Tourism Talk – Industry Newsletter

Issue 280 - 2 November 2009

Boost to Tasmanian Tourism Industry

The Tasmanian Government has allocated an additional $4 million this financial year to Tasmania's tourism industry.

Of this, $1 million will be used to attract and retain events that draw people to Tasmania.

The other $3 million will go towards marketing and communications aimed at driving demand and building the capacity of the industry to get its messages – and the Tasmanian brand – out to an ever wider audience.

The additional support for events recognises that they are a high yield market for Tasmania and an important driver in visitation to the state. Research shows that for every dollar of government expenditure on event attraction a minimum of $10 of visitor money is spent in Tasmania.

The funds for Events Tasmania will ensure the retention of the current range of events as well as build on the winter events calendar to create a Winter of Festivals.

Tourism Tasmania is working closely with Events Tasmania to bring together more than 30 festival partners with the aim of building visitor traffic in non-peak times.

The $3 million allocation for marketing and communications will help keep Tasmania front of mind for potential visitors.

For further information contact Tourism Tasmania at: reception@tourism.tas.gov.au or phone (03) 6230 8235.

Updated Tourism E-Kit

The Tourism e-kit, the country’s largest free online e-marketing course for Australian tourism operators, reaches another milestone with the release of its third version.

The tourism e-kit is a free resource that aims to help industry make the most of online opportunities and provides information on basic online marketing concepts to more complex issues like online distribution.

This new release includes information about the search engine Bing, updated information about Facebook, Twitter and TripAdvisor and additional reviews of booking systems.

Each tutorial is designed to be read in less than 25 minutes and inform operators of the advantages of the many online marketing opportunities that exist today.

The e-kit is collaborative project funded by all Australia’s state and territory tourism organisations.

The Tourism e-kit can be downloaded as an entire program or separate tutorials. The e-kit can be found off the Tourism Tasmania corporate website home page at http://www.tourismtasmania.com.au

New Hospitality Portfolio

The Premier, David Bartlett, has recently announced the introduction of a new Ministry for Hospitality.

Although often thought of as the same industry, in fact tourism and hospitality have quite separate issues. The creation of the new ministry means that the hospitality industry will now benefit from having a high level political driver.

The minister responsible for the new portfolio is MHA Michelle O'Byrne. The portfolio means that Michelle O'Byrne is now the Minister for Hospitality, Tourism, Sport and Recreation and Environment, Parks Heritage and the Arts.

Ms O'Byrne is the first minister in Australia to give portfolio recognition to the hospitality industry.

Tourism Tasmania Annual Report

Tourism Tasmania has released its Annual Report for the financial year 2008-09. See Tourism Tasmania Annual Report 2008-09.

Huon Trail Brand Launch

Huon Valley Council have received a tourism development grant of more than $331,000 to develop strategic tourism plans and infrastructure across the Huon Trail region. The region includes four sub-regions of southern Tasmania - the Far South, Huon Valley, D’Entrecasteaux Channel and Bruny Island.

The Huon Trail Brand Implementation Project is funded by the Federal Government and aims to improve tourism infrastructure across the Huon Trail region, making the area more accessible and attractive to tourists.

The project will include additional signage, self-guide maps and improvements to attractions such as the Whale Sculpture at Cockle Creek, the information shelter at Franklin and the Huonville foreshore.

Huon Valley Mayor Robert Armstrong said the Council’s aim is to develop the Huon Trail into one of Tasmania’s premier tourist destinations.

For further information see www.huontrail.org

CAUTHE Tourism and Hospitality Conference 2010

The 2010 CAUTHE Tourism & Hospitality Conference will be hosted in Tasmania by the Faculty of Business at the University of Tasmania.

Experts from around the world will discuss the most relevant issues in tourism and hospitality today.

The conference is titled Challenging the Limits and will challenge the limits in heritage tourism, ethical and sustainable tourism, place and destination management, consumer demand for tourism and hospitality, tourism and hospitality education, challenging the right to travel and sport tourism and sport events.

Keynote speakers include Professor Don Getz , Professor Marg Deery and Dr Claire Ellis.

A highlight of the conference will be the conference dinner. This commences with a fascinating boat ride on the D'Entrecasteaux Channel to the award-winning Peppermint Bay restaurant where attendees will enjoy Tasmania’s renowned local produce, beers and wines.

The conference will be held from 8 - 11 February 2010 at the Grand Chancellor Hotel Hobart.

Early bird registration closes 31 December.

For more information as it is released see the conference website at www.cauthe.com.au/Conference2010.html

Permits and Licenses for Tasmanian Events - Workshop

What do managers need to know about the legalities of event management?

Totally South are presenting a workshop of interest to anyone who organises an event and councils or suppliers who work with event organisers.

The workshop brings together the various sectors that monitor, design and sign off on events permits and licenses. Speakers will address liquor licensing, place of temporary assembly, certificate of likely compliance, food permits, council regulations and more.

The workshop will also run through some timelines and possible issues that may arise and the latest exemptions and interpretations of the regulations.

Speakers at the workshops include: Scott Burton, Senior Environmental Health Officer, Dept of Health and Human Service; Nigel Grice, Building Surveyor, Holdfast (Surveyor for the Falls Festival); Jane Scott, Manager Operations, Liquor and Gaming Branch; Const. Michael Miksimovic, Southern Licensing Services, Tasmanian Police

The workshop will be held on Thursday 5th November from 9am to 11.30am at Drysdale House, 59 Collins St. Hobart.

The cost of the workshop is $35.00 and includes morning tea.

For more information or to register call Angela Bain on 03 6233 7797.

Hotel Grand Chancellor wins prizes at HotelClub’s Awards 2009

Hotel Grand Chancellor properties in Christchurch and Hobart were recently awarded three prizes at the HotelClub Annual Awards ceremony in Sydney.

Over 52,000 nominations were received globally, including 2,800 hotels and resorts. Of those, 200 were short-listed as finalists, with a total of 28 HotelClub Hotel Awards presented across 16 categories.

Hotel Grand Chancellor Christchurch won two awards; Top Three Hotels in Oceania as well as Top Three Hotels in New Zealand/Pacific Islands.

Hotel Grand Chancellor Hobart was awarded Top Hotel in Tasmania.

Know Your Customer – Workshop

Tourism Tasmania is running a workshop for experienced operators on the benefits of understanding who your customer is and how to connect with them. The presenter is Sarah Lebski.

The workshop will be held in Launceston on Tuesday 24 November from 1.30 – 4.30pm at Tourism Tasmania’s offices in Cornwall Square.

The workshop will be repeated in Hobart on Tuesday 10 December. Venue to be advised.

An additional session will be held for Team Tasmania members from 4.45 – 6.30pm.

For further information or to register your interest contact Nicky McKibben on 62308154, nicky.mckibben@tourism.tas.gov.au or Gill Parssey on 62308288, gill.parssey@tourism.tas.gov.au.

All About Twitter

Operators interested in learning more about the social networking tool Twitter can find a useful, easy to follow instructional video online at http://techxav.com/2009/10/27/top-5-most-creative-in-plain-english-videos/

TigerTOUR Update

New additions to the TigerTOUR database.

Accommodation

Attraction

Tourism Tasmania’s Product Consultants can help you update your business details. For more information email TigerTOUR@tourism.tas.gov.au or phone: (03) 6230 8229.

Coming Events

Hydro Tasmania Wildwater World Cup 2009

November 4 World Cup 5 (classic) Meander

November 7 World Cup 6 (rapid sprint) Cataract Gorge

See all events

Go to top