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