read Marie Claire, InStyle, Vogue, GQ and Men’s Style reflecting their interest in image and style; heavy readership of PC User, PC World and New Scientist reflect their interest in technology. Their magazine reading also reflects their interest in movies, Empire and music, Rolling Stone which goes hand in hand with their appetite for celebrity news in Who.

Their viewing habits reflect a strong interest in reality TV programmes like So You Think You Can Dance, Australian Idol, Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares. American programmes such as House, Dexter, Ugly Betty and Greys Anatomy are also commonly watched as well as more freestyle comedy programs like Thank God You’re Here, talking about your generation and 7.30 project.

Young Optimism© enjoys listening to radio for one reason. Music. This segment are heavy listeners of contemporary music stations, whether they be commercial, the Austereo network, or alternative and with a broader musical focus, like government broadcaster Triple J. Music defines and drives their radio listening habits.

Visible Achievement© refers to a pattern of responses offered by respondents who are visible success stories. They have "made it" in whatever field they are involved in and are confident in their own abilities and position.

Despite being successful they retain traditional values about home, work and society. The family is very important to this segment and place great emphasis on providing their families with a high quality environment. They work for financial reward and job stimulation.

Being highly individualistic, they do not need to prove themselves to anyone nor impress anyone. They know they are successful and so does everyone else, so there is no need to flaunt that success.

They make an art of understatement. Whilst they can afford to buy the best of everything, they look for quality and value for money, not necessarily something that is expensive. In fact, those in this segment are born negotiators and are always looking for a deal.

They are very practical and realistic, looking at the most efficient and effective way of doing things. And getting things done is a key feature of this segment.

Because they do not feel the need to impress others, they have no concern with shopping at the likes of Target, Factory direct or even designer seconds. If they feel they can get good quality at a good price they do not see the reason to waste money.

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This segment tends to be associated with people who feel in full control of their lives and take a direct interest in public affairs and the economic and political environment of their family and work situations.

They are heavy readers of newspapers, particularly national newspapers. They also tend to be heavier than average readers of magazines, particularly business and finance related magazines such as Smart Investor, BRW and Money Magazine. Due to their frequent flying they are keen readers of Qantas - The Australian Way.

Considering work and family time as being more important, they are only light viewers of commercial television. Aside from television programmes reflecting their magazine reading habits such as the News, they also enjoy watching lifestyle programmes such as The Block and House and Garden. Their commercial radio listening is similarly light, tending towards stations playing "Classic Hits" and "NewsTalk".

Socially Aware© refers to a pattern of responses offered by people who are community minded and socially active. Information vacuum cleaners, this segment are always searching for something new and different and new things to learn. They believe strongly in the concept of learning a living rather than earning a living, always seeking new opportunities for training, education and knowledge.

Given a choice between A and B, they will seek more information about their choices and consider the consequences of each choice before making a decision. They are thinkers, sometimes spending so much time thinking about the issues that they never actually get things done. This, coupled with a strong sense of social responsibility and an attraction to convincing others of their opinions results in a great deal of this segment being involved in pressure groups, and working as public servants, politicians and researchers. This segment can be idealistic, believing they can change the world or save the world if they can just get enough people to agree with them.

Whilst this pattern of responses can lead to someone being passionate in their opinions, they can equally be changeable - As Ralph Waldo Emerson said: "A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds...Speak what you think today in words as hard as cannonballs, and tomorrow speak what tomorrow thinks in hard words again, though it contradict everything you said today".

Their attraction to things which are new and innovative usually means that they are the first to take up on new products and services, often just for the excitement of having a new toy - regardless of the cost. This interest in innovation and things which different also leads to an interest in design and fashion. Their fashion sense tends to be very designer orientated, but with a tactile nature, they prefer natural fabrics.

A thirst for knowledge and information and a global focus leads to them being heavy consumers of newspapers, particularly national newspaper and major metropolitan dailies. Their interest in magazines reflects their desire for new information which is not presented in mainstream media and technology, being more likely to be readers of The Monthly, Big Issue, BRW and New Scientist. Their heavy readership of national newspapers also makes them more likely to read the news inserted glossy magazines like the Financial Review magazine, Boss and Wish as well as Good Weekend. They are also frequent flyers, reading Qantas - The Australian Way and other airline magazines.

They tend to be light consumers of commercial television, preferring the ABC and SBS, which offer a more globally focussed and more cerebral approach. They tend to be attracted to programmes which give an alternative perspective and more information on issues such as Foreign Correspondent, Four Corners, Compass and Catalyst. Their taste in comedy tends to be more witty or satiric like the Hollowmen or Gruen Planet.

This segment tends to be one of the main supporters of the Arts, particularly those which are less mainstream. Their taste in music includes classical music, jazz, folk, world and other less popular, more "sophisticated" music. They are more likely to listen to ABC radio and community broadcasters who are capable of catering to their tastes and their opinions.

Cre8ing Growth | Attachments 73

Cre8ing Growth | Attachments 74