Agenda of Shoalhaven Tourism Advisory Group

Minutes of the Shoalhaven Tourism Advisory Group

Meeting Date: Monday, 24 February 2020

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

Time: 5.10pm

The following members were present:

Mr Robert Crow - Chairperson

Clr Patricia White

Clr Mark Kitchener – left at 5:48pm

Mr David Duffy

Ms Brenda Sambrook

Ms Juliet Barr – left at 7:07pm

Mr Mark Thirlwall

Mr David Fleeting

Others present:

Coralie Bell – Acting Section Manager – Recreation, Community & Culture

Shannan Perry-Hall – Section Manager - Tourism

Kristy Mayhew – Tourism Marketing Specialist

Joe Puglisi – Visitors Services Manager

Apologies / Leave of Absence

An apology was received from Clr Joanna Gash, Kylie Pickett, Neil Rodgers, David Goodman and Dr James Lin.

Confirmation of the Minutes

RESOLVED (Juliet Barr / Clr White)

That the Minutes of the Shoalhaven Tourism Advisory Group held on Monday 28 October 2019 be confirmed.

CARRIED

Following the confirmation of Minutes, Juliet Barr addressed the meeting in relation to a media opportunity that took place following the bushfires and a video for seniors.

Declarations of Interest

Nil

Reports

TA20.1 Tourism Manager's Report

HPERM Ref: D20/11692

Shannan Perry-Hall – Acting Tourism Manager addressed the meeting and the following comment was made:

· Shannan Perry-Hall advised that both herself and Coralie Bell – Acting Section Manager – Recreation Community and Culture have been working together in relation to Tourism, funding and bushfire recovery.

Coralie Bell addressed the meeting in relation to State Government funding.

· Destination NSW have announced their event funding program.

· Council has been advised that funding from Destination NSW for the “Unspoilt” campaign has not been continued.

· Council is negotiating with neighbouring councils and discussing a collaboration of tourism campaigns to combine funding.

The Committee discussed how the recent bushfires have impacted on tourism and local businesses.

Recommendation (Item to be determined under delegated authority)

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

RESOLVED (Juliet Barr / Mark Thirlwall)

That the Shoalhaven Tourism Advisory Group:

1. Receive the Tourism Manager’s Report for information.

2. Actively encourage the Tourism Team to work with the Federal and State Governments, and surrounding councils, in relation to tourism funding and campaigns where mutually beneficial.

CARRIED

Note: Clr Kitchener left the meeting at 5:48pm

TA20.11 Additional Item - Coronavirus Impacts on Tourism

The Group discussed the impacts of Coronavirus to Tourism:

· The virus has had a large impact on Tourism throughout Australia.

· Members of the group raised concerns of the impact the virus has had on confidence to travel.

· It was recognised that tourism has been impacted on a Local, National and International level.

RESOLVED (Clr White/Juliet Barr)

That the Shoalhaven Tourism Advisory Group:

1. Recognise the importance of Shoalhaven’s relationship with the Chinese visitor market, both self-drive and tour groups. Our hearts go out to those Chinese Nationals who have been affected.

2. Continue to welcome our Chinese friends to our beautiful region.

CARRIED

TA20.2 Destination Marketing

HPERM Ref: D20/10367

Kristy Mayhew - Tourism Marketing Specialist, addressed the meeting and advised there were no exceptions to the report.

Members of the Committee congratulated Kristy Mayhew and Shannan Perry-Hall for their work over the fire season and their readiness to welcome visitors back to the Shoalhaven.

Recommendation (Item to be determined under delegated authority)

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

RESOLVED (Brenda Sambrook / David Fleeting)

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

CARRIED

TA20.3 Events and Investment

HPERM Ref: D20/10333

Shannan Perry-Hall addressed the meeting and advised the following:

· That the updated sponsorship guidelines will be presented to the next meeting.

· There have been a lot of discussions with Council in relation to funding for local community events. There are around 30 new events at the end of March; Some are economic drivers and others are recovery events.

Recommendation (Item to be determined under delegated authority)

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

RESOLVED (Clr White / David Fleeting)

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

CARRIED

TA20.4 Visitor Services Update

HPERM Ref: D20/10394

Joe Puglisi – Visitor Services Manager, addressed the meeting:

· The previous quarter started off well.

· The December to January period went well however, it has since been impacted by evacuations and cancellations.

· Many enquiries were received about where to go and stay in the area as well as road closures during the bushfires.

· Members of the Group thanked Joe and his team for their work during the difficult times of the bushfires and acknowledged their hard work and commitment to keeping everyone updated with emergency information.

Recommendation (Item to be determined under delegated authority)

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

RESOLVED (Juliet Barr / Brenda Sambrook)

That the Shoalhaven Tourism Advisory Group:

1. Receive the Visitors Services Report for information.

2. Formally thank Visitor Services Group for their work during the recent bushfire crisis.

CARRIED

TA20.5 River Festival Committee Update

HPERM Ref: D20/11101

David Fleeting addressed the meeting and spoke to his report.

Clr White advised that the Koori Cup event is being held in the week preceding the River Festival and suggested that discussions be held with organisers of the Koori Cup to establish the opportunities for any collaboration.

Recommendation (Item to be determined under delegated authority)

That the Shoalhaven Tourism Advisory Group receive the Shoalhaven River Festival Committee report for information.

RESOLVED (Clr White / Juliet Barr)

That the Shoalhaven Tourism Advisory Group receive the Shoalhaven River Festival Committee report for information.

CARRIED

TA20.6 Bushfire Recovery Update

HPERM Ref: D20/18446

Shannan Perry-Hall addressed the meeting and advised that as a result of collaboration with the RFS, the Marketing team were able to promote the message “Welcome back to the Shoalhaven” shortly after the area was declared safe.

David Fleeting advised that flooding is still impacting people; as a region we are working with 3 pillars of catastrophe, drought, bushfire and floods. The area needs additional funding for clean-up.

Recommendation (Item to be determined under delegated authority)

That the Shoalhaven Tourism Advisory Group receive the Bushfire Recovery Update for information

RESOLVED (David Fleeting / David Duffy)

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

CARRIED

General Business

TA20.7 Working Group Updates

HPERM Ref: D20/11102

This is ongoing and will be reported to the next meeting.

TA20.8 Sports Board Update

HPERM Ref: D20/11715

David Goodman, Chair of Shoalhaven Sports Board was an apology for this meeting.

TA20.9 Councillors Update	HPERM Ref: D20/11724
Clr White advised that as a result of the bushfires businesses are really suffering and the quickest thing they need is cash flow. We may see a number of businesses close with 900 people out of work over the 3 week period. Retail industry has been affected immensely.

TA20.10 Industry Feedback

HPERM Ref: D20/11729

Rob Crow addressed the meeting and raised concerns regarding the allocation of funding that was donated during the bushfires to various organisations and GoFundMe pages.

The group discussed the need for Council to consider Tourism Marketing as a priority during future budget considerations.

Note: Juliet Barr left the meeting at 7:07pm

The meeting was closed due to a lack of quorum.

There being no further business, the meeting concluded, the time being 7:07PM.

Mr Robert Crow

CHAIRPERSON

Shoalhaven Tourism Advisory Group – Monday 10 August 2020

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TA20.11 Destination Marketing

HPERM Ref: D20/278162

Section: Tourism

Approver: Stephen Dunshea, Chief Executive Officer

Attachments: 1. Campaign Results Digest - Rejuvenate and Spend Here This Year - Resilience Australia Award submission. ⇩

2. Rejuvenate Campaign Strategy (under separate cover)

3. Spend Here This Year Campaign Strategy (under separate cover)

4. Marketing Strategy - COVID and Beyond (under separate cover)

5. Rejuvenate Campaign Publicity Tracker ⇩

6. Spend Here This Year Publicity Tracker ⇩

7. Research - Activity attended by Travel Party Mixer 2010 - 2019 ⇩

8. Research - Sydney Market by Activity and via Month travelled ⇩

9. Research - Shoalhaven Winery Market (under separate cover)

10. Research - Destination Think! Tourism Sentiment Index 2018 Report (under separate cover)

Reason for Report

To provide a summary of Destination Marketing activity from January – June 2020.

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

Industry News

Overview

January to June has been an unprecedented time for tourism with fires, floods and COVID-19. The 2020 NSW and Australian Tourism Business Awards were cancelled and Destination NSW Regional Visitor Economy Fund (RVEF) that has funded the Unspoilt campaign for the last seven years closed for the first time since its inception.

On a positive note, the goal of $1billion in total estimated expenditure was reached in the year to date December 2019 Tourism Research Australia figures. This target was the goal for 2020 and represents a 49% increase in visitors’ spend since 2014. Meeting this target early is a big achievement, especially considering the drop in figure that is inevitable for quarter one and two of 2020.

Research

Attached is research by Peter Valerio from Tourism Research Australia covering off several metrics. The team is considering different ways to share these insights with industry to help inform operator marketing decisions:

- Activity attended by Travel Party Mixer 2010 - 2019

- Sydney Market by Activity and via Month travelled

- Sydney mid-week Market Snapshot

- Domestic Overnight Winery Market

Our ongoing partnership with Destination Think!, a leading tourism marketing agency, continues, with the Tourism Sentiment Index (TSI) Report coming through for 2018. Shortly after receiving this report, Shoalhaven was invited to join TSI Live dashboard which measures, in real time, conversations across the internet from over 65 million sources, sorting them into positive or negative ratings and measuring the volume of conversations across a number of tourism experience pillars. This will enable strategic decisions to be made by identifying opportunities and areas of improvement. See attached report from 2018 which identified:

- Shoalhaven’s overall sentiment score is high in comparison to other destinations with 63% positive conversations online (destination average is around 50%)

- Identified Food Producers and Farmers Markets, as well as Museums and Galleries were potential growth opportunities

- Identified that Beaches and Shoreline, as well as Nature Photography were conversation drivers

- Identified that Festivals and Events, as well as Wildlife Viewing was an under performing asset

Business Chambers and Marketing Precinct Funding

During this period communication and support for industry was provided through regular video catch ups with Business Chambers and Industry Stakeholders, especially relating to campaign strategies and results.

Funds to Business Chambers and Marketing Precincts were awarded to the following groups:

- Berry Chamber of Commerce: $2,000 for reprint of Berry map and visitor leaflet

- Kangaroo Valley Chamber of Tourism and Commerce: $5,000 for updating maps and brochures

- Sussex Inlet Chamber of Commerce: $5,000 for Tourism Marketing strategy including new website and video content

Bushfire and COVID-19 Communications

Every summer the team is well versed in preparing a suite of communications to manage high visitor numbers. This summer the bushfire crisis required a new approach; disseminating Rural Fire Service (RFS) information relating to bushfires and NSW Health information relating to COVID-19 to visitors and operators in a timely manner was extremely important. Throughout the holiday period, from 20 December 2019 onwards, and whenever necessary, updates were provided via the Tourism Talk operator email that goes to around 1,500 people. Visitor communications were carefully crafted with collaboration between Council’s Executive Communications team and the Emergency Management Centre to ensure community safety was the number one priority.

Publicity

Overview

Publicity has been an important tool throughout the period. January to March is usually our peak season and there is little activity for that reason. However, the Rejuvenate and Spend Here This Year campaigns utilised publicity to reframe the sentiment of our visitors and take advantage of the organic media interest of the area. Several famils and articles were gained as well as a high level of support from the Destination NSW and Tourism Australia resulting in an overall reach of around 53 million both in Australia and abroad. Full publicity reports can be found in the attachments.

Highlights

Publication	Reach	Links / Update
Canberra Times	1.3M	South coast boutique produce still available to Canberra online https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/6733509/the-south-coast-isnt-as-far-away-as-it-seems-in-lockdown/
Urban List	135K	Shop From These Small Businesses And Help Support Bushfire Affected Areas https://www.theurbanlist.com/sydney/a-list/what-to-do-shoalhaven-southcoast?SHOALHAVEN
Australian Geographic	568K	Five reasons to escape to the Shoalhaven https://www.australiangeographic.com.au/travel/2020/05/five-reasons-to-escape-to-the-shoalhaven-asap/
TODAY Show Channel 9	350K	Thursday 27 May, Milton Weather crosses: Nowra Farmers Market, Belinda- Azure Hotel, Shoalhaven Mayor, Nick Gardner, Brett Richardson Shoalhaven Wine Coast. https://www.dropbox.com/sh/41l1aofsidfdwro/AAACkWzIPHQ9t-dTOSC3o8vVa?dl=0
TODAY Show Channel 9	350K	Berry Live Weather Crosses: Berry Donut Van, Milkwood Bakery, Regal Horse riding https://www.dropbox.com/sh/x1p7pivlrv8031p/AADR4rK_HY7aXmI_qlNOQ7Ija?dl=0
Sunrise on Seven	550K	U for Ulladulla Virtual Weather Crosses: Walking on Water, Libby Cupitt etc
Sunrise on Seven	550K	Bannisters, Mollymook Live Weather Crosses Rick Stein, Paradise Pet Park, Rosie Cupitt. http://my.tvey.es/m4EXw
Weekend Sunrise	1.6M	Huskisson Live Weather Crosses: Djiriba Waagura, Jim Wilds Oysters, JB SUP, Dive Jervis Bay. Click here
Studio 10, Channel 10	50K	Huskisson Live Crosses – Holiday Haven, Merciers Gelato, SUP with George, Dolphin Watch. Click here and here
Time Out Sydney	60K	The five best gourmet getaways for foodies in NSW https://www.timeout.com/sydney/travel/the-five-best-gourmet-getaways-SHOALHAVEN
Pedestrian TV	350K	Shoalhaven https://www.facebook.com/pedestriandottv/posts/10158510801312417
Australian Traveller	4.9M	The best ways to holiday here this year in NSW https://www.australiantraveller.com/nsw/best-ways-to-holiday-in-SHOALHAVEN
Social Media Influencers various – care packages with Shoalhaven goodies	1.4M	TV celebrities, influencers – Brittany Hockey (Batchelor), MattyJ, Tim Dormer, Melissa Hoyer (TV celebrities) etc. https://shoalhavencitycouncil.sharepoint.com/:x:/s/Marketing/EUthc-vnimBBkVDpXhRNKOkBEJdVunM3QFCEpUzWuIHSnA?e=HyDa0X
Huffington Post	1.2M	The Best NSW Destinations To Travel To When Restrictions Lifts https://www.huffingtonpost.com.au/entry/post-lockdown-destinations-nsw_au_5ec74a59c5b6698f38f51d9f

Rejuvenate Campaign

After a difficult Christmas break, the team pulled together a bushfire recovery campaign which hit the market by 15 January. This campaign utilised the goodwill of visitors to fill their #emptyeskies as well as widespread media interest in the area. The landing page shoalhaven.com/rejuvenate welcomed visitors back with a focus on what they can do whilst informing them of what they should be mindful of. After a summer of negative media, visitors were welcomed to rejuvenate themselves and #ResetYourFeed on social media.

The results were outstanding with around 20,000 page views and over 14,000 new visitors to shoalhaven.com between 15 January and 1 April. Paid reach on digital marketing campaigns reached 518,000 people and gained 1.4 million impressions. A robust publicity campaign reached more than 40 million people with key messages that their ‘small break can make a big contribution’.

Rich content was created with ambassadors from the region such as Shoalhaven City Council’s Mayor, Amanda Findley and Celebrity Chef, Rick Stein. This content was welcoming but also helped to ‘flip the script’ on widespread, and sometimes inaccurate, media reporting on the bushfire crisis. This campaign was submitted as a part of the NSW Resilience Awards as a great example of supporting communities post bushfires. Being one of the first tourism bodies to get back into market after such a difficult time is worthy of the recognition. See attached Rejuvenate Campaign Strategy and Resilience Award submission with detailed campaign results.

Spend Here This Year Campaign

A new challenge was presented with the onset of COVID-19 travel restrictions in late March. It was important to come up with a marketing strategy to support our tourism businesses without visitation! Spend Here This Year was created to leverage off Tourism Australia’s domestic campaign, “Holiday Here This Year” and was launched in April, focussed on product available for visitors to buy online, via vouchers, and virtual experiences, as well as product still available to locals via pick up, take away and delivery. Locals were an important market, and this motivated the creation of 168 new café and restaurant products on shoalhaven.com providing a directory of who was open for pick up and home delivery. A total of 275 products were showcased on the shoalhaven.com/spend here landing page.

It was important to support innovation of operators to create and market their products online, and to create compelling storytelling to engage locals to shop local, and visitors to support Shoalhaven businesses. A shop local campaign was launched through PowerFM, 2ST, South Coast Register and Milton Ulladulla Times, including a 4-page cover wrap ‘shopping guide’ and shout out to operators to get involved in the campaign via radio as well as engage locals to #SpendHereThisYear.

For visitors, an integrated marketing campaign was launched at an opportune time in a quiet media environment allowing for cut-through and great deals. Media partnerships with Sydney’s number one radio station SmoothFM, as well as editorial partnerships with popular blogs Urban List and Concrete Playground were gained at heavily reduced rates. 34 ‘care packages’ of Shoalhaven goodies were sent to influencers and celebrities to feature on social media resulting in a reach of 1.4 million.

Rich content was key to storytelling with a collaborative video of tourism operators reaching over 20,000 views, view here.^{^[1]} Virtual wine tastings were launched weekly towards the end of the campaign and gained over 10,000 views across five wineries. Between April and June, the campaign activity reached over half a million impressions on social media and 18,500 visitors to the landing page. The publicity campaign reached over 13 million people.

COVID and Beyond Strategy

A strategy was put together in April, in preparation for travel restrictions easing and welcoming visitors back. This strategy was presented via MS Teams video to Business Chambers and some key industry stakeholders for endorsement and provided a way forward for when ‘the coast is clear’. Key strategies were continuing to engage localhood, continue Spend Here This Year, relaunch Rejuvenate campaign, and prepare for an early summer. See attached strategy for more information.

Wine and Whales Campaign

Before COVID-19 and Bushfires, plans for Winter and Spring 2020 were to feature a wine and whales campaign. Both experience pillars have a strong off-season offering and are lesser known comparative to other regions with these product assets.

Two fold-out DL information brochures will support this campaign. The first, in partnership with the Shoalhaven Wine Coast Industry Association, refreshes their old version with a new look and feel. The other, a brand-new whale watching brochure highlighting Shoalhaven’s unique wildlife viewing, as well as tourism operators. Wine and Whales publicity and digital marketing activations will be rolling out between July and October.

Business Events Strategy

With a growing leisure market in the Shoalhaven, weekend capacity is strong year-round. To capitalise on the remaining inventory, mid-week, we are working on a business events strategy in partnership with Shoalhaven Business Chamber. Destination NSW and NSW Business Chamber have focussed on regional conferencing with support and pledges to ‘Back the Bush’. Now is an opportune time to create a strategy, build brand awareness and work with venues and service operators to present as a strong destination for meetings, incentives, conferencing, and events.

Phase one of the strategy is product development, business workshops, creation of a brochure and a video promo reel and continue to work with the Destination NSW Business Events team on locking in events for the region.

South Coast, DNSW, Tourism Australia Partnerships

Recovery campaigns from Destination NSW and Tourism Australia have supported publicity and social media activity throughout 2020. However, without the Unspoilt campaign there is a new opportunity in the marketing calendar to try something new.

Destination NSW is focussing 2020 activity on the broad awareness campaign to Love NSW and offered Local Government Areas and cooperatives to buy-in to this campaign. However, with campaign activity not launching until August and September as well as the structure of presenting only three operators in an experience pillar, did not suit the needs of Kiama, Shellharbour, and Shoalhaven this year. Destination NSW is undergoing a visitor economy review and we hope to have supportable collaborative opportunities available in 2021.

The South Coast partners, Shellharbour, Kiama, and Shoalhaven are working on options for a conversion or booking partnership directly in July in lieu of this gap in our marketing calendar left by the Unspoilt campaign.

Visitor Guide

Due to the inability to distribute Visitor Guides in our busiest two quarters of the year, we have a surplus of around 45,000 guides as of 1 July. To make sure the 2020 guide advertisers get their due exposure, the current guide will carry through into 2021, perhaps with a reprint to get through to September 2021 when the 2022 guide will be released. It is also a very difficult climate to expect operators to have spare advertising dollars this year, so advertising for the next guide will be postponed until March 2021. This will free up time for our Graphic Designer to work with Marketing Precincts and Business Chambers on assisting them to update designs on their own collateral, and also onboard with our new Digital Asset Management System, a new online video and image storage solution.

Other Projects

The Marketing team is working with Visitor Services on a Live Chat option for shoalhaven.com, as well as a new operating system and design for our touchscreens in both Visitor Centres. The team is also leading the way by onboarding the organisation onto the new Digital Asset Management solution, Cumulus, which will house and organise all our video and image content in an easily manageable and secure manner.

Digital Marketing

Highlights

Bushfires and COVID-19 have resulted in a year of record lows and highs for Shoalhaven Tourism’s digital assets. The team responded quickly to change, creating new campaigns like Spend Here This Year and Rejuvenate Shoalhaven, and rewriting social media plans. January and April saw the biggest drops in digital activity. In February, Rejuvenate Shoalhaven created growth before digital activity was ceased in March and April due to COVID-19. During that downtime, web traffic fell 70% and social media engagement fell 80%.

April’s launch of Spend Here This Year and a re-launch of Rejuvenate Shoalhaven have seen traffic and engagement improve week by week with June experiencing record highs of website visitors (160%), pageviews (147%) subscriber growth (112%) and social media reach (183%). Visitor Guide downloads and 100 Beach Challenge engagement remain low due to decreased advertising in this area; however, campaign developments now and over the spring are expected to improve outcomes.

Shoalhaven.com

Website traffic, pageviews and sessions have had troughs of –70% and peaks of 160% growth year on year, as both consumers and our marketing strategies have changed and adjusted to the pressures of 2020. Traditionally, we could expect to see steady growth of 20% a month with highs in January and April holiday periods, however in 2020 these were our lowest months, with web traffic down between 30% and 70%. Campaign activity saw growth in February (12%), May (62%) and June (160%). Guide downloads are still quite low (down -95% overall), largely due to Spend Here This Year Campaign directing web visitors to shop online, however the Visitor Guide and Pets on Holidays are recovering more quickly.

Facebook

Facebook continues to be a key part of Shoalhaven Tourism’s marketing strategy which has delivered audience growth every month bar February this year. Drops in engagement peaked in April at around 86% while campaigns were suspended and rebuilt, however May and June have seen significant improvement with June returning to or exceeding pre-COVID levels. Audience growth remained steady at around 3% a month. Facebook is a strong referrer to shoalhaven.com and strongly growing YoY; it now ranks higher than referrals from Visit NSW which dropped by 50% during COVID-19.

Instagram

Instagram also continues to be a key part of marketing strategies and has weathered the storm better than Facebook. Inspirational and engaging content like beaches, whales and wildlife has continued to deliver audience growth of around 50% a month. Engagement went from 156% growth year on year in January, to a low of –54% in April but is returning to pre-COVID levels in June.

Rejuvenate Campaign

Rejuvenate campaign was in-market from January to April, and ongoing from June generating 26,000 pageviews on shoalhaven.com, 71% of which were new visitors indicating solid growth into new markets. We collaborated with Destination NSW and Tourism Australia, reaching 520,000 people on social media alone, and over 2 million impressions.

Spend Here This Year Campaign

Spend Here This Year was Shoalhaven Tourism’s response to COVID-19 closures and directed our target markets locally, regionally and in the ACT to shop online, buy vouchers for future travel or find local deliveries and takeaway via shoalhaven.com. 275 new listings were created for the website, and almost 20,000 pageviews generated between May and June. Again, 71% were new visitors indicating new ground for Shoalhaven markets. Digital advertising reached 216,000 people with almost 350,000 engagements and almost 600,000 impressions. Its legacy is improved online shopping opportunities on shoalhaven.com and a greater awareness of our beautiful food, wine, art and giftware.

Visitor Email Newsletter

Monthly newsletters have been well received with an average open rate of 33% which is above the industry average of 31%. Subscribers have increased monthly by an average of 80%, with most of our fans aged 35 and over, hailing from Sydney, Canberra, and Nowra. During COVID-19 we replaced the Events section with Spend Here This Year opportunities, sending 719 leads directly to operators online shopping experiences.

Tourism Talk Email Newsletter

Tourism Talk’s most popular content has been COVID-19 information, resources and support and information on how to get involved with Local and State marketing campaigns. The average open rate is 37%, above industry average of 33%. Usually a monthly resource, in 2020 Shoalhaven Tourism has sent 16 newsletters to industry between January and June.

100 Beach Challenge

The 100 Beach Challenge has been largely an organic campaign in 2020, with weekly albums reduced to fortnightly or monthly as COVID-19 reduced travel particularly over Easter. As a result, traffic has dropped by around 40% which we expect will improve a little over the Spring and certainly coming into Summer. We introduced greater analytics in May with the Top 5 beaches being Bherwerre Beach, Sussex Inlet Beach, Lobster Bay, Cudmirrah Beach and Abrahams Bosom Beach. The least checked-into beaches were Manyana Beach, Kioloa Beach, Bull Pup Beach, Gannet Beach and Flat Rock Beach (Hyams Beach ranks number 37).

Up Next

2020/21 Action Plan

Wine and Whales Campaign

Business Events Campaign

100 Beach Challenge and Summer planning

Industry Research Presentation

Shoalhaven Tourism Advisory Group – Monday 10 August 2020

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TA20.12 Tourism Manager Update

HPERM Ref: D20/281159

Section: Tourism

Approver: Stephen Dunshea, Chief Executive Officer

Reason for Report

To give a brief outline of the Tourism Manager’s activity over February 2020 – June 2020.

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 from the Tourism Manager.

Background

Coralie continues to act as the Section Manager, Recreation, Community and Culture. Shannan took on the role of Recovery Action Team Lead – Economy / Tourism (see Bushfire Recovery Report for further information) which is continuing into July 2020. Coralie and Shannan continue to share the Tourism Manager role to ensure core functions continue during these periods of secondment.

Staffing

- Events and Investments Specialist:

o Emelie Einarsson continues to backfill part of the Events and Investments Specialist role.

- Administration:

o Kerrel RossKelly continues to act in Emelie’s Senior Administration role.

- Project Officer:

o Sharon Neradil has been seconded to Assets and Works for 6 months but will continue her work with the Hyams Beach community during the secondment.

- Project Manager:

o Michelle Green has been appointed to the role of Tourism Project Manager to deliver the Shoalhaven Sustainable Tourism Infrastructure Package.

The Tourism team continue to work from home, with exception to the Visitor Services Team who are working from the Nowra and Ulladulla Visitor Information Centres.

General Updates

Visitor Economy

Despite tourism downturn due to both bush fire and COVID-19 impacts data from Tourism Research Australia shows our target of $1 billion by 2020 had been reached towards the end of 2020. This was a very ambitious target set by Council 5 years ago and is an increase in spend (not visitor numbers) by 41% in the last 3.5 years (Dec 2016 figures). More recent data (year ending March 2020) demonstrates a decline in the visitor economy by approximately $100 million. Remaining active in the market post bushfire and during COVID lockdowns has proven successful, with many operators recording their best June on record. Hopefully, figures show positive growth early in the 2020/2021 Financial Year.

Visitor Economy Priorities

Work was recently undertaken in partnership with DSSS and Regional NSW to ensure Shoalhaven’s infrastructure and product development needs in relation to recovery and growth of the visitor economy where clear and links to strategies identified. This information will help when grant funding becomes available.

Koori Rugby League Knockout

Due to COVID-19 restrictions the 2020 Koori Rugby League Knockout has been postponed; the event will be held in Nowra in 2021. Shoalhaven Tourism will continue to work with organisers to offer advice, support, and event approvals.

Hyams Beach

Works continue to progress to assist this small village in peak times. Current focus is on:

· Illowra Lane Temporary Roundabout road widening and drainage works beginning in readiness for trial over October Long Weekend

· Hyams Beach Masterplan almost completed – taking into consideration Sustainable Infrastructure Grant funding

· Planning and preparation for managing visitors over October Long Weekend

· Consultation with HBVA, Hyams community and businesses is ongoing

Tourism School of Excellence

After initial discussions between industry, Department of Education, Skills and Employment and Regional NSW, a consultant has been engaged by the Department of Regional NSW to investigate opportunities to establish a Hospitality and Tourism Centre of Excellence in the South Coast. A key component of the work has involved undertaking stakeholder consultations to obtain input on options for a South Coast Centre of Excellence to be assessed in a business case.

Changes to Destination Sydney Surrounds South

Destination Sydney Surrounds South have made some changes to their Board and management line up. Catherine Shields is the new Chair and they will be advertising for 3 new roles: General Manager, Business Development Manager and Administration Officer.

Attended or presented at

- Huskisson Chamber of Commerce Meeting – 11 February

- Visitor Economy Recovery Summit, Willinga Park – 20 February

- Wreck Bay Aboriginal Community Council Meeting – 26 February

- Austrade Regional Tourism Bushfire Recovery Grants – Information session – 27 February

- Department of Education, Skills and Employment Meeting – 4 March

- Business and Employment Development Committee – 4 March

- Recovery and Resilience Workshop – 5 March

- Ulladulla Local Aboriginal Land Council – 12 March

- Tourism Centre of Excellence Workshop – 18 March

- Post-Event Analysis Meeting Big Husky Triathlon – 28 April

- Sydney Melbourne Touring Partners Meeting – 4 May

- NSW Small Business Information Webinar – 13 May

- Business Chamber and Industry Stakeholders Meeting – 14 May

- Streets as Shared Spaces Information Webinar – 9 June

- Ecotourism Destination Certification Meeting – 10 June

- Illawarra First Economic Recovery Forum – 15 June

- DNSW / Shoalhaven Meeting with Steve Cox (DNSW CEO) – 15 June

- Office of Local Government Webinar 26 June

- Department of Regional NSW South Coast Centre of Excellence Workshop – 30 June

Key priorities over the next few months

Bushfire / COVID-19 Recovery

Focusing on supporting our local businesses and organisations to re-emerge, recover and flourish. Continuing to support the marketing team with roll-out of marketing campaigns.

Ensuring clear communication of other activities and funding opportunities for operators.

Working together with industry, as well as all levels of government to collaborate on event support (including business events), marketing and information to industry.

Shoalhaven Sustainable Tourism Infrastructure Package

The $6.8 million-dollar tourism infrastructure project deed has been signed and Project Manager, Michelle Green has been appointed. Michelle has delivered a wide range of Local Government infrastructure projects with Wingecarribee Shire Council and in the private school sector, for the Anglican Schools Corporation. Having grown up in the Shoalhaven, Michelle is excited to return home to the South Coast and is looking forward to working with Council staff and the community to deliver the projects and enhance tourism infrastructure for both visitors and residents.

Project locations include:

· Plantation Point

· Palm Beach

· St Georges Basin/Sanctuary Point

· Bherwerre Wetland

· Hyams Beach

· Ulladulla Headland and Warden Head Walking Trails

· Murramarang Coastal Walk Extension

In accordance with the Restart NSW Grant Guidelines, the projects will be delivered over the next three years. Council will be conducting community consultation as the projects progress.

2020/2021 Planning

Development of annual action plans (from the Destination Management Plan), in collaboration with STAG working groups will commence in the coming month and will be reported back formally to STAG at the next meeting.

Nowra VIC Relocation

The Shoalhaven Entertainment Centre will be closing temporarily to carry out important repairs. To facilitate the continued operation of Visitor Services and bookings there will be a temporary relocation of Visitor Services and Box Office operations to Council’s administration building foyer; more details to come as the project progresses.

University of Wollongong Research Project, S4 – Sun, Sand, Sea and Sustainability

The final stage of the project is currently being completed which involves testing the 7 assessment tools developed by UOW across both development and vulnerability scales with the expert panels. The assessment tools cover Socio-Cultural, Governance and Engagement, Transport, Built Environment, Economic, Natural Environment and Services.

Shoalhaven 360 Model

The most current data collections and survey results have been collected, cleansed, loaded into our current platform and are being reviewed. Any relevant interested parties are continually working to find new and relevant data. The 360-model website was updated and now presents as a user friendly, more engaging platform. The team would like to find new and more relevant data to review, clean and provide results. Collaboration with Environment, Shoalhaven Water and the UOW S4 project are ongoing.

Shoalhaven Tourism Advisory Group – Monday 10 August 2020

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TA20.13 Events Report

HPERM Ref: D20/281416

Section: Tourism

Approver: Stephen Dunshea, Chief Executive Officer

Attachments: 1. John Barilaro Stuart Ayres med rel - 59 Regional events receive Government funding to boost local tourism economies ⇩

2. Business Events Overview - Shoalhaven ⇩

3. Hosting the Annual Conference 2020 Criteria ⇩

Reason for Report

To update the Shoalhaven Tourism Advisory Group on event-related activities.

Recommendation (Item to be determined under delegated authority)

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

Options

1. Receive the report for information.

2. Request more information.

General

· Staffing arrangements – Emelie Einarsson continues to backfill part of the Events and Investments Specialist role, while Shannan Perry-Hall continues as Acting Tourism Manager.

· While gathering restrictions are still in place and prohibiting a lot of events from occurring, the events team is closely working with event organisers who wish to push forward with their planning and approval processes, as well as offering advice, support and information about opportunities available.

· Asia Pacific Incentives Meetings Event Convention (AIME) – Acting Events Specialist attended the AIME convention which was held in Melbourne February. Willinga Park and Bannisters Mollymook co-exhibited with Shoalhaven Tourism.

· Triple J ‘One Night Stand’ – prior to the COVID-19 outbreak, Shoalhaven City Council supported the community bid to bring Triple J’s One Night Stand to the Shoalhaven at the Strategy and Asset meeting on Tuesday 10 March 2020. Plans have stalled until restrictions on public gatherings are lifted.

In Progress

· Updated Event Support Program implementation – updated/new forms and website information ongoing.

· Event Sponsorship agreement – new contractual terms currently being reviewed by SCC Legal Counsel. Once reviewed and updated, the new documents will be submitted to the STAG working group for review.

· Event Application, Event Policy and Event Guidelines – draft updated documents are currently being reviewed. Updated policy will be presented to Council before proceeding to the public notification period.

· Development of Business Events Brochure & Video in partnership with Shoalhaven Business Chamber and DNSW. Seeing an increase in the number of venues & suppliers listing their product on the MeetInNSW, https://www.meetinnsw.com.au/

· 2020/2021 event planning in partnership with Shoalhaven Water for supported sporting events. Specifically looking for opportunities to activate the Bomaderry Sporting Complex with large events.

· 2020/2021 event planning for the Event Support Program, including the assessment of several EOIs for funding.

· Currently working with several event organisers who are developing new events, providing advice, links to funding opportunities and letters of support.

· In communication with event organisers regarding potential grants opportunities through the 2022 Road World Championship – Wollongong Legacy Partnership Program https://sport.nsw.gov.au/2022-uci-road-world-championships-%E2%80%93-wollongong-legacy-partnership-program

· In communication with venue operator/s regarding potential submission of an EOI for the LGNSW 2022 Annual Conference.

Events

2020/2021 – Event permits issued

Month	Event name	Location
February	Terra Nova Adventure Race	Huskisson
July	Husky Markets	Huskisson Sportsground
July	Rally of the Bay	Shallow Crossing / State Forest
September	Husky Running Festival	White Sands Park, Huskisson
November 20 till February 2021	Farmers Market at Burrill	Lions Park, Burrill Lake
Start Date TBC	Marriot Park Markets	Marriot Park, Nowra

2020/2021 - Event applications currently being assessed

Month	Event name	Location
September	Big Country Music Festival	Berry Showground
September	Viking Festival	Sussex Inlet
October	Summit Shoalhaven	Kangaroo Valley
October	South Coast Food & Wine Festival	White Sands Park, Huskisson
October	Kangaroo Valley Folk Festival	Kangaroo Valley Showground
October	Dream Cricket Gala Day	Nowra Showground
October	Shoalhaven River Festival	Nowra
November	The Bay Games	White Sands Park, Huskisson
November	L’Etape Australia	Course using large amount of road within Shoalhaven + Berry Showground as finish precinct
November	Little Husky Triathlon Festival	White Sands Park, Huskisson
TBA	Long Course Weekend	Huskisson

Events postponed or cancelled due to Bushfire and/or COVID-19

Month	Event Name	Location	Status
March	Women’s Wellness Festival	Nowra Showground	Cancelled
March	Surf’n’Turf	Sussex Inlet	Postponed
March	Nowra Relay for Life	Nowra Showground	Postponed
April	Easter Event	Sussex Inlet	Cancelled
April	Callala Easter Festival	Callala Bay Sportsground	Cancelled
April	Monster Charity Day	Shoalhaven Heads	Cancelled
April	Blessing of Fleet	Ulladulla	Cancelled
April	Anzac Day Services	Various locations	Cancelled
May	Big Country Music Festival	Berry Showground	Postponed till September
May	Jervis Bay in Day	Jervis Bay	Cancelled
May	Mini Dulla Rally	Shallow Crossing	Cancelled
May	Huskisson Mothers Classic	Huskisson	Cancelled/did a virtual event instead
May	Milton Food & Wine Festival	Milton Showground	Postponed
May	National Motoring Heritage Day	Berry Showground	Cancelled
May	Sussex RSL Fireworks	Sussex Inlet	Cancelled
June	Viking Festival	Sussex Inlet	Postponed till September
June	StoryFest	Various	Cancelled
June	Climbing Festival	Nowra	Cancelled
June	Berry Mountain Classic	Berry	Cancelled
July	NAIDOC events	Various locations	Postponed
July	12 Days of Christmas	Huskisson	Cancelled
July	Aussie Night Markets	Nowra Showground	Cancelled
July	Chilli & Chocolate Festival	Turf Club, Nowra	Cancelled
August	Husky Duathlon	White Sands Park, Huskisson	Postponed
October	Sand & Sea Festival	Huskisson	Cancelled
October	Spring into Sanctuary Point	Francis Ryan Reserve	Cancelled
October	Koori Knockout	Bomaderry Sporting Complex	Cancelled
November	Fairground Music Festival	Berry Showground	Postponed new date TBC

Filming applications assessed, and permits issued

Month	Event Name	Location
February	TV Production	Berry
March	Elle Magazine Shoot	Huskisson
May	Tourism Australia Recovery Campaign	Narrawallee
June	Family Feud	Mollymook

Filming applications assessed

Event Name	Location
Tourism Australia Ad	Shoalhaven
NRMA Television Commercial	Nerriga
Freemantle Filming Production	Milton/Conjola
TV Production, Channel Nine	Nowra
Commercial Campaign	Ulladulla

Event Campaigns/Programs

The events team is currently assisting operators and event organisers to navigate through various event related opportunities and campaigns. These have been designed to help those suffering from the impacts of bushfire, drought or COVID-19. The Tourism Talk newsletter is used as the mechanism for sharing this information with the industry.

· 2020 Destination Network Regional Scholarship Program –DNSW in collaboration with Meetings and Events Australia (MEA), has developed the Regional Scholarship Program, which offers scholarships to people in regional NSW to undertake a Diploma of Event Management. 2020 Destination Network Regional Scholarship Program – Diploma of Event Management

· Business Events Boost Program – Business Events Australia has released an opportunity to access funding for domestic conferencing, the Program is open to applicants who have at least 12 months’ demonstrated business events experience in corporate incentives, corporate meetings, exhibitions or association meetings. The core purpose is to help boost desire for events domestically as the industry recovers from the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

https://businessevents.australia.com/en/plan-your-event/news-ideas/business-events-australia-boost-program.html

· Backing the Bush – The NSW Business Chamber has launched its new campaign to help communities suffering from the impacts of bushfire and drought. The campaign, Backing The Bush is a website where companies of all sizes can pledge their promise to hold a board, management or staff meeting in one of the impacted areas; the campaign has been extended to 2021. https://www.backingthebush.com.au/1000

· Great Southern Nights – The event is a NSW Government initiative, delivered by its tourism and major events agency Destination NSW in partnership with ARIA, to kick start the recovery of the live music, entertainment and hospitality industries. https://www.greatsouthernnights.com.au/

Results

Regional Tourism Bushfire Recovery Fund - administered by Austrade

Information provided in the report to the Strategy & Assets Meeting held on Tuesday 11 February 2020 informed Council that due to funding being oversubscribed for the Resilience and Economic Recovery Fund (Council received 59 applications, seeking $771.564 worth of financial support, with $250,000 to allocate) some of the larger economic driver events would be included in other available funding programs. One of the programs identified was the Regional Tourism Bushfire Recovery Grants, administered by Austrade.

The Australian Government has committed a total of $10 million to the Regional Tourism Bushfire Recovery (RTBR) program. The RTBR program is part of the Government’s $76 million tourism recovery package to protect jobs, small businesses, and local economies.

The Austrade Bushfire Tourism Recovery Initiatives Program (stream two) applications were specifically identified to support larger events (including the promotion of those events), and/or other visitor attractions such as art installations and tourist walks. Applicants were advised to make their proposals scalable as they may not receive the full funding amount sort. Stream 2 had a total funding allocation of $7.5 million.

On 8 May Council submitted an application for Shoalhaven’s key economic driver events to the value of $200,000. Events included:

· Meet Me in the South Coast $75,000

· Big Country $25,000

· Burradise $25,000

· Fairgrounds $25,000

· South Coast Food & Wine Festival $25,000

· Huskisson Triathlon Festival $25,000

On 25 May, Council was asked to provide a lower and mid-scale option for each of the six (6) projects. This included removing some items in the budget or reducing the cost in certain areas.

Council submitted the below options for consideration:

Event / Activity	Original Request $	Mid-Scale $ option (90% original request)	Lower Scale $ option (80% original request)
Meet Me in the South Coast	75,000	67,500	60,000
Big Country	25,000	22,500	20,000
Burradise	25,000	22,500	20,000
Fairgrounds	25,000	22,500	20,000
South Coast Food & Wine Festival	25,000	22,500	20,000
Huskisson Triathlon Festival	25,000	22,500	20,000
TOTAL	200,000	180,000	160,000

The application for the following projects submitted under the RTBR Grant Program – Stream two (2) were successful:

· $65,000 for Meet me in the South Coast

· $20,000 for Big Country Festival

· $20,000 for Fairgrounds Festival

· $20,000 for South Coast Food and Wine Festival

· $20,000 for Huskisson Triathlon Festival.

This is an initial funding offer; Burradise Festival has been placed on the reserve list, and should program funds remain available, after all applications have been considered, Council will be contacted regarding the remaining project.

It is important to note there is no scope at this stage to change events or funding amounts without going back to the funding body and asking for a variation.

DNSW Regional Event Fund

On 26 June 2020 it was announced that Regional New South Wales will receive a welcome boost to tourism with 59 events to share in the NSW Government’s $1 million 2020 Regional Event Fund. The NSW Government, through its tourism and major events agency Destination NSW, is providing funding to event organisers across the state to deliver events that will attract visitors and drive economic activity for local businesses.

The events team worked closely with a number of event organisers to assist with application development, letters of support and economic impact summaries. 5 Shoalhaven events were successful with 2 events through Flagship Event Fund and 3 events through the Micro Event Fund.

Flagship Event Fund

· StoryFest (Milton, Mollymook and Ulladulla) $20,000

· The Bay Games (Huskisson) $20,000

Micro Event Fund

· Rising from the Ashes’ Shoalhaven Car Rally (Sussex Inlet to Kioloa) $10,000

· SeeChange Jervis Bay Arts Festival (Huskisson) $10,000

· Viking Festival’ A Celebration of our Scandinavian Heritage (Sussex Inlet) $10,000

Bushfire Community Resilience and Economic Recovery Fund (BCRERF)

Shoalhaven City Council received funding from the BCRERF which is jointly funded by the Commonwealth and NSW State Governments. Total funding allocated to Council is $250,000 for small scale local activities that will kick-start the social and economic recovery of communities through the ‘Bushfire Community Resilience and Economic Recovery Fund’.

In accordance with the Notice of Motion resolved at the Strategy & Assets Meeting held on Tuesday 11 February (MIN20.106) and further amendment resolved by Council on Tuesday 25 February (MIN20.137), the following funds were allocated:

a. $50,000 to the Nowra Show Society for the staging of the 2020 Nowra Show (February 2020);

b. $25,000 to the Kangaroo Valley Show Society for the staging of the 2020 Kangaroo Valley Show (February 2020);

c. $25,000 to the Milton Show Society for the staging of the 2020 Milton Show;

d. $50,000 to the Rotary Club of Milton-Ulladulla for the staging of the 2020 Ulladulla Blessing of the Fleet (April 2020);

e. $25,000 to the Friends of Milton Library for the staging of the 2020 StoryFest (June 2020)

It was further passed that Council:

f. Establish a $75,000 ‘Shoalhaven Resilience and Economic Recovery Fund’;

g. Seeks submissions for funds of up to $25,000 from Shoalhaven community organisations to stage events in 2020; and

h. Council staff to submit a report recommending the allocation of the ‘Shoalhaven Resilience and Economic Recovery Fund’ to the March Ordinary Council Meeting following submissions from local community organisations.

On 21 April 2020 (MIN20.263) it was resolved that Council supported the funds of $50,000 from the Bushfire Community Resilience and Economic Recovery Fund, $50,000 from the Disaster Recovery Funding (MIN20.191) and the outstanding $2,200 from the Tourism Support Program to be allocated to:

a. Ulladulla Blessing of the Fleet 2020 – postponed until 2021 - $50,000

b. StoryFest 2020 – postponed until 2021 - $25,000

c. Farm Fencing Field Day (South Coast Beef) - $9,200

d. Coming out of Adversity (Milton Ulladulla Business Chamber) - $12,500

e. Watch and Act Show (Fortwelve) - $9,600

f. Shoalhaven Home, Petal and Paws (The Flagstaff Group) - $5,800

g. Shoalhaven Readers and Writers Festival (Festival Committee) - $2,800

h. Vincentia Winter Festival (Vincentia Chamber of Commerce) - $8,900

i. The Happiness Symposium (Noah’s Inclusion Services) - $5,000

j. Berry Small Farm Field Days (Rotary Club of Berry) - $1,300

k. Changemakers Film and Showcase Event (Headspace Nowra and Sonder Youth) $12,500

l. Apex Community Camps (Apex Club of Milton Ulladulla) - $11,700

m. Ngulla NAIDOC Festival (Ulladulla Local Aboriginal Land Council) - $3,500

n. Salon of Local Artists (Kangaroo Valley Arts Festival Inc) - $1,400

o. Nowra Water Dragons Fire Recovery Regatta (Nowra Water Dragons Club and Outrigger Canoe Club) - $4,200

p. Berry Celtic Festival (Rotary Club of Berry) - $1,300

q. Sing Express Hope Festival (Our Town Inc) - $12,500

Tourism Event Support Program

In the 17/18 Operational Destination Management Plan, the Tourism Event Support Program was identified as a priority to review and streamline and in early 2018, a working group of STAG was formed to assist and provide guidance on a way forward. In June 2018 it was resolved that the Shoalhaven Tourism Advisory Group endorse and support the Working Group’s recommended changes to the Tourism Event Support application. The approved changes have been made to the Tourism Event Support application form, and guidelines have been drafted to reflect recommendations.

The events team met with the Working Group on 21 April 2020 to provide an update of progress to date. The Working Group provided their final feedback, the Event Support Program’s guidelines and application form have now been amended to reflect the feedback.

The next steps are:

1. Present amended documentation (Tourism Event Support guidelines and application form) to STAG and to seek their support / final feedback.

2. With the support of STAG, a report will go to Group Directors for consideration.

2019/2020 Supported Events Wrap Up

The aim of the Tourism Event Support Program is to drive off-season visitation, supporting year-round jobs and evening out traditional peaks and troughs in visitation. The 2019/2020 Financial Year saw a strong mix of sport, art, culture and music events across the Shoalhaven. In total, 33 events were financially supported, with an estimated economic impact (based on REMPLAN reporting) of over $35 million.

As a part of the bush fire recovery plan Shoalhaven Tourism offered Kangaroo Valley, Milton and Nowra Show $4,000 event funding. Shoalhaven Tourism would normally not fund shows but saw this as a quick way to add to the show’s marketing budgets and boost visitation post bush fire.

2019/2020 Supported Events

Event Name	Date of the Event	Venue/Location	Economic Benefit (with accompanying partners)
Jul-19
AFL Junior Championships	5th - 6th	Nowra	$158,000.00
Chilli Chocolate Festival	30th	Nowra	$322,000.00
Aug-19
Husky Running Festival	28th - 1st	Huskisson	$676,000.00
My Travel Festival	11th	Nowra	$270,000.00
South Coast Soul Festival	23rd - 25th	Huskisson	$308,000.00
Sep-19
South Coast Food and Wine	14th - 15th	Berry	$3,346,000.00
Bondi2Berry	7th	Berry	$90,000.00
Oct-19
Kangaroo Valley Folk Festival	18th - 20th	Kangaroo Valley	$984,000.00
Shoalhaven River Festival	28th - 29th	Nowra	$1,728,000.00
Berry Duathlon	28th	Huskisson & Nowra	$1,501,000.00
Sand & Sea Festival	25th - 27th	Huskisson	$1,063,000.00
PGA Seniors State Championships	14th - 19th	Mollymook	$1,009,000.00
Nov-19
Inaugural National Indigenous Football League	3rd - 5th	Nowra	$400,000.00
The Bay Games	9th – 1st	Huskisson	$2,540,000.00
4-slam Basketball	1st	Nowra	$500,500.00
Long Course Weekend	15th - 17th	Huskisson	$1,001,000.00
Dec-19
Fairgrounds	6th - 7th	Berry	$2,898,000.00
Callala Ultimate Triathlon Festival	7th	Callala	$467,000.00
Jan-20
SUMMER / SCHOOL HOLIDAYS
Feb-20
Kangaroo Valley Show	14th - 15th	Kangaroo Valley	$984,000.00
Rescue South Coast Aquathon	28th	Huskisson	$199,000.00
Nowra Show	7th - 8th	Nowra	$691,000.00
Mar-20
Terra Nova 24 Adventure Race 2020	14th - 15th	Huskisson	$219,000.00
Rotary International District Annual Conference	6th - 8th	Ulladulla	$4,100,000.00
ACT Brumbies South Coast 7s	1st - 2nd	Ulladulla	$753,610.00
Milton Show	6th - 7th	Milton	$864,000.00
Apr-20
Easter
May-20
National Motoring Heritage Day (postponed)	17th	Berry	$201,000.00
Big Country Festival (postponed)	11th	Berry	$2,128,000.00
Shoalhaven Pro Junior (postponed)	22nd - 24th	Culburra Beach	$500,000.00
Jun-20
SeeChange Festival (held online)	30th May to 08 June	Jervis Bay/Huskisson	$3,169,000.00
Viking Festival (postponed)	6th - 7th	Sussex Inlet	$1,385,000.00
Shoalhaven Ulladulla Yoga, Health and Wellbeing Festival (postponed)	20th	Ulladulla	$215,000.00
TOTALS			$34,670,110.00

Up Next

· Organiser communication and planning stage for a new major event in 2020:

- L’Etape Australia by Tour de France 27-28 November – at this stage, the event is still going ahead, however L’Etape has developed a COVID-19 re-fund policy in case the event is forced to be postpone. The “Race” route was revealed on Tuesday 31 March and the “Ride” Route was revealed on 8 July 2020 at www.letapeaustralia.com. Information can also be found at Shoalhaven City Council’s “Get Involved Page” https://getinvolved.shoalhaven.nsw.gov.au/ltape-australia.

Due to the current restrictions on public gatherings, L’Étape Australia by Tour de France held its first Facebook Live broadcast dedicated to the local community on 25 March 2020 at 6pm. In order to watch the Facebook Live broadcast, you must be a member of the L’Étape Australia Local Community Group. L’Étape Australia by Tour de France will hold its 2^nd Facebook broadcast on Wednesday 22 July 2020 at 5:30pm on the L’Étape Australia Local Community Facebook Group.

· Continue to assess and support events through the Event Support Program

· Continue to work through new event planning documents and approvals

Shoalhaven Tourism Advisory Group – Monday 10 August 2020

Page 0

TA20.14 Visitor Services Update

HPERM Ref: D20/282214

Section: Tourism

Approver: Stephen Dunshea, Chief Executive Officer

Reason for Report

To give an update on Visitor Information Services activity from July 2019 to June 2020.

Recommendation (Item to be determined under delegated authority)

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

Options

1. Receive the report for information

2. Request more information

Visitor Centres

Visitor Services had a very interesting year. The centres at Nowra and Ulladulla began the year positively, with solid inquiries and bookings. Sales of local produce and maps were improving. Then we had two unprecedented events; the bushfire crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic both effectively closed our tourism industry for a significant period of time, and ongoing.

The summer period started off well for both visitor centres with many inquiries for the upcoming Christmas break, showing strong bookings for the holiday period. The role of the visitor services team changed as the bushfire crisis approached. Staff became a critical point of information for road closures, how to cancel holidays, evacuation centre locations, National Park information, affected camping, beach access and fireworks cancellations.

Sales and visitor numbers declined by 50% in the month of January, with many operators also recording declines of 60-100% during this period.

Visitor Centre staff worked closely with operators during this time and provided up to date information to travellers with affected bookings. Both centres also played a role in passing on direction from the Emergency Operations Centre and the Rural Fire Service.

The Visitor Centre staff worked to assist visitors with bookings and information. Staff continue to work with operators to update their listings, so they can take advantage of marketing opportunities that support Shoalhaven recovery efforts.

February bookings and inquiries were improving, with many bookings for the Easter period. However, this all changed again with the COVID-19 pandemic.

As a result of COVID-19, the Visitor Centres at Nowra and Ulladulla were closed to the public. However, staff were still working behind the scenes answering phone calls and emails as well as assisting operators with information, support, and advice. There were many cancellations for accommodation bookings, as well as tickets for shows at the Shoalhaven Entertainment Centre, which were all cancelled during this time.

Visitor Centre staff have done an excellent job over this period, providing information, and assisting with many diverse inquiries.

Both Nowra and Ulladulla Visitor Centres re-opened in June, with tourism in NSW also re-opening; the Visitor Centres were inundated with phone calls and booking inquiries, resulting in bookings for the next 6 months being extremely positive, pending any further travel restrictions for NSW.

Volunteer Recruitment

Volunteers have become an integral part of our Visitor Services team, with 8 team members offering a concierge service to our visitors. Volunteers have been well received by our visitors, with many compliments received for the level of customer service. We also have 40 regional volunteers, who run the pop-up centres at Sussex Inlet and Vincentia.

6 new volunteers were recruited this year.

The volunteers handled 621 inquiries at the Nowra Visitor Centre between July 2019 and June 2020.

Volunteer Services were suspended during the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the closure of the Centre, and continuing social distancing measures. We will review their return in September.

Supplementary Visitor Information Centres

Visitor Services supports 10 supplementary visitor centres throughout the Shoalhaven.

All supplementary centres have been visited and stocked throughout the year, up to the Christmas period. The bushfire crisis hit just before Christmas, resulting in a close-down of many businesses, as tourists were not allowed to visit the area.

While many were affected by the bushfire crisis, the centres had reported renewed interest by visitors in February and requested more stock as visitors returned. This situation changed when the virus pandemic occurred, virtually closing most tourism businesses.

Visits and deliveries to the supplementary centres will re-commence in July 2020.

Many supplementary centres have been upgraded with new display stands. The upgrade at Jervis Bay Maritime Museum is complete. We have offered some assistance with improvements to the counter.

Mobile Services

Mobile Services were set up this Christmas season at Huskisson, Vincentia, and Sussex Inlet. However, due to the bushfire crisis, they were all cancelled after 5 days.

The main inquiries were for maps of the area, children’s activities, beaches, and walks.

Further planned mobile services for the Easter period were also cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Familiarisations

Familiarisation visits continued throughout the first part of the year with the purpose of engaging with our operators to become familiar with their property and the facilities that they provide.

During the July to December period the team visited 30 properties from Kangaroo Valley to Bawley Point. Operators visited include the carbon neutral Crystal Creek Meadows, the upgraded Belvoir Pavilions, the conveniently located Bridge Cottage and the renovated Pebbly Beach Cabins. Many businesses have upgraded their facilities, including Bay & Bush Cottages and the Huskisson Beach Motel.

During the bushfire crisis familiarisation visits were suspended, and later from March, all familiarisations had been cancelled until further notice due to the pandemic.

Financials

The table below shows income for July 2019 to June 2020, broken down into sales categories and compared to last year’s results.

INCOME NOWRA

Description	July 2019 to June 2020	July 2018 to June 2019	*Variance YTD*	YTD +/- *
Souvenirs	$8,124	$11,141	-$3,017	-27%
Books/Maps	$5,755	$12,356	-$6,601	-52%
Local Product	$9,468	$16,376	-$6,890	-42%
Total	$22,553	$39,873	*-$17,320*	-43%

*YTD +/- shows the % difference between the total income for the current financial Year to Date vs the same period last year.

Comments:

The bush fire and the COVID-19 crises have negatively impacted sales towards the second half of the year. The Centre was also closed for a 2-month period due to the pandemic.

25 Christmas hampers consisting of local produce were sold in December.

INCOME ULLADULLA

Description	July 2019 to June 2020	July2018 to June 2019	*Variance YTD*	**YTD +/-***
Souvenirs	$9,402	$12,170	-$2,768	-22%
Books/Maps	$3,953	$6,977	-$3,024	-43%
Local Product	$14,246	$18,390	- $4,144	-22%
Total	$27,601	$35,946	*-$8,345*	*-23%*

*YTD +/- shows the % difference between the total income for the current financial Year to Date vs the same period last year.

Comments:

Ulladulla sales also showed a decline towards the end of the year due to the bushfire crisis; however, was showing steady sales year on year.

The COVID-19 pandemic further contributed to a further decline in sales. The centre was closed for two months.

It is pleasing to see local jams and honeys continued to sell well this year, especially as their businesses have been affected by the bush fires.

OTHER INCOME

Description	July 2019 to June 2020	July 2018 to June 2019	*Variance YTD*	YTD +/- *
BookEasy Sales $
Nowra Office	$95,619	$90,321	+$5,298	+6%
Ulladulla Office	$6,718	$5,325	+$1,393	+26%
Online	$34,519	$28,440	+$6,079	+21%
Operator Booking Engine	$9,821	$15,135	-$5,314	-35%
Total	$146,677	$139,221	*+$7,456*	+5%

Box Office Sales $	$412,485	$668,804	-$276,319	-41%
Commission Earned	$24,399	$37,738	-$13,339	-35%

*YTD +/- shows the % difference between the total income for the current financial Year to Date vs the same period last year.

Comments: Accommodation bookings sales were negatively impacted on two occasions throughout the year, with the bushfire season over Christmas, and COVID-19 over Easter.

There were many accommodation cancellations during these periods. Sales were declining by 20% YOY, but with tourism re-opening in June, there was a huge increase of 450% in bookings compared to the previous June. This resulted in a pleasing 5% increase in bookings for the financial year.

During the period Nowra Visitor Centre sold 10,312 tickets for the Shoalhaven Entertainment Centre valued at $412,485.

The Entertainment Centre has been closed for a long period with many shows having to be cancelled resulting in a significant reduction in commission revenue earned by the Visitor Centre.

ENQUIRIES - NOWRA

Description	July 2019 to June 2020 Total Number	July 2018 to June 2019 Total Number	Variation YTD Total Number	*YTD +/-**
Counter	13,618	25,260	-11,642	-45%
Emails	4,090	6,080	-1,990	-32%
Phone	13,613	1,291	+2,322	+21%
Volunteer	612	1,197	-585	-40%
Total	31,933	43,828	-11,895	-27%

*YTD +/- shows the % difference between the total number of enquiries for the current financial Year to Date (YTD) vs the same period last year.

Comments:

Visitation to the centre had declined due to the bush fire and COVID-19 crises. However, phone inquiries had increased by 21%, as we answered many calls inquiring about the situations that had developed over the last 6 months.

Nowra Visitor Centre has been extremely busy around December/January, with many bushfire related inquiries, including cancellations of many bookings.

There have been many inquiries handled by the Visitor Centre regarding shows at the Shoalhaven Entertainment Centre.

ENQUIRIES - ULLADULLA

Description	July 2019 to June 2020 Total Number	July 2018 to June 2019	Variation YTD Total Number	*YTD +/-**
Counter	9,214	17,466	-8,252	-45%
Emails	43	87	-44	-50%
Phone	3,568	5,831	-2,263	-38%
Volunteer	0	8	-8	0%
Total	12,825	23,379	-10,554	-45%

*YTD +/- shows the % difference between the total number of enquiries for the current financial Year to Date vs the same period last year.

Comments:

Ulladulla Centre was also closed for two months, impacting visitor numbers for the year.

Ulladulla staff answered many inquiries relating to the bush fire emergency which were not counted as tourism inquiries.

Ulladulla staff were commended for their assistance with evacuation inquiries, as they became the first point of contact in many instances.

Currently there are no tourism volunteers at Ulladulla.

What’s Next – Quarter 1 – 2020/2021

· Continue support of Supplementary Visitor Centres.

· Continue familiarisation visits.

· Provide operator support during the bush fire and virus pandemic recovery period, including promotion of the importance of ATDW listings, Google listings and event promotion.

· Maintain contact with operators impacted by the bush fire and the virus pandemic, offering advice and further information, including links to helpful resources and information.

· Work on the logistics for the temporary relocation of the Nowra Visitor Centre and Shoalhaven Entertainment Centre Box Office.

Shoalhaven Tourism Advisory Group – Monday 10 August 2020

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TA20.16 Bushfire Recovery Update

HPERM Ref: D20/282228

Section: Tourism

Approver: Stephen Dunshea, Chief Executive Officer

Attachments: 1. Bushfire Recovery Update from Local Recovery Coordinator Mr Vince Di Pietro AM CSC (under separate cover)

Reason for Report

To give a brief outline of the Economic / Tourism Bushfire Recovery activity during January - June 2020.

Recommendation (Item to be determined under delegated authority)

That the Shoalhaven Tourism Advisory Group receive the Bushfire Recovery Update for information.

Options

1. Receive the report for information.

2. Request more information from the Tourism Manager.

Background

This report provides an update on what the Economic / Tourism Recovery Action Team (Shoalhaven Tourism and Economic Development) have undertaken to support our industry and the recovery process.

This information was also provided to the Extra Ordinary meeting on 30 June, which was Vince’s last update to Council before finishing up in his role as Local Recovery Coordinator. The full report is attached.

The Recovery Action Team Leads will continue to meet on a weekly basis to wrap up any outstanding recover items.

Activity Summary

· Consistent two-way communication with business through Business Chamber meetings, community gatherings, newsletters and one-on-one discussions.

· Business Survey promotion to business and data collection and analysis to inform action plans.

· Representation on the Regional Small Business and Tourism Working Group, Chaired by Anthony Body, Director Illawarra - Shoalhaven, Regional NSW, DPIE.

· Communication with businesses through both Tourism and Economic Development newsletters regarding grant opportunities, mental health support, training and other business support on a regular basis.

· BlazeAid fully operational in Milton and Kangaroo Valley with funding secured for up to 6 months of operation, each base supplied a vehicle by local dealerships. BlazeAid teams cleared approximately 84 kms of fencing and built approximately 69kms of new fencing over 3,220 cumulative volunteer days. A local volunteer presence remains in Milton and Kangaroo Valley.

· Successfully advocated for event funding at a state and federal level, funding applications successful and funding delivered for fast economic stimulus.

· Rejuvenate Campaign launched 15 January - Social, video, publicity and local ambassadors with a reach of over 20 million people through publicity, 1,4 million social media impressions and 20,000 people to the landing page.

· Successful collaboration with Tourism Australia and Destination NSW to ensure Shoalhaven’s presence in state and national campaigns post bushfire.

· Small business bus in region deployed early in Recovery and regional small business roadshows occurred in March in Kangaroo Valley, Nowra and Ulladulla.

· Event support through existing program and fast-tracked approvals for new events, pre COVID restrictions for quick economic stimulus.

· Facilitated 3 precinct marketing partnerships for community-led recovery efforts by Business Chambers.

· Provided one-on-one support and advice to over 200 small businesses, ensuring they had registered with Service NSW, they understood the grants available and had the information they needed. To date, over $45 million in small business grants have been applied for. This dedicated support continues.

· Dedicated business information provided at community meetings.

· Visitor Services in region meeting one on one with tourism operators and provision of information on opportunities to be involved in local, state and national campaigns.

· Worked closely with Google, Facebook and other large corporates to facilitate their assistance to small local business.

· Support provided to local suppliers and sub-contractors to meet Tier One contractor requirements to engage in available work opportunity with Laing O’Rourke during clean up.

· Digital Mentoring Program delivered to 130 businesses as well as one on one support for 20 small businesses.

· Secured an additional $25,000 from Destination Sydney Surrounds South to continue the Digital Mentoring Program.

· Correspondence with those who had offered assistance, arranged letters to all fire impacted properties with offers of assistance.

· Worked with the Business Council of Australia to support tradies who had lost tools, as well as supporting apprentices who lost tools through the Mayoral Support Fund. Biz Rebuild Vouchers distributed to 50 tradies who lost equipment.

· Matching ABNs in fire effected areas with business type and providing information on opportunities, funding, registration requirements to assist business during the recovery process.

· Attended and presented at the Visitor Economy Recovery Summit to over 60 businesses.

· Media interviews and podcasts to help share information about opportunities to business in a variety of ways. Podcast available at https://rensw.org.au/2020/03/bushfire-recovery-summit-podcasts/

· Supported event organisers with application to the Destination NSW Flagship event fund to maximise funding for Shoalhaven events.

· Worked with State Government to identify transformational projects for medium term economic stimulus and to drive demand as well as identify and address barriers to investment for longer term supply.

· Met with State Government and consultants to provide information on the updates to the Regional Economic Development Strategy (REDS). Work is now complete; this will inform planning for future assistance.

· Continuing to work with the Department of Education, Skills and Employment to identify opportunities for the development of a Tourism School of Excellence. Changing the way training is delivered in partnership with Shoalhaven operators with the plan to build back better.

· Launched Spend Here This Year Campaign post COVID, to continue to support businesses as they adapt to selling online or over the phone to both locals and Sydney, Canberra and national markets with 275 products featured, 18,500 visits to the landing page - Shoalhaven.com/spendhere, over 12 million reached through media and PR, 20,000 video views on social and 13,000 new visitors to the website. The campaign encouraged those that couldn’t travel to buy Shoalhaven products, virtual experiences and vouchers online, as well as a strong local supporting local businesses element.

· Meetings with Business Chambers and industry representatives to gain industry insights and share new strategies.

· Worked with NSW Health to implement tailored small business mental health training and support, both through group online sessions and one on one meetings.

· Worked closely with organisers of postponed and cancelled events to support them through changes and work towards new plans, approvals, and dates.

· Austrade application completed for larger economic driver event support.

· Updated Recovery Action Plan due to COVID restrictions.

· Worked with State Government and Ernst & Young on the new Business Support 'Drop In' centres, ensuring a cohesive approach to business support throughout the region.

· Attended information sessions, webinars and meetings related to building back better and business resilience to help inform decision making.

· Worked closely with regional and state government and tourism bodies to ensure key economic driver projects are recognised and documented ahead of any possible funding. Including key cross regional projects to support fire effected LGAs.

Next Steps

The tourism industry has sustained a significant economic impact. The total estimated expenditure of visitors to the Shoalhaven in the year ending March 2020 is $916 million. An economic loss in the order of $100 million this quarter based on growth trajectories are attributed to bushfires and the consequent loss of visitation in our busiest tourist quarter Jan - Mar. Growth has been exponential to this point with the year to date figure in December reaching the $1 billion mark. We expect to see losses in the next quarter also due to COVID.

There is still a requirement for ongoing dedicated business support, mentoring and resilience building. Council is appointing a Recovery Officer, with funding provided by the State Government. The Recovery Officer will continue to work across both the social and economic elements of recovery. There are also several new regional support partners who will play an important role in ongoing bushfire recovery. Business Australia are appointing a Recovery Officer who will be located in Nowra and the National Bushfire Recovery Agency have appointed a Recovery Support Officer who is dedicated to the Shoalhaven.

Grant application development and allocation will also continue to be an important aspect, as funding becomes available from State and Federal programs. Events are once again being seen to play a very important role in recovery, both community and economic recovery.

Shoalhaven Tourism will have an ongoing role in supporting the industry and event organisers and will continue to work closely with both our local, regional and state partners to deliver information and programs to support the ongoing recovery process.

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lr0uGdtGgtc