Agenda of Shoalhaven Tourism Advisory Group

Shoalhaven Tourism Advisory Group

Meeting Date: Monday, 26 June, 2017

Location: Ulladulla Civic Centre, Princes Highway Ulladulla

Please note: Council’s Code of Meeting Practice permits the electronic recording and broadcast of the proceedings of meetings of the Council which are open to the public. Your attendance at this meeting is taken as consent to the possibility that your image and/or voice may be recorded and broadcast to the public.

Agenda

1. Apologies

2. Confirmation of Minutes

· Shoalhaven Tourism Advisory Group - 10 April 2017................................................. 1

3. Presentations

TA17.19....... Presentation by Andrew Harvey - Sculptures in Jervis Bay

To update members of STAG on the Marine Sculptures in Jervis Bay Project.

TA17.20....... Update from ARTfest - Julie Sydenham

Verbal presentation by the Festival Cordinator.

4. Reports

TA17.21....... Election of Office Bearers............................................................................... 7

TA17.14....... Tourism Manager's Report............................................................................. 9

TA17.22....... Tourism Manager's Report - April / May...................................................... 11

TA17.15....... Destination Marketing Update...................................................................... 13

TA17.23....... Destination Marketing - April/May................................................................ 34

TA17.16....... Events and Investment................................................................................. 51

TA17.24....... Events and Investment - April/May.............................................................. 61

TA17.17....... Visitors Services Report............................................................................... 68

TA17.25....... VIS Report April/May 2017........................................................................... 70

TA17.18....... Chair's Report............................................................................................... 72

TA17.26....... Replace Representative on the Business and Employment Development Committee...................................................................................................................... 73

TA17.27....... Workshop Discussion - Summary and Actions............................................ 74

TA17.28....... Professional Conference Organiser Position............................................... 87

TA17.29....... Working Group Updates............................................................................... 90

TA17.30....... Update from Sports Board Representative.................................................. 91

TA17.31....... Councillor updates........................................................................................ 92

TA17.32....... Industry Feedback........................................................................................ 93

5. General Business

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 26 June 2017

Page 7

TA17.21 Election of Office Bearers

HPERM Ref: D17/172877

Group: Finance Corporate & Community Services Group

Section: Tourism

Purpose / Summary

To conduct elections for the Executive positions on the Shoalhaven Tourism Advisory Group.

Recommendation (Item to be determined under delegated authority)

That the Shoalhaven Tourism Advisory Group conduct elections for Office Bearers.

1. Chair of the Shoalhaven Tourism Advisory Group.

2. Deputy Chair of the Shoalhaven Tourism Advisory Group.

Options

Conduct election for office bearers and nominations.

Implications: Positions will be filled and STAG will continue business as usual.

Background

In accordance with the Terms of Reference of the Shoalhaven Tourism Advisory Group, the Group will appoint a Chairperson and Deputy Chairperson on an annual basis by a vote of members of the Advisory Group.

The role of Chairperson is:

· To chair the meeting and exercise functions, as determined by STAG.

· To be the spokesperson for the committee, as directed by STAG.

· To advocate for STAG and represent its decisions.

· To sign off minutes endorsed by STAG.

· To call Extraordinary meetings of the Advisory Group

The role of the Deputy Chairperson is to act as Chair when the Chair is not present at meetings.

Election Process

At the time on the agenda when the election of office bearers is listed, the following process will be followed:

(1) The chairperson to step down from the chair ( unless their position is not up for election). An appropriately Senior Officer of the Council or other official should assume the chair for the nomination process.

(2) Individually for each position the following is to take place:

a. Nominations are called for that position and are acknowledged by the chair

i. They may be received in writing prior to the meeting or provided verbally at the meeting

ii. The Chair shall confirm acceptance of each nominee prior to their inclusion in the ballot.

b. If only one nomination is received, that person is declared as elected

c. If more than one nomination is received, the Committee will be asked to resolve whether the election is to take place by open voting ( i.e. show of hands) or ordinary ballot ( ie.written votes recorded and provided to the chairperson in secret).

d. Where a large number of nominations are received, the Committee may elect to proceed by a preferential ballot, whereby ballots are consecutively taken and the nominee with the least number of votes is excluded from running after each ballot, until there are two preferred candidates remaining and a final ballot is undertaken and declared .

e. The nominee with the most ballots is declared as elected.

f. In the event of an equal number of ballots being cast for nominees, the position shall be determined by draw. The name drawn by the chairperson will be appointed to the position.

At the conclusion of the elections, the Chairperson shall reassume control of the meeting and proceed with other business.

Community Engagement

The Shoalhaven Tourism Advisory Group plays an important role in the development of tourism related strategic plans and activities and provides critical input through industry representatives in this process.

Shoalhaven Tourism Advisory Group – Monday 26 June 2017

Page 11

TA17.22 Tourism Manager's Report - April / May

HPERM Ref: D17/180271

Group: Finance Corporate & Community Services Group

Section: Tourism

Purpose / Summary

To give a brief outline of the Tourism Manager’s activity over April / May.

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

- Bike plan for Shoalhaven

- Meet & Greet – new Destination Network

- Hotel Development in Shoalhaven

- Digital Content Creator interviews

- STAG Induction and Strategy Workshops

- Discover Jervis Bay update

- Queens Baton Relay meeting

- Ambassador Induction / Training

- Bundanon / Tourism discussions about event and mater plan

- Meeting with Gareth Ward MP & Matt Cross – Major Hotel Project Nowra CBD

- Berry Estate Trails Project

Out in Region

- Berry Tourism Highway Sign – determination of exact location for new sign

- Berry town signage has been approved with TASOC

- Berry Trails Project has applied for some funding, watch this space

- Plans for Bomaderry Sprots Hub are progressing forward

- We have been on region visits to Sussex, Shoalhaven Heads, Milton, and many towns in our far south.

I have attended

- Go West Visitor Economy Conference

- SCRTO Meeting

- ATE 2017 (by invitation - Discover Jervis Bay)

- ‘A weekend of feasting & tasting’ website launch & opening

- Winter Wine Festival Launch

- Sydney Melbourne Touring strategy meeting, Melbourne

- Kiama Tourism After Hours

Tourism issues that have come across my desk

- Huskisson main street upgrades are now progessing between council and the Business Chamber

- Accomodation shortages in Nowra CBD

Welcome a new team member

- Welcome to Andy, our new Video Content Producer has started the first week of June.

Key priorities over the next few months

- Sustainable Tourism Plan

- Business Planning + budget forecasts for the next FY

Council Ordinary Meeting update

At the Council Ordinary Meeting of 23 May 2017 the following was resolved:

RESOLVED (Clr White / Clr Wells) MIN17.431

That

1. The Terms of Reference for Shoalhaven Tourism Advisory Group (STAG) be amended as follows;

a. The membership shall comprise of the following delegates:

b. A maximum of 9 skills based Industry Representatives, each position holding one membership vote each

c. All Councillors to be recognized as official members, with membership vote limited to two positions, voting Councillors to be nominated to STAG by Council.

d. Chairperson of the Shoalhaven Sports Board

e. A representative of National Parks and Wildlife (NPWS) as nominated by NPWS, holding one membership vote

f. The Mayor

2. The quorum be set to 7 members.

3. The budget and quarterly budget reviews be reported to the Shoalhaven Tourism Advisory Group

4. The Voting delegates be Clr Alldrick and Clr Gash and the alternate voting delegates be Clr Pakes and Clr Kitchener

Governance will update the current Terms of Reference to reflect these changes.

There are no exceptions to report in relation to the Tourism Managers Report

Shoalhaven Tourism Advisory Group – Monday 26 June 2017

Page 13

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 26 June 2017

Page 33

TA17.23 Destination Marketing - April/May

HPERM Ref: D17/179962

Group: Finance Corporate & Community Services Group

Section: Tourism

Attachments: 1. Marketing Strategy KPI update - May 2017 ⇩

2. 2018 Visitor Guide Media Kit (under separate cover) ⇨

Purpose / Summary

To provide a summary of Destination Marketing activity for April – May 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

Website Development Update

This large project is progressing as scheduled. Current focus is on:

- Gathering, refreshing and updating all content including blogs and landing pages.

- Researching and scoping plugins such as Live Chat, GIS place pages for recreational areas, boat ramps, social media widgets and more.

- Final tweaks on informational architecture and user experience

- BookEasy packaging and integration logistics

- Development of product that sits within the Eat and Indulge product categories (restaurants, massage, cooking classes, wellness activities etc.)

- Awaiting reverse briefs for new CRM – integrated database for internal use

- An import of all ATDW listings within the Shoalhaven area will be pulled through to the ‘staging site’ imminently. Links for Beta Testing will then be available and we would like key stakeholders to test the website and its functionality.

- Encouraging additional businesses add their details to ATDW to fill product gaps. For example; cafes have traditionally not been listed but are a high demand product.

Opportunity: Marketing would like to request a contingency of STAG members to volunteer to work with them on testing and finalising the website.

Content Development

PASTE STUDIOS video development

We identified the need high quality video content for our digital media and advertising channels. Last year we partnered with Bannisters to create ten videos featuring food and adventure activities, including celebrity Rick Stein. To continue building on that content and promote yield and longer stays we have devised itinerary based videos with the aim to;

A) Drive traffic back to our 3-day itinerary builder on the new website

B) Push exposure of the 100 Beach Challenge with the focus on winter activities and yield

C) Provide raw footage of several operators and experiences for our video bank.

Throughout April and May we worked with the team from Paste Studios to create itineraries for the following demographics with a combination of eat, stay and play activities.

- Grey Nomads (see screengrabs below – rough ungraded stills)

- Young Adventurers (20-35 Millennials)

- Local Shoalies / Girls group (VFR inviting friends from the city)

- Weekend Warriors (double income no kids)

- Contemporary family (city couple with young kids)

These videos wil roll out across our website and social media channels from July and we have secured the raw footage and images to intersplice with other content and campaigns down the track. This has considerably increased our library of footage and imagery.

Below are some grabs from the first video – Grey Nomads. They stayed in an Airstream at Jervis Bay, then travelled to Kangaroo Valley in an MG, went shopping through Berry then had a walk on Seven Mile Beach and dinner at the Heads Hotel.

Digital Content Creator

Andy Zakeli started with the team on 5 June.

- Casual placement for 12 months

- The aim of this role is to create a comprehensive video library of experiences, attractions and interviews with operators and locals to roll out in various forms over the coming years.

- We aim to have 20-30 finished videos as well as a large library of raw footage for future editing and development into further content.

- Andy has extensive experience in the media industry as photographer, writer and videographer, including teaching videography. He comes with glowing references and the ability to make his subjects feel comfortable through his natural disposition and experience. We also align with this creative aesthetic and look forward to working with him over the coming 12 months.

100 Beach Challenge Update

Current statistics:

- 219 people are currently ranking on the leader board with one player at 75/100 beaches

- We have identified some issues with how the online game operates in low internet areas. There is an opportunity for next year planning to correct this.

- Most people are playing with the fold out map in the visitor guide (80,000 copies)

Hashtag and Weekly fan photos:
There are 745 posts using the hashtag across Instagram to date. Every week we cross-post the most interesting pictures in a Facebook album (on Thursday’s) and the fans vote on their favourite, which then becomes our cover image for a week. Developing user generated content is a valuable tool to encourage engagement.

We Are Explorers – Media and Content Partnership:

We Are Explorers are a syndicate of Adventure bloggers and influencers with a huge reach into Sydney, NSW and beyond. We worked closely with the team to curate an itinerary to some of the ‘lesser known’ beaches that have an adventurer appeal. They visited in late April and are currently rolling out the content and assets over between May and June.

Please look at the hero piece of content here: https://weareexplorers.co/100-beach-challenge/

The partnership included:

- 4-day trip with 2 photographers, 1 videographer and three models

- two x 30 sec social videos and one 90min full video (they delivered five social and one 2min video and no extra cost)

- Share top six images on Instagram (31,200 followers) and Facebook (57,000 followers)

- Article and image gallery on weareexplorers.co linking to 100BeachChallenge.com

- Banner ad take-over on weareexplorers.co homepage (100,000 impressions)

- Email Newsletter banner ad takeover (12,000)

Whilst the crew were here they took many additional photographs. There is an incredibly rich library of quality images that include people and lesser known beautiful beaches of the Shoalhaven and we have negotiated a bulk buy price. The images fill many gaps in our image library, in particular, the drone stills and photos with couples and groups engaging in bush and adventure activities.

Below is a list of the crew who came with their own reach and audience. Each of them posted an average of 6 photos plus multiple Instagram stories on their own personal feeds which was a huge boost in organic promotion.

The Crew:

@robmullaly - photographer (Instagram followers 59K)

@Mitchcox – Photographer (Instagram followers 74.8K)

@Olliekhe/ @weareborja – Videographer (Instagram followers 3K)

@Cleocohen – model + influencer (Instagram followers 84.5K)

@free11dom model (Instagram followers 515)

@heidiemilyrose model (Instagram followers 616)

A screen shot of the assets below.

Unspoilt 17/18 Campaign Update

- Roll out of digital baseline from 5 June across Visit NSW channels (website landing pages, Facebook, native content and search) promoting our key experiences of soft adventure, food and wine.

- Two partner campaigns with Stayz, the first one out early June, promoting Winter deals in the Shoalhaven via Stayz network of website, social media and EDMs.

- Three x 5 day itineraries have been prepared to experiment with a new landing page format with Visit NSW. These will be promoted via digital channels.

- New ‘book now’ call to action button across Get Connected listings with bookable product that will enable us to curate 6-9 products on each landing page

- Outdoor media campaign in Sydney and Canberra being device by the agency, likely either classic outdoor or transit and in market July/August.

- Video content has been submitted from each region and Destination NSW is editing the content for roll out across digital channels in the coming months.

- Shoalhaven has freshened up and will be rolling out the previously successful squeaky clean sands ad on Regional NSW television networks.

- South Coast LGA’s have equally contributed to publicity and we will all be able to select a social media influencer of our choice and Destination NSW has suggested Channel 9 weather cross as our main television appearance.

- Broadsheet Sydney, a highly influential blog and paper, will be rolling out road trip content in June.

Publicity

Famils are in place for the 100 Beach Challenge with social media influencers:

JULY @thebosnianaussie (insta 42.4K)
AUGUST Will Patino (instagram 165,000)

Publicity famils for Foodie Trails are being devised with three themes;

- Paddock to plate;

- Fine Dining and Seafood; and

- Winery Lovers Trail.

Press releases scheduled is to go out in June targeting foodie influencers and mainstream press like SMH, Daily Telegraph, Gourmet Traveller. Famils are scheduled to be in region July – August.

Recent Publicity Tracking:

Note: Text is hyperlinked with the article.

WIN News - Shoalhaven Tourism Figures
Sydney Weekender - Kangaroo Valley
Concrete Playground - Flash Camp
Good Food - Cupitts
Escape, Daily Telegraph - Best Beaches

The Telegraph (UK) - Rick Stein
Time Out - Lake Conjola Glamping
The Budawangs - William Patino
Good Weekend (SMH) - South on Albany
Trivago - Glamping
ABC - Canberra's Beach

VIS Marketing Update

Visitor Guide

We have produced and distributed the Media Kit (see Attachment 2) to sell advertising for the 2018 guide, and have commenced the layout and content development phases. This year we have commenced the process much earlier to enable a longer lead time to sell ads and allow the creative process to develop under less pressure.

Brochures

- Our Favourite Walks Bushwalking brochure with 13 walks is in its final stage of proofing and we are looking to create a landing page and a small publicity campaign around its launch this winter.

- Birdlife – we are on the second draft of the ‘bird walks’ brochure, working in collaboration with Birdlife Shoalhaven in readiness for their launch on 2 August.

Other General Marketing

- Re-skinned four billboards with 100 Beach Challenge and seeking a position for the fifth in Berry. Also, working to relocate the Berry sign with the new highway and update DA’s for existing signage.

- Revamp of the Kangaroo Valley Visitor booth in collaboration with KVTC.

- Working with the VIC staff on a merchandise review and freshen up for winter

- Liaising with Tim the Yowie Man on more story ideas for Canberra Times and his adventure TV show.

- Continued collaboration with Visit Canberra on promotion and touring routes

- Working with Executive Strategy on holiday home compliance communications

- Building relationships with TV production companies to identify opportunities for destination sponsorship which is the new wave of TV advertising.

- Collaborating with the SEC Marketing team on ways we can increase Nowra visitation across the weekends including entertainment and café assets.

- Working with IT on developing future proofed storage solutions for rich content

- Shoalhaven Ambassador support with T-shirts, branding and promotion

- Working closely with events & investment on how to market, support and develop events and product

- Discussing marketing and content collaboration with NPWS visitor experience staff.

Up Next

- Website Launch

- 2017/18 Marketing Plan (See attachment 1 for a report on this year’s KPI’s)

- Content production with new Digital Content Creator

- Foodie Trails Publicity famils

- 2018 Visitor Guide content development

- Packaging product development with BookEasy

- Satellite VIC’s branding and revamp with Joe

Digital Marketing Report

April1 2016 – May 31 2016

Social Media Report

Increased following due to the Visitor Guide and 100 Beach Challenge Facebook advertising, as well as the strategic content plan which encourages followers to tag their friends and share.

We are seeing increased engagement in our Facebook posts as a direct result of the strategic content plan which keeps content relevant as well as our 100 Beach Challenge weekly competition which engages followers by asking them to vote for their favourite visitor photo.

We use twitter to promote events and news stories about our region is proving sucessful.

We are seeing steady growth in Instagram largly attributed to increased regularity of posting and engaging followers though the 100 Beach Challenge Campaign and hashtag #100beachchallenge.

The wedding planning market changes often, and we have not invested in attracting newly engaged couples to the page in the last year. Future plans for this site are a key opportunity for investigation for next year.

The website visitation for April and May has not grown YOY, referals coming into the site have seen a decrease as the current site continues not to meet expectations. It is expected this will change with after the launch of the new website.

The weddings website has decreased slightly in visitation. It has problems with functionality and needs to be formally reviewed in the new FY.

Tourism Talk database numbers are predicticed to grow steadily as stakeholder engament continues to be a key focus of the tourism team. While it is expected that the visitor list will continue to grow moderately as strategic online camapigns continue to include a direct call to action.

Advertising

We have just refreshed both our 100 Beach Challenge and Visitor Guide digital advertising campaigns with some beautiful wintery imagery and continue to test and measure to optomise the for the strongest results. A few examples below highlight some new winter campaign changes.

Shoalhaven Tourism Advisory Group – Monday 26 June 2017

Page 50

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 26 June 2017

Page 60

TA17.24 Events and Investment - April/May

HPERM Ref: D17/181396

Group: Finance Corporate & Community Services Group

Section: Tourism

Attachments: 1. Strategy Report - Events and Investment - June 2017 ⇩

2. LETTER - Willinga Park Open Day - Community Engagement Survey Results - May 2017 ⇩

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

Past Supported Events (since 1 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

o Southern Cross SUP Festival

o Burradise Festival

o Culburra Beach Surf Bash

o NSW Country Junior Rugby Union Country Champs

o IRB Surf Lifesaving

o Winter Wine Festival

In Progress

· Events

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 Melbourne Cup Tour – Various Locations – 20/07/17

o Chilli and Chocolate Festival – Nowra – 30/07/17

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/

· Supporting key community members during the initial development stages of an Aboriginal Cultural Festival.

· Assisting in a new event concept being developed - ‘Eat Lane’ Nowra.

· New funding opportunity announced - Regional Jobs Investment Package. Working with operators and internal staff on suitable projects.

· Motel Mojo – working on possible funding opportunities and identifying suitable sites, also working with Eurobodalla to ensure a cross regional project.

· Business Events and Conferences Guide and associated information distribution.

· Meetings undertaken with Hotelplan and Property Unit to discuss the development of an EOI / DCP for the hotel possibilities on the civic precinct site adjacent the SEC. Gareth Ward has made a commitment to ensure bridge and associated road plans are finalised to allow for forward movement.

· Worrowing Heights Precinct Plan (opposite Vincentia Market Place) – Councillor briefing has been undertaken.

· Event Anti-terrorism / hostile vehicle mitigation – determining Council’s role, meetings with Shoalhaven LAC and internal staff.

Results

· Willinga Park – Results from the Open Day have been received (see cover letter attached) with overwhelmingly positive results about the facilities and future opportunities for events. These results along with noise reports, accommodation availability, traffic counts will form a strong case for the approval of increased events through a DA which will be lodged soon. Discussions around accommodation options for future events are also taking place.

· DA lodged for a proposed tourism development in Bendalong – Nerridillah Lodge. 12 room bunk house and meeting place. Worked with design consultants to develop something suitable for higher end visitors, yoga groups, surf groups, small business events and conferences.

· Promotion of event / development funding sources through newsletter and targeted approach.

· 3 new event sponsorship agreements signed - PGA NSW Australian Seniors Championships, Chilli and Chocolate Festival, Sussex Inlet Fishing Carnival.

Up Next

· Events currently working on, not yet confirmed;

o Empire Touring – Music Festival – Nowra

o Health / Wellness / Lifestyle Festival

o Food / Wine / Local produce event

o Long Table Food Event – Willinga Park

· Assessing new event opportunities from Sports Marketing Australia.

· Review Film and Video Production Policy

· 17/18 Partnership Program development

· 17/18 Strategy and Action Plan

There are no exceptions to be reported

Shoalhaven Tourism Advisory Group – Monday 26 June 2017

Page 67

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.

Shoalhaven Tourism Advisory Group – Monday 26 June 2017

Page 69

TA17.25 VIS Report April/May 2017

HPERM Ref: D17/179743

Group: Finance Corporate & Community Services Group

Section: Tourism

Purpose / Summary

To give an update of Visitor Information Services for April/ May 2017 period.

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

Ambassador Program

The Ambassador Program has commenced; the initail group have been inducted and on the job training has started.

Daily task sheets have been provided and we will increase their knowledge and confidence over the coming months.

The ambassadors are greeting visitors with information and things to do, initially at Nowra, and eventually out in the region with Tourism staff at key events and popular tourism destinations.The initial group are very excited to part of the program, and this enthusiasm will asssit in leading to the program’s success.

Mobile Services

Continuing our commitment and improvement into delivering our mobile services we are setting up a mobile tourism stand at this year’s Winter Wine Festival, situated at Silo’s Winery. There is to be a combination of VIS staff and Ambassadors.

New Staff

Josh Carlile has commenced and Natalie is to commence this month. Josh and Natalie come with a wealth of experience, Josh having worked at Trees Adventure, and Natalie, at Quest Apartments and for Kiama Tourism.

Coming up

· New 2018 Visitors Guide Media Kit has been released; bookings are now been taken for advertisements in the new guide

· Merchandise Review is planned for June 30

· Famils are continuing in the regions

· Ambassador training and development to continue

· Review of Nowra operations

Results for April/ May 2017

Bookeasy

April $11,714

May $7,779

Nowra Ulladulla

Counter

April 1480 1462

May 1346 1202

Emails

April 817 n/a

May 785 n/a

Phone

April 1222 388

May 1058 386

Merchandise Sales

April $2795 $1876

May $2963 $2229

Note:

Figures are consistent with forecast, with local produce sales still performing very well.

Phone calls in Nowra include Box Office calls

Ticket sales and box office duties have become an integral part of the business, with training, operational procedures for the new business model complete.

A full assesment of the overall operation/sales will be conducted at end of financial year

There are no exceptions to report in relation to Visitor Services

Shoalhaven Tourism Advisory Group – Monday 26 June 2017

Page 73

TA17.27 Workshop Discussion - Summary and Actions

HPERM Ref: D17/190202

Group: Finance Corporate & Community Services Group

Section: Tourism

Attachments: 1. Workshop Presentation - Craig Milburn (under separate cover) ⇨

2. List of Tourism Associations ⇩

3. List of Council Committees ⇩

Purpose / Summary

Discussion document and notes from the Shoalhaven Tourism Advisory Group Workshop on 22 May 2017.

Recommendation (Item to be determined under delegated authority)

That STAG

1. Discuss the outcomes of the workshop

2. Prioritise the Working Groups program

Members who attended workshop

Clr Aldrick

Clr Wells

Dept Mayor Kitchner

David Goodman

Louise Hallum

Rob Crow

Neil Rogerse

Mark Lees (NPSW)

Annie Cochrane (late arrival)

Catherine Shields (late arrival)

Apology

Matthew Forbes

Lynn Locke

Clr Watson

Paul McLeod

Staff in attendance

Shannan Perry-Hall

Kristy Mayhew

Coralie Bell

Craig Milburn

Presentation by Craig Milburn

See Attachment 1.

General Discussion

1. Current motion to Council regarding possible return of budget to STAG

· Councillors present at planning session were not aware of the motion regarding request for promotions budget to be returned to the STAG – Craig explained how the matter had been raised at Strategy and Assets.

2. What are we? Who is Shoalhaven? Why will we matter to tourism in 20 years’ time?

· Compact

· Quality

· Authenticity

· Diversity

· Access

· Eco Friendly

· Need to PR to Locals - VFR

· Getting hold of funding – shovel ready projects are important

· Product development will be critical in the future

· General discussion around making the most of funding opportunities

Meeting Format and Reporting Discussion

· Meetings are too long and not interactive enough

· Reports

o Give enough information

o Preferred to stay the same

o Need to be moved passed quickly in the meeting assuming they have been read by members.

o Staff only talk on report if there is a critical issue or item that needs further discussion

§ Challenges or road blocks

§ Key things to highlight or celebrate

§ Issues where STAG input may be required

§ No additional reports required

o Can staff report key strategy actions using a “red/orange/green type report so that members can see at a glance any key areas needing attention

· In general, meetings are too much “council” format and the feeling of “red tape” in meetings

· What is needed?

o Less; structure; papers

o More; discussion; industry development

· Role of STAG

o Advocacy; attendance

· Working groups need to play more of an active role

o Report on progress on key outcomes

o Key discussion points

o Industry development

· Councillors

o Industry requested that Councillors bring to the meeting key items that they may be aware of that will impact tourism for discussion

· Agenda

o Recommended that the agenda be changed

§ Reports

· Tourism Manager

· Marketing

· Events

· VIC

· Budget

· Other as required

§ Working Group Updates

· Verbal and written as needed, based around discussion.

§ Update from Sports Board Rep

· Verbal or written as required

§ Clr updates

· Verbal update to be about relevant projects impacted by tourism in the region and by Council generally.

§ Industry Feedback, this could include; key projects; innovation; trends; challenges; changes; advocacy; opportunities.

ACTIONS

1. Staff to look at reporting with red/orange/green

· FOLLOW UP / these have been added to Marketing and Events reports for June 2017 STAG meeting, VIC plan reporting to come.

2. Agenda to be changed to reflect the above

· FOLLOW UP / June agenda to reflect requested agenda

Key Working Group Priority Discussions

1. Accommodation Working Group –

Catherine, Annie, Shannan

o Strategic Plan – zoning, sites

o Shovel ready project

o Peter Valerio research

o Updated Audit

o Demand

o Gaps

o Market – Potential

o Research – past and new

ACTIONS

3. Bullet points to be brought to STAG by members on the working group

· What do we want to achieve?

· What are the key measures of success?

· To be discussed at next STAG

2. Customer Service/Industry Development Working Group

Kristy, Mark Lees NPWS

General brainstorming conversation:

o Tourism is Everyone’s business

o Training

o Leverage local business chambers etc.

o STAG members could go to businesses? Mentor or human library?

o How can tourism help you – ask the Chambers

o Group needs to work out the process

o Local tourism / business conference – would they come?

o Tourism after hours networking

o Customer Service Mentors

o Economic Gardening

o Aussie Host, other training

o Incentives e.g. reduced price advert in Visitor Guide for achieving competence?

o Strategy to move forward

o Investigate different council and business meetings in the region

ACTIONS

4. Bullet points to be brought to STAG discussion by members on the working group

· What do we want to achieve?

· What are the key measures of success?

· To be discussed at next STAG

5. Coralie Bell to supply to STAG for discussion

· List of Business and Tourism Groups

o FOLLOW UP – Please see Attachment 2

· List of Council meetings

o FOLLOW UP – Please see Attachment 3

3. Sustainability Strategy

Louise, Catherine, Neil, Rob, Coralie

o EOI for formal request to quote is out now

o Process: selection process – drafts - delivery

o Quotes to be reviewed and working group to report back to STAG as strategy progresses

o Sustainable tourism will need to look at various factors;

o High value vs High volume

o Yield

o Environment

o Local community

o What does success look like in the long term? Something for broader discussion in future proofing tourism.

4. Product Development;

On hold until after Strategy is finalised, second priority.

General discussion as follows;

o Packaged experiences, itineraries

o Operator engagement – business after hours?

o Opportunities – Book Easy

o Analysis – Current product, gaps, demand

o How do we help National Parks?

ACTIONS

6. Bullet points to be brought to STAG by members on the working group

· What do we want to achieve?

· What are the key measures of success?

For General discussion and follow up at the June meeting

ACTIONS

7. To discuss at the next STAG

· What are the working group priorities?

· Which one first?

· Will we run several at once?

· What will time commitments be?

· Timelines – when do STAG want key outcomes achieved by?

· What are the key outcomes that are tangible and measurable that all STAG agrees on

· What are the current highest priorities

· Who will be officially on each working group

8. Meeting agenda to change

FOLLOW UP / agenda to be changed for June meeting

Shoalhaven Tourism Advisory Group – Monday 26 June 2017

Page 86

TA17.28 Professional Conference Organiser Position

HPERM Ref: D17/179969

Group: Finance Corporate & Community Services Group

Section: Tourism

Purpose / Summary

To provide a report for discussion in relation to the creation of a new contract position for 24 months in Tourism to research, plan and organise conferences in the Shoalhaven.

Recommendation (Item to be determined under delegated authority)

That STAG discusses the report and select members to review in collaboration with staff and develop the final proposal.

Options

1. Support the creation of the conference position and select members to help finalise the proposal.

Implications: Final proposal will be submitted to Council for approval.

2. Request further information.

Implications: This would result in a time delay, moving on this project quickly has advantages.

3. Reject the creation of a conference position.

Implications: A lack of resources to take advantage of the opportunity to attract and develop conferences for the Shoalhaven.

Background

It is being proposed that Shoalhaven Tourism create a Professional Conference Officer (PCO) position to drive the conference market in the region. This position would seek to act as PCO for other conferences and secure Shoalhaven as their destination. Additionally, the position, working with industry, would seek to create several conferences and events that are owned by the city to secure long term benefits.

Some key aspects of successful conferences are:

· The right subject matter

· A subject that is continuing to change therefore needing people to be regularly updated on what is happening

· Key industry knowledge speakers/presenters

· Selected motivational/general speakers (usually high profile)

· Great venue

· Solid mix of plenary, concurrent sessions with a good social/networking program

· Opportunity for partner’s program

· A subject that brings in high value sponsors

· The right price point

· Minimal competition on the subject matter

The conferences could target the public sector, not for profit areas and/or private industry. An example is provided below that may suit the Shoalhaven particularly given the Marine Park status of Jervis Bay and the surrounding marine environment.

Living together – A National Whale, Dolphin and Community Conference

Topics could cover:

Research

· Whales, Dolphins – health, numbers, migration

· Support ecology

· Water quality

· Environmental issues

· Conservation/protection

· Collaboration

· Climate Change

· Coastal management

Tourism

· Whale watching

· Dolphin watching

· Seals

· Other marine species

· Water based

· Land based

· How to engage your local community, can a community help with research etc

· Interaction and impact of tourism on wildlife

· Regulation and enforcement

Sponsors could include:

· Research centres

· Universities

· Tourisms operators

· Boat manufacturers

· Motor manufactures

· Underwater/other research equipment

· Software manufacturers

Examples of the financial benefits can be seen in the financial implications below.

Conferences and events drive tourism visitation and the Shoalhaven economy, visitor spend provides an indicator of daily spend for the purposes of determining the contribution of business events to a destination.

International attendees extend their stay beyond the conference duration by an average of 3.8 days. Interstate delegates stay an average of 1.3 days. Visitor spend per day varies depending on the origin of the visitor.

Conferences and business events are a new focus for Destination NSW with increased opportunities for Event and Conference funding. Conferences and business events fit with the strategy to increase yield and drive visitation in the off season.

There are increased opportunities for regional areas to make bids for regional conferences, council currently does not have the resources internally to make this happen.

Financial Implications

It is proposed that the income generated from owning and running the conferences would cover the costs associated with the position. There is also the ability for a profit to be generated and returned back in events promotion. Below is an example of the potential financial implications of the position.

Conference Examples

1 100 delegates x 2 days = $500 rego, $150/night accom, $100/day spend = $100,000

2 200 delegates x 3 days = $500 rego, $150/night accom, $100/day spend = $250,000

3 400 delegates x 2 days = $500 rego, $150/night accom, $100/day spend = $400,000

Direct Economic Input $750,000

Total (including multiplier 1.65) $1,237,500

Costs

PCO Position $85,000

PCO Resources $20,000

Total Costs $105,000

ROI 11.8

Income

Conference Organisation fees at market rate of $90 per delegate $72,000

Profit

Conference 1 $33,250

Conference 2 $22,450

Conference 3 $42,700

Direct Income $170,400

Net profit $65,400