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Shoalhaven
Economic Growth & Advocacy Group – Wednesday 31 July 2024
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EG24.12 Advocacy
and Growth - Staff Update
HPERM Ref: D24/245655
Department: Tourism
& Economic Development
Approver: Coralie
McCarthy, Acting Director - City Futures
Reason for Report
The purpose of this report is to
provide the Shoalhaven Economic Growth and Advocacy (SEGA) group with an update
on key projects in the City Futures Directorate.
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Recommendation (Item to be determined under delegated authority)
That the Shoalhaven Economic
Growth and Advocacy Group receive this report for their information.
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Options
1. Receive this report for information.
Implications: The SEGA group will be provided with a high-level overview of key
priorities and projects.
2. Request additional information.
Implications: Staff will provide additional information during the
meeting if possible, or later after further investigation.
Background
The Tourism and Economic
Development team within Shoalhaven City Council provide regular reports to the
SEGA group. Below you will find information covering local business support
activities, event insights, strategy reviews, open funding opportunities, visitor
statistics and various council updates.
The previous SEGA meeting on
27 May 2024 did not meet quorum, resulting in reports being deferred.
Therefore, this staff update report covers the content from the previous
meeting, as well as recent updates.
Managers Update –
Financial Sustainability
Staff undertook an in-depth service review of visitor
services operations across the region under direction of the Financial
Sustainability Project. The review resulted in the Executive Management Team
and Councillors endorsing a change to operations that includes reducing the
opening hours and box office shift lengths to save estimated $105,000. These
changes are currently in place, after being trialled in May and June.
Economic Growth Update
Council staff have participated
in, or provided feedback towards the following Economic Development matters:
· Attended
meetings of the Shoalhaven Motor Sports Working Group
· Member
of the Nowra Riverfront Action Taskforce
· Organised
and attended the April 2024 CEO Business Forum
· Member
of the Shoalhaven Careers Advisors Network (SCAN)
· Support
and attend the Shoalhaven Professional Business Association meetings and
events
· Supported
the South Coast Beef Association’s Steer Spectacular event
· Attend/Present
at various Business Chamber meetings and hosted Business Chamber round-table
discussions with Council staff
· Supported
and advocated for businesses impacted by recent flood events
· Attended
meetings and briefings regarding the 24hr Economy Uptown and Accelerator
programs
· Attended
and facilitated Illawarra Shoalhaven Regional Defence Network events and
showcases
· Attended
Tourism Australia’s RTO Forum and Destination Australia Conference
· Attended
the Investment Logic Mapping workshop for the Nowra Bypass.
· Attended DSSS and Destination NSW Visitor Economy Strategy
Review Workshop
Advocacy
Update
The 2024/25 version of the Key Projects Advocacy Guide is in
draft. This document will replace the current Advocacy
Document, and include updated key priorities in-line with Council’s
key priority areas for funding from Federal and State Government.
Strategy Reviews
· Currently
reviewing Councils Shoalhaven Economic Development Strategy and the
Tourism Destination Management Plan to map out alignment, goals and actions
ready to collaborate with stakeholders before renewal.
· Council is part of
a working group to develop a broader Illawarra Shoalhaven Economic Development
Strategy, which is being led by the Illawarra Shoalhaven Joint Organisation.
This Strategy was launched on 28 June 2024.
· Reviewing and
providing a submission to the draft Community Improvement Districts Bill 2023,
being led by Transport for NSW. Submissions were due 29 March 2024. Further
information can be found here.
· Reviewing and
providing comment to the draft discussion paper on Short Term rental
Accommodation (STRA) alongside Council’s Strategic Planning team to
provide feedback to Planning NSW. Further information can be found here.
· Reviewed and
provided a submission to the draft Shellharbour Airport Master Plan regarding
benefits to tourism and the economy. The draft plan can be found here.
· Meeting with
Telstra Regional NSW staff and the review of the actions under the Telstra
Connectivity Plan.
Defence and Manufacturing Sector Development
· Illawarra
Shoalhaven Regional Defence Network - member of the Steering Committee and
ongoing involvement in arranging events and programs:
o Arrange
regular Illawarra Shoalhaven Regional Defence Network lunch events
o Defence
Career Videos and Case Studies are being created
o Capability
mapping project is underway
o Stallholder
at Illawarra Career Expo in May 2024
o Upgrade
of information and material on the Network’s website
o Ongoing
social media content being developed and promoted.
o Support
and attendance of relevant programs and events such as the Defence Industry
Conference in March and Defence Industry breakfast in July.
o Creation
of the Aircraft Maintenance Engineer attraction program to address skills
shortages.
o Securing
a 12-month extension to the NSW Government funding for the Regional Defence
Network
Industrial Land Updates
The sale process of Council
Employment/Industrial Land has recently changed due to the Councillor’s
resolution of 25 March 2024 (MIN24.171C) excerpt below:
4. That any future employment
land is sold without any restriction as to use or compulsion to complete
building works within a specified timeframe., and future employment land is
sold for not less than an independent market valuation.
5. That Council’s Employment Land (Industrial Land)
policy be developed to reflect the abovementioned resolutions.
· Flinders
Stage 11 - Ongoing development to create 4 lots available for sale.
· AATP
Stage 5 – Approaching completion and will progress to a sale process of
15 available lots.
· Woollamia
Stage 5a - Ongoing development to create 6 available lots for sale.
· Remaining
lots in Woollamia Stage 5 and Flinders Stage 10 - The 5 remaining lots across
these 2 industrial areas were recently sold.
Local Business Support
· Attendance
at Destination NSW inbound tourism workshops in region, and attendance at DSSS
Centre of Excellence familiarisations
· Discussion
with CommBank regarding Local Business Insights, Council strategies and their
IQ data service
· Discussion
with Economy id to discuss the new modules on offer
· Discussions
with relocation businesses and career opportunities for Shoalhaven residents
· Discussions
with Illawarra & South Coast Jobs Network re: Introduction to the
‘Get a Job South Coast”
· The
Economic Development team hosted AusIndustry in April to discuss closer working
relationships and additional opportunities to support local businesses via
funding programs, business services and information sharing
· Attendance
at Shoalhaven Business Awards Launch, which was held at Harry Sawkins Park with
the Nowra Farmers Market
· Attended
the launch of the Shoalhaven Food Network Autumn Food Event
· Meeting
with Regional Development Australia’s new CEO Selena Stevens to gain a
better understanding of the new RDA Illawarra Shoalhaven and its boundaries
· Visited
the SCC Flood Recovery Centre at the Nowra Showground
· Attendance
at the SPBA May breakfast and associated Think Regional workshop.
· Attendance
at the Nowra workshop for the AG.Biz Ready workshop on 3 June 2024.
Economy Data
The Peak Period Comparison
report shows Nov 2023 – Jan 2024* Spend transactional data from Localis
Data Company that primarily maps transactions from the VISA network for both
local and visitor spend. This report is benchmarked against other destinations
such as Orange and Noosa, and factors in insights from other Localis data such
as accommodation booking and mobility (mobile phone location) data from 2023.
Key insights are as follows:
o Transaction
data in Shoalhaven showed a 13% drop in local spend and a 20% drop in visitor
spend from November 2023 to Jan 2024 compared to the same period in the
previous years
o January
2024 spend in Shoalhaven by visitors dropped 36%
o January
2024 spend in Shoalhaven by locals dropped 18%
o Shoalhaven
accommodation bookings averaged 30-40% of capacity during the months of July
through to October 2023, as compared to Noosa and Orange in the same period who
averaged around 60 – 70% occupancy
· Market
segments with the largest downturn of visitor spend (year on year) in
Shoalhaven for the period of November to January:
o -
36% on hotels and lodging
o -
21% restaurants & dining
o -
20% on retail
o -
20% on entertainment
Localis data company provided a
Spend Report for the period of February and March 2024 which showed similar
trends of decreased spend in region from both locals and visitors.
· Tourism
Research Australia data year ending December 2023 shows an annual total
estimated visitor expenditure of $1.485 billion. This total was growing
steadily but has been volatile since hitting the $1 billion mark in December
2019. Data for March 2024 shows the total estimated visitor expenditure of
1.450 billion, however total visitation dropped by 2% year on year for this
period **
*Localis Data Company, VISA,
mobility and Accommodation booking insights November 2023 to January 2024
**Tourism Research Australia
National and International Visitor Survey 2019 – 2023
Marketing and Promotion
· Activated
Shop Shoalhaven campaigns for Easter and Mother’s Day, as well as new
features to bundle bespoke hampers. A new call out was made for additional
products also.
· Soft
launch and business consultation of the new business-to-business website has
occurred, with testing underway before promotion.
· Preparation
Autumn Wellness post-campaign report is underway, with articles coming through
from journalist familiarisations in March, and analysis of leads to website and
industry from advertising.
· With
reduced budget available at this time, a basic food campaign for winter will be
launched in June, consisting mainly of publicity and digital marketing.
· Tourism
Marketing Specialist attending the Australian Tourism Exchange with
collaborative international marketing brand for the South Coast, The Grand
Pacific Drive.
· A
food campaign for winter with the theme “New, Well-reviewed or with Great
Views” was launched in June to promote the regions food and drink
offerings and off-season visitation.
· Work
on the next Travel Guide is underway. An editorial layout is coming together,
and advertisers are booking in.
· Berry
and Huskisson both won their categories of small and tiny town respectively at
the NSW Top Tourism Town Awards. Berry gained Hall of Fame status for the small
town category and Huskisson won their category for the second year in a row.
These applications are a collaboration between Council’s team and the
Chambers of Commerce.
· A
plan for the 2024/25 financial year’s marketing and business development
activity is being informed by an operator survey to identify the most valuable
activities to the business community and allocate budget accordingly.
Event Update General
· The Uptown Grant
Program - Office of the 24-Hour Commissioner
o The Uptown District
Acceleration Program is a two-stage program designed to fast-track the
formation of local business communities and facilitate the growth of their
districts into vibrant going-out hubs.
o Round 3 was the first time the
program was opened to regional areas.
o Applications for this round
opened mid-April and closed the end of May 2024. The events team promoted this
program and organised an information session for local businesses took place on
Thursday 11 April at Council Chambers which was well attended.
o The Shoalhaven was lucky
enough to have 4 of the 25 successful District Teams participating in this
round. The Shoalhaven District teams are from Nowra, Berry, Huskisson &
Sussex Inlet.
· The DNSW Regional
Event Fund
o Destination NSW will support
66 events across regional NSW through the 2024-25 Regional Event Fund.
o The funding program provides
an important economic boost in regional areas by supporting visitor economy
operators, injecting vitality into communities and creating jobs.
o The funding round closed in
April, and the Shoalhaven had 11 event organisers apply for the grant, the
events team supported them by provided letters of support, local tourism data
from Localis Data Company and event specific REMPLAN reports.
o 6 of the 66 successful events
were from the Shoalhaven:
§ Incubator Stream
· MAKE GOOD Festival
· Ultra Trail Jervis
Bay
· OpenField Arts
Festival
· Buangla Music
& Arts Festival
§ Flagship Stream
· StoryFest 2025
· The Bay Games
· The events team
continue a review of policies and procedures, working to streamline the event
application process. The first stage of this review is now completed, with the
Pop-Up Stall permit application and Film permit application has now been moved
online via the council website.
· General update on
events processed through the Tourism & Economic Development Events Team on
Council owned or managed land in:
o Between January
and March:
§ There were 63* events processed and
permitted on Council land.
§ These events included monthly markets, triathlons, sporting
competitions, music festivals and the local agriculture shows.
§ There
has been an increase in monthly markets as well as more larger scale events
(more than 1000 attendees) across the region.
o Between
April and June:
§ The team permitted 40 events on
Council owned or managed land this quarter, bringing the total number of events
processed by the Events Team this financial year to 198.
§ These events included regular
markets, adventure races, sporting competitions, cultural festivals, charity
fundraisers and the local ANZAC Day services.
§ The team supported 11 ANZAC Day
marches and services across the region, with most services requiring additional
support with traffic guidance schemes and traffic control.
§ Heavy rainfall and flood events
across the Shoalhaven and additional 7 permitted events or markets were
cancelled.
*This count taken from internal
events calendar run by events team as at 28.06.2024
Event Support
Program (Grants)
The February
2024 Round of the Event Support Program is on hold due to Councils current
Financial Sustainability measures. The round received 33 applications for new
events prior to the funding cuts, resulting in no new funding being awarded. 33
applicants represented a 57% increase in applications than in the previous
round.
From previous
rounds of funding, the below sponsored events have run in 2024:
· Volleymook Tour
– Mollymook
· Brumbies Rugby
South Coast 7's – Ulladulla
· Classic Car Show
& Shine – Sussex Inlet
· Rhythmic
& Aerobic Gymnastics State Championships – Bomaderry
· Beer
& BBQ Festival – Huskisson
· Viking
Festival – Sussex Inlet
Still to come in the second half
of 2024 is:
· Summit
Shoalhaven – Kangaroo Valley & Surrounds
· Buangla Music and
Arts Festival – Coolendel
· Coast Forage
– Vincentia
· Volleyball NSW
State Championships – Mollymook
· Huskisson
Triathlon Festival – Huskisson
Visitor Information
Services
Visitation has been steady at
the Nowra and Ulladulla Information Centres with returning travellers and
visitors tending to opt for prolonged stays. Our National Parks continue to be
a major draw card as are events such as the Viking Festival, held June 8th,
which the team attended with a pop-up Visitor Information stand. The weather
has certainly been a challenge of late and the Visitor Centre team have been
providing local information on the ground around road conditions and directions
to best suit individual visitor needs. Enquiries around the best Whale watching
opportunities have been popular and the Autumn celebration of food has been
providing many opportunities to sample local produce and unique dining
experiences. Our dedicated Mobile Tourism Van has been actively distributing
essential guides, including the latest edition of Our Favourite Walks booklet
and guide deliveries to coincide with the July school holidays.
In the realm of local commerce,
the Shop Shoalhaven online store
has expanded its range by incorporating additional local suppliers, thereby
broadening its array of regional products. This expansion comes with the
exciting introduction of new specially curated hampers, these hampers not only
offer a unique gift option but also support the local economy.
In alignment with directives
from Shoalhaven City Council, the management team has been diligently working
towards enhancing operational efficiencies and achieving cost savings. As part
of this initiative, the Nowra Visitor Centre has undergone a trial period of
altered operating hours, ceasing Sunday operations, and reducing Saturday
hours. This change is set to continue into the forthcoming financial year,
ensuring that community needs, and organisational objectives continue to be met
effectively.
Grants Spotlight – Current Business
and Community Opportunities
Club Grants Category 3 Funding
– Office of Responsible Gambling
Multiple streams of funding for
community Infrastructure upgrades
Round 2 - Applications close 25
November 2024
The NSW Government will commit $12.75 million for projects
that support the community through the construction, rebuild, repair and
upgrade of community infrastructure. Infrastructure Grants can be used for
costs such as construction, the purchase of capital equipment and professional
fees. Examples of projects range from local sports ground facilities, public
swimming pools, children’s play areas, museums, art galleries, theatres
and upgrades to evacuation centres, or community welfare infrastructure that supports
youth, mental health and wellbeing.
Community led applications can receive 100% external funding.
Community projects must be aligned with Council strategic plans and be delivery
ready. This process takes time and community groups that are interested in
applying to this funding source are encouraged to work with Council in a
proactive manner to meet all the business case, compliance and landowners
consent requirements.
Only one application per organisation per round. Funding is
available in four key categories:
• Arts and Culture – up to $200,000 per project
• Community Infrastructure – up to $250,000 per
project
• Disaster Readiness – up to $200,000 per project
• Sport and Recreation - up to $300,000 per project
For
more information and access to funding guidelines please click here.
Strengthening
Rural Communities Program – Small and Vital Stream
Grants available up to $10,000
community led resilience projects
Round 22 is OPEN - Applications
close 5 September 2024
The small and vital stream
gives rural and regional communities the opportunity to access funds for a
broad range of initiatives that directly benefit local communities. Local
incorporated groups are eligible to apply.
Grants up to $10,000 are
available for community led projects that support thriving, resilient and
sustainable communities. Examples of successful projects include:
· Cultural
festivals
· Providing
laptops to disadvantaged school students
· Upgrading
the facilities and equipment at men’s sheds
· Purchasing
lawn mowing equipment to support at-home mowing services for elderly residents
· Creative
arts workshops for youth engagement and improving social outcomes
· Installing
a perimeter fence around a community hall to increase community use
· Improving
health and wellbeing by supporting upgrades to community gardens
· Upgrading
telecommunications equipment for local marine rescue units
More information is
available on the FRRR website located here.
Minimum Viable Product (MVP)
Program – NSW Dept Enterprise Investment and Trade
Grants available up to $50,000 to
support product development
Round 3 is OPEN - Applications
close 28 February 2025
This program aims to
support businesses to increase the commercialisation of innovative products and
services, and to attract and retain commercialisation activities in NSW. The
MVP Ventures Program supports startups and innovative SMEs in the product lifecycle
between early-stage research and mature investment opportunities.
The objective of the MVP
Ventures Program is to:
· Support businesses
to increase commercialisation in NSW
· The MVP Ventures
Program will support businesses throughout the journey. Innovative firms who
successfully complete projects funded under the Program are permitted to
reapply for additional funding to make further progress along the Technology
Readiness Level (TRL) scale.
The NSW Government will
provide up to $3 million per annum for the program up to 2027. Products
must be aligned to one of the following NSW Government priority industries:
· Agriculture
and agrifood
· Defence
and aerospace
· Clean
energy and waste
· Medical
and life sciences
· Digital
systems and software
· International
education
· Visitor
economy
· Advanced
manufacturing
· Biotechnologies
and
· Digital
technologies
To be eligible
organisations must also demonstrate a minimum 50 per cent cash contribution and
be able to complete projects within 12 months of funding.
For a full list of all the eligibility criteria and to access the funding
guidelines please click here.
Staff
Updates
Updates for
Tourism and Economic Development:
· Anna McDonald joined
the team as the new Marketing Liaison Officer on 11 June
· Renee Wenban
resigned as Event Liaison Officer
· Zeah McMillan
has joined the events team as Event Liaison Officer on 29 May
· Emelie
Einarsson remains on maternity leave
· Lindsay Conway
remains filling in as the Visitors Services Manager full time
· Kristy
Mayhew remains Acting Tourism and Economic Development Manager
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Shoalhaven
Economic Growth & Advocacy Group – Wednesday 31 July 2024
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EG24.13 Framework
for Strategic Plan - Economic Development & Tourism 2025 - 2030
HPERM Ref: D24/278615
Department: Tourism
& Economic Development
Approver: Coralie
McCarthy, Acting Director - City Futures
Reason for Report
The purpose of this report is to provide the Shoalhaven
Economic Growth and Advocacy (SEGA) group with an update on the framework for
the review and amalgamation of the Shoalhaven Economic Development Strategy and
Shoalhaven Destination Management Plan.
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Recommendation
(Item to be determined under delegated authority)
That the Shoalhaven Economic
Growth and Advocacy Group (SEGA) receive this report and support the staff
approach to development of the Economic Development and Tourism Strategy,
including:
1. Merging the Destination Management
Plan and the Economic Development Strategy into one strategic whole of
economy growth strategy
2. Support the proposal of progressing
the document by allocating staff time to completing this work within
available resources, noting budget limitations.
3. Recognise the need for ongoing
consultation with business as the project progresses and support in principle
an industry working group to be created to
assist with this project.
4. Support
ongoing advocacy for funding to assist in the creation of this strategy.
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Options
1. Adopt the
recommendation as written
Implications: The SEGA group receive this report and support the staff approach
to development of the Economic Development and Tourism Strategy.
2. That the
Shoalhaven Economic Growth and Advocacy Group request
additional information.
Implications: Staff will provide additional information during the meeting if
possible, or later after further investigation.
Background
Shoalhaven City Council’s Tourism and Economic
Development team have the following strategic plans in place, the Shoalhaven
Economic Development Strategy 2017-2026, the Shoalhaven Destination Management
Plan 2018-2023, and the Shoalhaven Tourism Recovery Action Plan.
The Tourism and Economic Development teams have operationally
merged and both strategies are prioritised for review, it is recommended that
there be an amalgamation into one key strategic document to 2030.
Due to current resources under Council’s Financial
Sustainability Review, the project has not received funding for delivery. As a
result, the Tourism Department and Economic Development are currently
progressing through the initial stages of an internal review and amalgamation
of the documents.
The Economic
Development Strategy provides an implementation platform for the many and
varied economic development opportunities that have been identified through
detailed stakeholder discussions and review of several Local, Regional, State
and Federal level initiatives.
The Destination
Management Plan (DMP) identifies Tourism as one of the key industries in
the Shoalhaven economy and a continued commitment to the strategic focus areas
identified in the plan will be critical to ensure sustainable visitation growth
continues in the coming years. In February 2023, the Shoalhaven
Tourism Recovery Action Plan was created with industry consultation
as a roadmap of key actions to support industry into recovery from events such
as bushfire, COVID and other natural disasters which were not foreseen or accounted for when the DMP was
created in 2018.
Once the documents are
amalgamated, they will guide the work of the Tourism and Economic Development
Department moving forward, as it will reflect the current state of play and the
needs of industry. The
framework for the internal review is outlined below.
Framework and Timeline for the
Review
A framework and timeline have
been identified for the project, which is depicted below. This outlines the key
steps of the project to achieve completion and adoption of the document.
Due to the lack of funding for
an external resource to assist in building the strategy and assisting with
consultation processes, the staff will undertake the strategy development
in-house which will result in the estimated completion date of the new strategy
in June 2025. If funding becomes available, this timeframe could be expediated.
Stakeholder Engagement
A key aspect for this project
will be via consultation with internal and external stakeholders. Consultation
with Council’s internal stakeholders is currently underway, and
consultation with the new Council will occur after the Local Government elections
in September.
Consultation with external
stakeholders will include several methods, including online surveys and
workshops. An industry working group will be established to represent various
industry sectors and obtain detailed feedback. Buy in and participation from SEGA,
business chambers, industry groups and businesses are viewed as being crucial
to the project,
Like other forms of consultation
run by Council, there is a reliance on these external groups to assist in
promoting participation to the consultation.
Policy Implications
The review and
amalgamation of the Shoalhaven Economic Development Strategy and Shoalhaven
Destination Management Plan aligns with Theme 3 of the Shoalhaven 2032
Community Strategic Plan.
Financial Implications
Due to Council’s Financial
Sustainability Review and a lack of funding to this project, the review will be
completed internally by Council staff. It is anticipated that minimal funding
will be required for an internal review, not including staff time.
Next Steps
Staff will continue to progress
the project forwards. As the project approaches the stakeholder engagement
stage, the relevant stakeholders (including SEGA, Business Chambers, industry
groups, businesses, and community) will be notified of the upcoming consultation
and informed how to participate.
It is anticipated that
EOI’s will be called regarding representation on the industry working
group.
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Shoalhaven
Economic Growth & Advocacy Group – Wednesday 31 July 2024
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EG24.14 Economic
Development & Tourism - Marketing Activity Stakeholder Engagement Plan - Financial
Year 2024 / 25
HPERM Ref: D24/278618
Department: Tourism
& Economic Development
Approver: Coralie
McCarthy, Acting Director - City Futures
Reason for Report
The purpose of this report is to provide
the Shoalhaven Economic Growth and Advocacy (SEGA) group with the methodology
for stakeholder consultation in development of the plan for marketing in the
2024/25 financial year.
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Recommendation (Item to be determined under delegated authority)
That
the Shoalhaven Economic Growth and Advocacy Group (SEGA) receive this report
and support the proposed method for consultation of marketing activity for
2024/25 financial year.
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Options
1. Adopt the recommendation as written
Implications: The SEGA group receive this
report and support the proposed method for development of the marketing plan
for the 2024/25 financial year.
2. That the Shoalhaven Economic Growth
and Advocacy Group request
additional information.
Implications: Staff will provide additional information
during the meeting if possible, or later after further investigation.
Background
Council’s Tourism and
Economic Development team provide business development and marketing activity
to support the growth of the local economy and sustainability of local
industries. Shoalhaven is made up of approximately 8,115 businesses that deliver
a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of $7.905 billion*. The total estimated spend of
visitors to the region alone is $1.45 billion**
Council sets an annual
operational budget for the Tourism and Economic Development Team to support
industry with marketing and business development services. Marketing activities
are conducted based on established industry promotional pillars research that
provides insight into the most valuable target markets, promotional channels,
and return on investment metrics. Partnerships and funding for business
development activities such as training, networking and advocacy are also
prioritised in budgets.
Economic Development activities are primarily business to
business activity and Tourism activities are primarily based on consumer
activities that drive visitation in the off-season and promote to visitors who
will spend more and stay longer. Success of previous marketing activities such
as the Unspoilt Campaign and winter marketing activities have led to the
estimated growth of the Visitor Economy by 72% in the five years from December
2018 ($863 million) to December 2023 ($1.485 billion).***
Co-operative marketing funds
from the State Government have supported marketing activity of the visitor
economy up until 2022, however there are no longer funds available, making the
efficient and equitable use of Council’s budget a priority.
*REMPLAN 2023 –
2024 Financial year
**Tourism Research Australia National and International Visitor Survey year to
date March 2024.
*** Tourism Research
Australia National and International Visitor Survey year to date December 2018
- 2023.
Plan Development
The team has drafted a critical
path timeline for marketing activity that encompasses 70+ promotional and
support activities across Tourism Marketing, Economic Development, Visitor
Services, Events, Advocacy, and Product Development. This critical path provides
a 12 month schedule of activities that are resources.
Recently, resources for
delivering these activities have been considered in Council’s financial
sustainability project and consequently, the team wishes to identify the
priorities of industry to allocate activity and subsequent budget to the areas most
valued.
A survey was created in mid-July
and for distribution to industry. The distribution plan for the survey is
extensive and will be in market for approximately five weeks. The goal for
sample size is 5% of the Shoalhaven business community.
The survey here, requests
respondents to rank the follow activities according to the value for their
businesses, amongst other questions around business confidence and general
feedback:
Business Support and Services provided:
· Advocacy to State
and Federal Governments and associated bodies (DNSW, Tourism Australia etc).
· Free photography
and videography (Shoalhaven Stories).
· Visits /
familiarisations to your business from our staff.
· Check in / phone
calls post-disaster or similar.
· Support in
troubleshooting free listings such as ATDW etc.
· Networking and
presentations for / to industry.
· Provision of data
and insights (Tourism Research Australia, Spend, Accommodation, Mobility,
REMPLAN etc).
· Business to
Business email newsletter (monthly) and website (NEW).
· Ad hoc support or
advice from our team when you have questions.
· Event support in
approvals and logistics.
· Marketing funds
for chambers or industry bodies.
· Provide free
destination imagery and video for your business use.
· Attend conferences
and industry events (ATE etc) to represent the region.
· Support letters
and sharing appropriate grant opportunities.
· Free delivery of
visitor guides and other communications materials.
· Facilitation of
Council’s industry committee - SEGA Shoalhaven Economy Growth and
Advocacy group.
· Referrals and
management of Live Chat, email and phone enquiries from potential visitors.
· Sponsorship of
events.
· Entering Awards
for the region or towns (Top Towns, NSW Tourism Awards etc).
· Funds for Business
Development and Training.
· Investment
attraction and development.
· Funds for
School/Uni/TAFE programs and employment opportunities.
· Emergency support
communications and coordination for industry.
· Assistance and
concierge of business through Council processes.
· Sharing of
relevant local events, workshops, programs etc.
Promotional / Marketing
Activities:
· Organic
(free) social media on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok.
· Publicity
Campaigns, journalist write ups and visits in region.
· shoalhaven.com
content - free listings, blogs and trip planner etc.
· Digital
marketing to that provides links back to your business.
· Paid
print ads in newspaper, magazines or similar.
· Billboards
/ outdoor advertising in outside the region (Sydney, Canberra etc).
· Paid
social media marketing that provides links back to content and your business.
· What’s
on event listings on shoalhaven.com.
· Conscious
Traveller Campaigns in Summer to help manage consumer behaviour.
· 100
Beach Challenge in Summer to help spread people out from hot spots.
· Foodie
Campaigns in Winter to drive off-season visitation.
· Adventure
/ wellness campaigns in Autumn to drive off-season visitation.
· Provision
of free maps and small (A5 & DL) experience brochures.
· Shoalhaven
Visitor Guide Publication and free distribution.
· Monthly
consumer newsletter to 10,000 visitors.
· Face-to-Face
service desks offering product referrals and advice in Nowra, Jervis Bay and
Ulladulla.
· Local
media advertising in newspaper, TV, Radio etc.
· Product
development activities – creating trails and supporting new businesses.
· Sales
promotion of Shoalhaven Online Shop (New) activity.
Stakeholder Engagement
Distribution plan for the survey
includes sharing through Council’s own Tourism and Economic Development
business to business channels; via industry bodies such as Destination Sydney
Surrounds South, and the Shoalhaven Professional Business Association; to
business chambers and their members; print materials via Visitor Services desks
and during delivery of visitor guide; in Council’s community newsletter,
website and LinkedIn; and through Publicity to local media outlets.
SEGA is a key industry
representative, and their support of the processes is appreciated as is the
distribution of the survey to their own networks.
Policy
Implications
There are no policy implications as such, as The SEGA Group
works in an advisory role to Council and are not required to endorse
operational activities.
Financial Implications
Support of the recommendation as written will allow business
owners and industry representatives in Shoalhaven to share their feedback in
development of Tourism and Economic Development activities and resultant budget
allocation in an equitable manner.
Next Steps
With the support of The SEGA
Group, staff will collate feedback from the survey and develop the activities
for the financial year based on the outcomes.
