Agenda of Shoalhaven Tourism Advisory Group

Minutes of the Shoalhaven Tourism Advisory Group

Meeting Date: Monday, 10 April 2017

Location: Jervis Bay Rooms, City Administrative Centre, Bridge Road, Nowra

Time: 5.00pm

The following members were present:

Ms Lynne Locke - Chairperson

Clr Joanna Gash

Clr Mark Kitchener

Mr David Goodman

Ms Annie Cochrane

Mr Matthew Forbes

Ms Catherine Shields

Ms Jo Thomas

Mayor Amanda Findley

Ms Louise Hallum

Mr Paul McLeod

Mr Rob Crow

Ms Imelda Dover – NPWS Representative

Others Present:

Clr White

Clr Cheyne

Helen Waterhouse – Community Development Officer

Coralie Bell – Section Manager, Tourism

Kristy Mayhew – Tourism Marketing Specialist

Shannan Perry-Hall – Tourism Investments and Events Specialist

Colin Waller – Destination Network Chair

The Chairperson welcomed the new members and thanked past members. The new members introduced themselves.

Apologies / Leave of Absence

An apology was received from Neil Rogers, Clr Alldrick, Clr Wells and Clr Watson

Confirmation of the Minutes

RESOLVED (Clr Gash / David Goodman)

That the Minutes of the Shoalhaven Tourism Advisory Group held on Monday 27 February 2017 be confirmed.

CARRIED

Note: Clr Gash left the meeting at 5:32pm

Note: Amanda Findley left the meeting at 5:32pm

Declarations of Interest

Nil

Presentations

TA17.9 Livv's Place Mollymook Presentation, Helen Waterhouse

HPERM Ref: D17/100024

Helen Waterhouse provided a presentation and spoke about the benefits to be gained from Livv’s Place to tourism in the Shoalhaven. The playspace is expected to open by the Christmas holiday season and it is hoped there will be a 2 week festival at Christmas similar to Sculptures by the Sea.

For more information and to follow the progress of Livv’s Place visit Council’s website http://getinvolved.shoalhaven.nsw.gov.au/Mollymook-beach-reserve-inclusive-playspace

Presentation on Livv’s Place Park project in Mollymook.

Reports

TA17.10 New Members of the Shoalhaven Tourism Advisory Group

HPERM Ref: D17/92533

Recommendation (Item to be determined under delegated authority)

1. Receive the report for information and formally acknowledge and thank retiring members for their valued contribution to the Shoalhaven Tourism Advisory Group, Steve Bartlett, Melissa McManus, Michelle Bishop, Matt Cross and Stuart King.

2. Change the Terms of Reference to reflect additional National Parks and Wildlife Service position.

RESOLVED (Clr Kitchener / Catherine Shields)

2. Change the Terms of Reference to reflect additional National Parks and Wildlife Service position.

CARRIED

TA17.1 Tourism Managers Report

HPERM Ref: D17/29356

Recommendation (Item to be determined under delegated authority)

That the Shoalhaven Tourism Advisory Group receive the Tourism Manager’s Report for information.

RESOLVED (Annie Cochrane / Catherine Shields)

That the Shoalhaven Tourism Advisory Group receive the Tourism Manager’s Report for information.

CARRIED

TA17.2 Destination Marketing Update	HPERM Ref: D17/23962
Kristy Mayhew advised the Committee that the new Shoalhaven Tourism website is in development and is expected to be launched in June 2017.
Recommendation (Item to be determined under delegated authority) That the Shoalhaven Tourism Advisory Group receive the Destination Marketing Report for information.
RESOLVED (Catherine Shields / Louise Hallum) That the Shoalhaven Tourism Advisory Group receive the Destination Marketing Report for information. CARRIED

TA17.3 Events and Investment Update	HPERM Ref: D17/30526
The Committee was advised that Flash Camp will be at Coolendel over Easter and members interested in visiting should contact Shannan Perry-Hall. Also, Nitro Circus Live will be at Shoalhaven Rugby Park on 22 April 2017.
Recommendation (Item to be determined under delegated authority) That the Shoalhaven Tourism Advisory Group receive the Events and Investment Report for information.
RESOLVED (Matthew Forbes / Annie Cochrane) That the Shoalhaven Tourism Advisory Group receive the Events and Investment Report for information. CARRIED

TA17.4 Visitor Services Update

HPERM Ref: D17/37114

Recommendation (Item to be determined under delegated authority)

That the Shoalhaven Tourism Advisory Group receive the Visitors Services Report for information.

RESOLVED (Paul McLeod / David Goodman)

That the Shoalhaven Tourism Advisory Group receive the Visitors Services Report for information.

CARRIED

TA17.5 Chair's Report

HPERM Ref: D17/36558

The Chair thanked Catherine Shields and Coralie Bell and the Tourism team for their continued hard work.

Lynn spoke about her meeting with National Parks and Wildlife Service regarding the Great Southern Coastal Walk and advised that the application for funding through the “Regional Growth Environment and Tourism Fund” is being supported. The Walk is from Bawley Point to Maloneys Beach at Batemans Bay.

The 100 beach challenge continues to be very successful and will run for approximately one year.

The Chair recognised the error of the inclusion of Steve Bartlett’s name on page 35 of the report.

Recommendation (Item to be determined under delegated authority)

That the Committee receive the Chair’s Report for information.

RESOLVED (David Goodman / Paul McLeod)

That the Committee receive the Chair’s Report for information.

CARRIED

OTHER BUSINESS

TA17.11 Additional Item - Environmental & Tourism Grants, Tourism Master Plan, 2017 LGNSW Conference, LGNSW Inclusive Tourism Conference, Walking Promotions, Unspoilt Campaign

Coralie Bell advised the Committee:

Council resolved at its meeting on 21 March 2017 to make applications for the following projects to the NSW State Government Restart NSW – Environment and Tourism Grants program:

Project - Round the Bay walk incl. Moona Moona Creek, Way Finding, Callala Bay - $1M
Project – Woollamia – Maintaining the Tourism Fleet - $2.242M
Project – South Nowra Rotary Park - $600,000
Project – Nowra Showground Enhancements $1.05M
Project – Beach Erosion Ulladulla Harbour - $750,000
Project – Additional Boating Facilities Greenwell Point - $3M
Project – Shoalhaven Heads River Road Precinct - $750,000.

· The Tourism Master Plan is due to be reviewed and will be replaced with a sustainable tourism plan, EOI to go out this month. Feedback will be sought from the Committee in the near future.

· The 2017 NSW Local Government Conference was held in Taree on 12-14 March and focussed on inclusive tourism.

· LGNSW Inclusive Tourism Conference will be held at the Shoalhaven Entertainment Centre on 10 May 2017 and will be a business and marketing opportunity.

· Walking Promotions is at the final consultation stage.

· Formal FOI for the Unspoilt Campaign has been approved and the campaign is in development.

The Chair encouraged members to participate on working groups.

TA17.12 Additional Item - Meetings, Member Induction, Workshop

The Committee agreed that a member induction should be scheduled at 3pm prior to the next Committee meeting and a workshop be scheduled in early May 2017 to discuss strategic directions planning of the STAG.

The Committee also agreed that Committee meetings be held in Ulladulla every third meeting.

Recommended

1. STAG member induction

a. An induction meeting be scheduled at 3pm on 1 May 2017 (prior to the next Committee meeting)

b. Visuals of the new Shoalhaven Tourism website and information regarding the walking track to be provided in addition to the induction.

2. A workshop be scheduled in early May 2017 to discuss strategic directions planning of the STAG.

3. A copy of the draft Shoalhaven Arts Board Strategic Plan be emailed to members for their information.

4. STAG meetings be held in Ulladulla every third meeting.

TA17.13 Additional Item - Shoalhaven Motorsport Complex, Visiting Journalists, Council Budget, Gunyah Event, South Coast Food Alliance Event

Shoalhaven Motorsport Complex

The Chair raised the issue of the Shoalhaven Motorsport Complex and Clr White provided an update.

Visiting Journalists

Annie Cochrane noted that there have been several large groups of Asian journalists visiting places such as Bannisters and Coolangatta over the last few months. It was also noted that, via Destination NSW, the Sydney Weekender and Getaway also visited Bannisters.

Council Budget

David Goodman asked if it was possible for the full annual marketing budget to be made available to members. It was noted that a summary has been provided as requested in the past. Clr White noted that Council’s budget will be on public exhibition from 28 April to 26 May 2017 and members will be able to submit comments during that time. The budget will be finalised at the June 2017 Council meeting.

Gunyah Event

Paul McLeod advised the Committee that the “Gunyah” event held on Saturday 8 April 2017 at the Jervis Bay Maritime Museum at Huskisson, was very well received.

South Coast Food Alliance event

Jo Thomas spoke about the South Coast Food Alliance event that was held to celebrate the South Coast’s local growers and producers in October 2016. The event was very successful with 150 attending.

There being no further business, the meeting concluded, the time being 6.46pm.

Ms Lynne Locke

CHAIRPERSON

Shoalhaven Tourism Advisory Group – Monday 01 May 2017

Page 7

TA17.14 Tourism Manager's Report

HPERM Ref: D17/129692

Group: Finance Corporate & Community Services Group

Section: Tourism

Purpose / Summary

To give a brief outline of Tourism Manager Activity over the last quarter.

Recommendation (Item to be determined under delegated authority)

That the Shoalhaven Tourism Advisory Group receive the Tourism Manager’s Report for information.

Options

1. Receive the report for information

2. Request more information

Things I have been across;

Throughout Council

- Bomaderry Sports Precinct and community hub

- Horses on beaches

- Promotion of Council owned walking tracks

- Budgets and forecasts

- International Delegations

- Nowra branding and portrait project

- Formal request to quote for your Sustainable Tourism Plan is now in market

- Cruise ships and the potential for Shoalhaven

- Queens Birthday Baton Relay event planning

- Various discussions and meetings about the reviews to holiday homes in the state.

Out in Region

- Huskisson main street upgrades

- Site visits; Bomaderry, Nowra, Greenwell Point, Currarong, Culburra Beach,

- Met with Gareth Ward MP, Col Waller, Catherine Shields and Discover Jervis Bay in Huskisson about the need for hotels in our region

- Willinga Park had their open day

I have attended

- Western Sydney Tourism Conference

- Nitro Circus

- Local Government Tourism Conference, presenting on Inclusive Tourism

Key priorities over the next few months;

- Website development

- New Tourism Master Plan / Sustainable Tourism Plan

- 17/18 budget planning and forecasts

- 17/18 business plans

- Inclusive Tourism

- Developing capability for developing conferences and events

- Finalising recruitment for a new content creator for the next 12 months

- Induction and strategic planning for STAG

Shoalhaven Tourism Advisory Group – Monday 01 May 2017

Page 9

TA17.15 Destination Marketing Update

HPERM Ref: D17/127053

Group: Finance Corporate & Community Services Group

Section: Tourism

Attachments: 1. Tourism Monitor to YE December 2016 ⇩

Purpose / Summary

To provide a summary of Destination Marketing activity over the last quarter, January - April –2017.

Recommendation (Item to be determined under delegated authority)

That the Shoalhaven Tourism Advisory Group receive the destination Marketing Report for information.

Options

1. Receive the report for information

2. Request more information

Background

Latest Tourism Figures (YOY Dec 2016)

Data from Tourism Research Australia’s National and International Visitor Surveys show that in 2016 the Shoalhaven is now the most visited Local Government Area outside of Sydney City LGA. More than Byron Bay, Blue Mountains, Manly, Port Stephens, or any other LGA. Previously we were the most visited regional LGA but this quarter we have surpassed that with excellent growth. With total 2016 visitation of 3.34 million people – the year on year increase was 19%.

The Shoalhaven hosted 1.45 million domestic overnight visitors in 2016 – an increase of 8% year on year. These visitors accounted for a massive 4.5 million visitor nights during the year. Average length of stay increased to 3.1 nights. This was an extremely positive result given overall South Coast Region nights and length of stay declined. There were 1.85 million domestic day visitors in the year ending December 2016, a 29% increase compared to the same period last year. These Day Trip visitors contribute to almost one third of our visitor economy spending around $125 per day each, while Domestic Overnight spend around $136 per night each. This shows how integral tourism is to the great business community, not just tourism operators but hospitality and retail as well. Infographic below provides a snap shot. See Attachment 1 for the full report.

New Website -

The Shoalhaven Tourism website is coming along well, due for launch in June 2016. The design, information, architecture and scope of works have been finalised and we are updating our content ready to input into the back end throughout May and early June. Below are some explanations and screengrabs of the itinerary function which is a leading feature. Features also include: a transparent inclusion of accessibility information throughout; live chat function; submit your own event function; ‘if you like this, you might like this’ recommendation function; ‘our stories’ content area as well as access to all content via search and a more basic and simple navigation (play, stay, eat). We are also working with this web company to redesign our customer databases with a custom made CRM to replace tourspots and all the disparate customer and operator databases we have.

Image 1: The website visitor can browse Eat, Stay, Play categories in a traditional linear manner but they are encouraged to ‘be inspired’ by selecting parameters of their holiday which brings up suggested activities and related experiences. For example I might choose to come with my family/my partner and engage in relaxation/adventure in a certain area at a certain time. From here they will be able to ‘pick’ activities to add to their ‘itinerary’

Image 2: The website has been designed with an ‘Itinerary Builder’ as the main call-to-action’ on the homepage which encourages people to build a minimum three-day itinerary by selecting products in a logical road trip order. These products will come up in a list that can be re-ordered, added to, subtracted, saved, shared and booked.

Image 3: This is the map view of the previous itinerary which allows you to see the logical flow of your trip and add or change things if necessary. There is also a function to ‘switch to navigation’ so that you can jump in your car and use the itinerary as a base to drive you to the Shoalhaven.

Image 4: Shows the functionality of adding new items to your itinerary as you browse through general listings and see something you like.

Image 5: This shows the ‘print view’ which brings up a thumbnail of each experience for a visual representation, plus contains the booking or contact details, address and also a small line of text with a ‘recommendation’ from us or a local like “Try their Bliss Burger, it’s to die for” etc.

Image 6: This shows the view of a ‘landing page’ based on a featured activity such as surfing or food and wine etc, so we can direct campaign traffic to this aggregated theme page.

100 Beach Challenge -

The 100 Beach Challenge is our 2017/18 marketing campaign to engage both locals and visitors in exploring lesser known areas of the Shoalhaven, whilst engaging in an online game that encourages them to tick off beaches and share them with the #100BeachChallenge hashtag online. The challenge is going really well with 451 registered players online, many more playing on the hard copy pull out of the Visitor Guide, and 507 photos on Instagram using the hashtag #100beachchallenge, all of beautiful Shoalhaven beaches. The site has had 776 unique users in the last quarter, 2545 sessions and 9644 page views. 100beachchallenge.com

Video Campaign and Road Trip Competition:

We have commissioned a Video Campaign to promote the challenge and encourage yield alongside beach adventures. The videos will be a road trip style and show a three-day itinerary through the Shoalhaven including eat, stay and play as well as beaches. There are 5 demographics for the series: Young Explorers; Contemporary Family; Grey Nomads; Weekend Warriors (DINKS); Local Shoalies. The series is being produced by PASTE Studios in an inspirational no dialogue clips similar to the following that they did for Fairgrounds festival: http://pastestudios.com/portfolio-item/fairgrounds-festival-2016/

The videos will be targeted to their particular demographics online and feature a call to action to play the 100 beach Challenge, but also to visit our new website and create their own ‘dream road trip’ in the form of a 3-day itinerary. They build and submit their ‘road trip’ online for their chance to win that itinerary. This will encourage interaction with the new website as well as holiday inspiration and product engagement for potential visitors.

We Are Explorers Partnership:

We are hosting ‘We Are Explorers’, and well respected online Adventure community and blog who are going to go to the most remote and spectacular beaches and tackling the challenge in adventurous ways, from kayaks, cliff walks etc. The famil includes: two photographers, one videographers, two adventurers for four days in the Shoalhaven. The partnership includes two short (30sec) and one long (90sec) videos, Advertising (100,000) and EDM (12,000) takeovers on their website; 6 images on their Instagram (28K); and an article on their website shared across Facebook ($50K). The ‘adventurers’ and photographers coming also have a huge following of their own and will be posting to their own accounts as well.

Publicity and Influencers:

We launched the challenge to media earlier this year and received a great response across over 30 outlets including news and blogs Australia-wide. We are also working with well-known individual photographers on a 100 Beach Challenge famil program that will roll out over the next few months. Will Patino will be coming with his family in August and has 164K followers on Instagram. Will will be hosted by us, unpaid but agree to post photos of his trip. Each photo he posts gets over 5000 likes so having him here for a few days will prove to be fruitful in terms of reach.

Image: Visitors to 100BeachChallenge site breakdown (Jan – Mar)

Image: #100BeachChallenge user generated content

Unspoilt –

Our application for cooperative marketing from the new Destination NSW marketing program has been approved. This allows the successful continuation of the Unspoilt campaign which has been in market since 2012. Shoalhaven has a continued investment of $140K this year, along with all South Coast partners (Kiama, Shellharbour, Eurobodalla and Sapphire Coast) are contributing with a slightly increased total budget this year. The primary target market is couples who travel in off-season from Sydney and Canberra. The marketing mix includes using the best of our previous Unspoilt still images in high impact in Winter including billboards in Sydney and Canberra plus ‘baseline advertising’ across web, search and social media from June. Video assets are being developed for the first time to go live in early Spring showcasing ‘itineraries’ - relating to food, wine and soft adventure - throughout the South Coast online and possibly on digital billboards. We are also investigating television as an option across Regional NSW networks. The South Coast partners all agree that a component of funds go into Publicity activities.

Content – Katie Rivers Photography finishes up

Katie Rivers has recently finalised her 12-month role as our ‘in-house’ photographer, providing us with over 20,000 photographs for our image library over this time. This is an outstanding result as we now have a continuity in the look and feel of our images as well as providing these images back to operators and businesses free of charge. The feedback has been fantastic, and Katie’s skill in photographing natural moments that include people within the environment has been a great asset. Browse Katie’s photos here. https://www.flickr.com/photos/visitshoalhaven/

Content – New Digital Content Producer role recruiting

A 12-month role was created for a Digital Content Creator and interviews are occurring on 24 April. This role is strategically on staff to create a bank of video and written blog content as well as assist with writing for publicity etc. We require the incumbent to be skilled in the 360 of video making from producing to shooting and editing, and most importantly, have journalistic and community engagement skills to be able to talk to locals, operators and visitors about their tourism experiences. ‘Our Stories’ is an important part of our new website build so talking to locals about their favourite things to do in the Shoalhaven will be first off the bat. We have had some great applicants so it will be exciting to see who ends up part of the team.

Publicity

ATE Famils: DNSW has been organising famils for international delegates as part of the Australian Tourism Exchange event in Sydney. They have been very impressed with the amount of uptake of famils for the South Coast this year. Between 7 and 19 May the Shoalhaven will host 17 international delegates from media and travel companies across China, India, Germany, Chile, Hong Kong, France, and Singapore. Our international ready product such as Coolangatta Winery, Greenwell Point Oysters, Jervis Bay – dolphin tours and Glamping etc..

Influencers:

Andrea Chong came as a guest of DNSW from Singapore with 280K followers on Instagram. She came to Bannisters and Paperbark Camp. See picture below.

Not Quite Nigella is one of the top 10 food bloggers from Sydney and recently came to Huskisson for a dog friendly foodie trip. She has more than 50K Instagram followers. She was hosted by the Hawkes Nest Villas and the Butcher in Vincentia. A great initiative by these operators! http://www.notquitenigella.com/2017/03/18/huskission-jervis-bay-things-to-do-dog-friendly/

Television:

Sydney Weekender – Recent DNSW supported Sydney Weekender episodes include: Cupitts Award winning winery and restaurant; Lake Conjola walking tours; Glamping at Huskisson; Cooking Classes at Kangaroo Valley.

Getaway – filmed nine short video pieces across the region, partly funded by DNSW including Stand Up Paddle Boarding in Huskisson, Bannisters in Mollymook and much more.

Other:

Broadsheet - Are coming to do a road trip feature through the South Coast as a part of the Unspoilt Campaign. They have a huge high end hipster reach throughout Australia.

Tim the Yowie Man’s ‘Pie Trail’ video – We are hosting Tim the Yowie Man (the adventurer of Canberra Times fame) to do a ‘Pie Trail’ with a film crew through the Shoalhaven. He will come through the Highlands and Eurobodalla but most pies will be in our region as we are assisting with accommodation.

Visitor Services Marketing -

The Volunteer Ambassadors: The program has around 20 applicants that Joe Puglisi will be working with to induct in early May. Marketing completed a big push through media, print, and radio and we are happy with the applicants the campaign has brought in.

New brochures have gone to print: Apart from our Visitor Guide, we have developed a suite of smaller guides based on Kayaking, Surfing, and Pets on Holidays. These have been very popular, so we have done a refresh of content and images and have 5K of each going to print.

Digital screens now for sale ads: The digital kiosks in the Nowra Visitor and Entertainment Centre are now for sale to operators. We have an average of 10,000 people through the centre each month and the ads cost $200. That’s around $50 per week. We will gain enough money in income to offset cost of these screens.

Digital Marketing Report (prepared by Georgia Herring)

Social Media Report – January 1 2017 – March 31 2017

Our Facebook follower growth was strongest over January which coincides with the launch of our 2017 Visitor Guide online campaign.

The number of people seeing our posts is increasing steadily due to more strategic content, resulting in more likes and shares and therefore overall reach into existing and new audiences.

Our Instagram followers have been rising steadily, with a steeper increase in March that is due to the Flash Camp Instagram competition as well as the launch of our 100 Beach Challenge favourite weekly featured photos.

Our Visitor Guide campaign which began in December has led to a rise in visitor email subscribers.

Users of the website has increased as well as number of sessions. A reduction in page views could be caused by either people finding what they are looking for faster, or by people choosing to bounce off the site, possibly due to how outdated it is compared to competitors. This problem should be resolved by the new website.

The South Coast Weddings Website needs an overhaul, which will be built into next financial year’s strategy.

Up Next -

· Shoalhaven Foodie Trails Famil + PR campaign

· 100 Beach Challenge VFR campaign

· CRM development

· 2017/2018 planning and budget development

· New Billboards reskin

· Bushwalking Brochure

· Bird Walks Brochure

Shoalhaven Tourism Advisory Group – Monday 01 May 2017

Page 29

TA17.16 Events and Investment

HPERM Ref: D17/123124

Group: Finance Corporate & Community Services Group

Section: Tourism

Attachments: 1. XPD Post Event Report ⇩

2. XPD Media Coverage (under separate cover) ⇨

Purpose / Summary

To update the Shoalhaven Tourism Advisory Group on events and investment in the Shoalhaven region.

Recommendation (Item to be determined under delegated authority)

That the Shoalhaven Tourism Advisory Group receive the Events and Investment Report for information.

Options

1. Receive the report for information

2. Request more information

Event and Investment Update

Past supported events (since 1st July 2016)

o Surf Lifesaving NSW IRB State Championships

o 2016 Motocross Nationals

o AFL Junior State Championships

o Surf Lifesaving IRB National Championships

o State Team Time Trials Weekend (Cycling)

o Husky Running Festival

o Men’s Bowls State Pennant Finals

o Women’s Bowls State Pennant Finals

o Shoalhaven River Festival

o Huskisson Triathlon Festival

o XPD World Adventure Race Championships

o Inaugural National Indigenous Football Championships

o PGA Australian Senior Championships

o Fairgrounds

o Callala Ultimate Triathlon Festival

o Big Husky Triathlon Festival

o National Pop Up Cinema

o Shoalhaven Week of Golf

o Grapest 5km Run

o Willinga Park Open Day

o Nitro Circus

In Progress

· Events

o Southern Cross SUP Festival – Sussex Inlet – 28/04/17

o Burradise Festival – Culburra Beach – 13 & 14/05/17

o Culburra Beach Surf Bash – 13/05/17

o NSW Country Junior Rugby Union Country Champs – Nowra – 20 & 21/05/17

o IRB Surf Lifesaving – Ulladulla – 19 & 20/05/17

o Winter Wine Festival – Various Locations – 10 & 11/06/17

o AFL Junior Championships – Nowra – 1 & 2/07/17

o Motor Cross Nationals – Nowra – 1-3/07/17

o Family Fishing Carnival – Sussex Inlet – 7 & 8/07/17

o State Team Time Trials – Nowra – 16/07/17

o Huskisson Running Festival – Huskisson 19 & 20/08/17

o PGA Golf – Mollymook – 18-25/10/17

o KV Folk Festival – Kangaroo Valley – 21 & 22/10/17

o River Festival – Nowra – 28 & 29/10/17

o National Indigenous Football –- Nowra – 4 & 5/11/17

o Garden Clubs of Australia National Convention – Ulladulla – 05-10/11/17

o Long Course Weekend – Jervis Bay / Nowra – 10-12/11/17

o Australian Junior Surfing Titles – Culburra Beach – 24-29/11/17

o Fairgrounds – Berry – 2 & 3/12/17

o For a full list of events in the Shoalhaven visit http://shoalhavenholidays.com.au/events/

· Public exhibition period has closed for Event Policy – report to Council on submissions being developed before official implementation

· Willinga Park – support with research around Bawley Point occupancy and traffic counts, working with the Willinga Park team to determine possible future of events and accommodation development

· Shoalhaven Events Capacity and Capability Review

· Working with possible investors and developing links with local real-estate agents to facilitate desired outcomes.

· Business Events and Conferences Guide and associated information distribution

Results

· Updated EOI for Funding forms – with direct links to criteria for funding

· 6 funding applications submitted by event owners/operators with supporting documentation and letters of support from tourism

· Supporting statements and documentation for Regional Growth – Environment and Tourism Fund applications for Round the Bay Walk and Nowra Showground Upgrades

· XPD World Adventure Race Results are in - Total visitation directly related to the event was 661 people with a total bed nights of 8,425 – please find the Post Event Report and Media Coverage attached.

· Successful funding of $149,000 for The Jerriwerri Indigenous Ecotourism Enterprise Development Project through the Tourism Demand Driver Infrastructure Fund.

· Nitro Circus – Rugby Park

o Approx. 5,500 tickets sold

o Over 14,000 social reach through ticket giveaway

o Some lessons learnt around managing almost 6,000 people at Rugby Park in terms of traffic management and crowd management

· Flash Camp – Coolendel

o 126 sold of 270 room nights available with only a two week promotion lead time

o Total visitation of 157 guests in 15 tents

o Olli Benz for Glue Store featured a social media travel story

o Social media influencer Tara Milktea visited, just one of her Instagram posts about Coolendel received 35,000 likes

o Good social media reach educating people about what the Shoalhaven has to offer.

Up Next

· Events

o Empire Touring – Music Festival – Nowra

o Health / Wellness / Lifestyle Festival

o Food / Wine / Local produce event

· Flash Camp – Working on more possible sites (both Council land and private), working with International tourism operators, creating the opportunity for a year-round product with scalable bed numbers to meet demand

· Continue to work with marketing to attract and secure events that are in line with our promotional focus

· Streamlined sponsorship agreement process

· Finding opportunities for planned investor familiarisations

· Continue to research and promote event funding sources

Shoalhaven Tourism Advisory Group – Monday 01 May 2017

Page 39

TA17.17 Visitors Services Report

HPERM Ref: D17/129870

Group: Finance Corporate & Community Services Group

Section: Tourism

Purpose / Summary

To give an update of Visitor Information Services over the last quarter.

Recommendation (Item to be determined under delegated authority)

That the Shoalhaven Tourism Advisory Group receive the Visitors Services Report for information.

Options

1. Receive the report for information

2. Request more information

In Progress

- Ambassadors program, recruitment and training

- New Visitors Services Supervisor Training

- Several staff have completed merchandising training

- Staff famils continue

- Mystery Shops of both Nowra and Ulladulla continue with great results consistently delivered

Ambassador Programme

The Ambassador programme is proceeding well, with selection of first intake to be completed by 30 April. The first training/induction day is scheduled for Monday 8^th May, with commencement at the Nowra Visitors Centre soon after.

Depending on meeting selection criteria there will be about 12 in the initial uptake with many more having expressed an interest.

Coming up

- Refresh of Ulladulla merchandising and signage

- Review of Nowra operations for February and March to identify opportunities.

Results this quarter

Figures Jan – March 2017

Bookeasy

January $21,393

February $18,958

March $12,678

Nowra Ulladulla

Counter

January 3650 2200

February 2650 1560

March 2230 1516

Emails

January 958 n/a

February 864 n/a

March 837 n/a

Phone

January 1111 902

February 1104 533

March 1506 582

Merchandise Sales

January $2,762 $3,237

February $2,267 $3,188

March $3,104 $3,485

Note:

Figures are on track with forecasts being met due to move of the Nowra VIC

All sales have shown an increase in the last 6 months with local produce being the outstanding performer with sales increasing over 100% on last year, although reporting off a low base.

Ulladulla Library has seen a continuing improvement in Visitor Information Services.