A Special Relationship: Events & Tourism
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We are lucky to have amazing festivals and events throughout regional and rural Australia! This presentation looks closely at the relationship between the events and tourism sectors, discussing what destinations are looking for in an event and on the flip side what events are looking for in a destination.
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A Special Relationship: Events & Tourism
- 1. 13 – 15 September 2017 The Events Centre Caloundra QLD Managing Director, Tilma Group Founder, rEVENTS Academy Linda Tillman A Special Relationship: Events & Tourism
- 2. 13 – 15 September 2017 The Events Centre Caloundra QLD TOURISM EVENTS
- 3. 13 – 15 September 2017 The Events Centre Caloundra QLD “Research indicates three-quarters of event attendees would not have gone to a destination, if not for an event. In addition, for 57% of first-time visitors to the region, the event is the main reason for visiting and likewise for 69% of repeat visitors” [Reinventing Rural Places, The extent and impact of festivals in rural and regional Australia | Uni of Wollongong]. EVENTS DRIVING TOURISM
- 4. 13 – 15 September 2017 The Events Centre Caloundra QLD BUILD RESILIENC E ROLE OF EVENTS BUILD OPTIMISM BUILD CITIZENS
- 5. 13 – 15 September 2017 The Events Centre Caloundra QLD TOURISM WHAT DESTINATIONS ARE LOOKING FOR Events that help activate the destination brand High quality events that give reason to visit Extend peak or shoulder periods or build an industry in the low season Events that connect people, place and local culture Opportunities to increase length of stay around an eventLeverage event to build destination fans and digital advocates Opportunities to drive repeat visitation Opportunities to increase visitor expenditure Ability to leave lasting legacies e.g. upskilling local residents & infrastructure Opportunities to showcase local experiences Events that reinforce local values, attitude and attributes EVENTS
- 6. 13 – 15 September 2017 The Events Centre Caloundra QLD TOURISM WHAT EVENTS ARE LOOKING FOR Destinations with brand appeal and alignment to event values Infrastructure, services and facilities that support the event Tourism strategies that help drive event ticket sales Access to volunteer resources and event support resources Tourism products and experiences to add value to the event program Positive, supportive and collaborative council Marketing advice and support to drive visitation Destinations with strong digital presence to support distribution Partnerships and networks that enhance the visitor experience Community advocates and fan base EVENTS Supportive business community
- 7. 13 – 15 September 2017 The Events Centre Caloundra QLD BIRDSVILLE BIG RED BASH GROWING DESTINATION BRAND & VISITOR YIELD
- 8. 13 – 15 September 2017 The Events Centre Caloundra QLD SELF DRIVE & PACKAGED EXPERIENCES Opportunities to increase length of stay around an event
- 9. 13 – 15 September 2017 The Events Centre Caloundra QLD INCREASING YIELD
- 10. 13 – 15 September 2017 The Events Centre Caloundra QLD GROWING THE OPPORTUNITY MARKET FOR OUTBACK QUEENSLAND Events that help activate the destination brand
- 11. 13 – 15 September 2017 The Events Centre Caloundra QLD EDWARD RIVER COUNCIL LEVERAGING THE EVENT Infrastructure, services and facilities that support the event
- 12. 13 – 15 September 2017 The Events Centre Caloundra QLD THE ICONIC BLUE SINGLET Leverage event to build destination fans and digital advocates
- 13. 13 – 15 September 2017 The Events Centre Caloundra QLD COOPERATIVE MARKETING TACTICS Activation at event #VisitDeni competition Promotion on Big Screen Remarketing OBJECTIVES Email Subscribers Social media fan base Remarketing database
- 14. 13 – 15 September 2017 The Events Centre Caloundra QLD DIGITAL WORD OF MOUTH
- 15. 13 – 15 September 2017 The Events Centre Caloundra QLD STATE EVENT CAMPAIGNS
- 16. 13 – 15 September 2017 The Events Centre Caloundra QLD TOURISM EVENTS ADVOCAY + LOYALTY ADVOCACY LOYALTY
- 17. 13 – 15 September 2017 The Events Centre Caloundra QLD KEEPING IT FRESH Regularly re-visit business plans and event strategies Regular consultation with tourism bodies Event systems and processes Stay ahead of the crowd Volunteer engagement Reinvigorate or re- invention What is happening in the industry? Why? Tourism insights and trends Consumer feedback is gold
- 18. 13 – 15 September 2017 The Events Centre Caloundra QLD Managing Director, Tilma Group Founder, rEVENTS Academy linda@tilmagroup.com.au 0439192193 Linda Tillman
Editor's Notes
- Intro Welcome everyone and thank you for joining me today! Thank you to the great team behind this event – it is inspiring, motivating and highly engaging – I love it!!!! I have 15 years experience in the tourism and events industry, with all of my experience being regional focused…that’s my passion! I have worked on over 20 festivals in the past 10 years, in everything from marketing and sponsorship support to complete festival management and even working with tourism destinations to develop new festivals and events. More recently I have also been doing loads in mentoring and training…hence the creation of rEVENTS Academy, which has only gone public this week VERY EXCITING I combine my tourism and events experience and skill set daily, with a key focus on developing a sustainable tourism and events sector for my clients, in order to drive economic and community growth in regional and rural Australia. – be clear that I am regionally focused, noting that the connection between events and tourism is critical in all destinations (city and country) but for me it is so much more important in regional and rural communities where the events are often the only tourism product or hook for a destination.
- Intro to the topic – today I am talking to you about the relationship between the tourism and events industries – to me, this is hard because I see these as one industry and not two! The tourism and events industries will always be intrinsically linked. They should not be treated as two separate industries – I guess that’s why many State Tourism Organisations over recent years have started to combine their tourism and event agencies. They largely depend upon one another Events give people a reason to travel to destinations while Successful tourism strategies increase event numbers, broaden the reach and boost the reputation of events which enhance the visitor experience
- Intro to the topic cont’ Set the scene about how events and tourism are ONE and should not be treated in isolation. I use this quote a lot – so a big shout out to Uni of Wollongong – if you have not yet had a chance to read this paper I highly recommend it. I often use this quote when I’m pitching to councils for event funding support, which I am currently doing for the Polocrosse World Cup in Warwick! It really highlights the power of events as tourism drivers.
- Tourism bodies and destinations want overnight visitor expenditure! This is driven by higher level strategy from the federal Govt, we know that…but events offer so much more to communities. Professor Judith McLean from the TEQ Board summed it up well at the recent DestQ events conference in Toowoomba… She believes that events play 3 key roles in a community: ⁃ Building optimism in community – it’s hard to explain this, but the goosebumps I got watching that video clip explains this. When our home town hosts an event we feel proud to be part of the community. We feel positive and optimistic – the emotional power of events. I get this with many of my clients – the high of the event! ⁃ Building resilience - ⁃ Building citizens -
- More specifically here are some other things that tourism destinations are looking for in events>>> USE POINTER AND TALK ABOUT EACH ONE BRIEFLY events that help activate the destination brand - THEY CAN CHANGE THE PERCEPTION THAT PEOPLE HAVE OF a destination For example, the Bathurst 1000 motor race added a new dimension to, and altered visitor perception of, the NSW gold heritage city. The Gold Coast is hoping for a similar outcome from CommGames - The Gold Coast’s current destination image is a playground for tourists, but this needs to diversify and become a destination for technology and other non- tourism companies. This is necessary to stabilise the Gold Coast’s economy and to attract and retain the talent necessary for future growth. high quality events that give reason to visit extend peak or shoulder periods or build an industry in the low season events that connect people, place and local culture opportunities to increase length of stay around the event leverage event to build destination fans and digital advocates opportunities to drive repeat visitation opportunities to increase visitor expenditure Ability to leave lasting legacies such as upskilling local residents and permanent infrastructure e.g. think Comm Games opportunities to showcase local experiences events that reinforce local values, attitude and attributes Events that create community pride and liveability, ULTIMATELY DESTINATIONS WANT EVENTS THAT CREATE LOYALTY AND ADVOCACY! Destinations need great events that are completely immersed in the destination and the people. People will not travel for manufactured events!
- Lets flip that over and look at WHAT EVENTS ARE LOOKING FOR in a tourism destination: USE POINTER AND TALK ABOUT EACH ONE BRIEFLY Destinations with brand appeal and alignment to event values e.g. CMC Rocks in Ipswich (a country and roots music festival) is better suited to Ipswich than the Sunny Coast and an Ironman event is better suited to Cairns that Ipswich infrastructure, services and facilities that support the event positive, supportive and collaborative council – talk about CMC example with NSW destination CMC - case study of how to lose a major event – the hotels in this NSW destination after 3 years decided they would enforce a min 4 night stay and $390 per night. In addition that had blocks by sto and RTO - they moved the event! They moved from this NSW destination to Qld – what a loss for NSW Tourism strategies that help drive event ticket sales destinations with strong digital presence to support distribution community advocates and fan base - Create event ambassadors - connection with local community is critical - visitors want to live like locals and feel connected! access to volunteer resources and event support resources marketing advice and support to drive visitation tourism products and experiences to add value to the event program Partnerships & networks that enhance the visitor experience A town and business community that is supportive and at least open during the event! You may laugh at this, but we still have a major problem with this Sponsorship and local partners to help support the event Wrap up: you can see that there are quite specific things that each need, but many overlap – they need each other to drive economic and community growth….
- BIG RED BASH, BIRDSVILLE Won the peoples choice awards at last years Aust Event Awards A massive shout out to Greg and his team, who have taken massive risk on this event and understand the symbiotic relationship between tourism and events! Birdsville is extremeLY remote – how many people know where Birdsville is? It was quite iconic thanks to the Birdsville Hotel and the Birdsville Races (held recently), and now with Big Red Bash - not many people are unfamiliar with Birdsville today! I want to talk to you briefly about the strategies this event has in place to grow the brand of outback queensland and increase visitor yield throughout the region (not just Birdsville)
- There are limited opportunities to increase yield in Birdsville – the pub and the bakery do a roaring trade, but that’s about it….so for Big Red Bash it is more about how do we increase yield across the broader outback Qld region Big Rd Bash have a collaboration strategy and focus – they understand that the majority of their market will be self drive due to limitations, however in order to increase market share from metro markets they have had to look at creating partnerships Self Drive packages that are promoted via the event and the RTO They have a partnership with Rex Airlines to fly visitors into Birdsville specifically for the event They work with coach companies that package up the event with an outback experience They partner with tag along tour operators Hell, they even partner with KFC to bring out the colonel truck WORK CLOSELY WITH THEIR RTO AND STO TO PROMOTE THE REGION WITH A FOCUS ON GETTING THE MAXIMUM LENGTH OF STAY IN THE REGION
- Big Red Bash create itineraries and packages and partner with other events to create a road trip experience, ensuring that visitors drop $$ into many of the small towns throughout Outback Queensland They understand that they are remote and that they can not work in isolation – they enhance the visitor experience by partnering with destinations and events throughout the region – this increases length of stay and yield and also cross promotes…
- Another great strategy that I love, is they strategy to use Big Red Bash to help the destination grow its opportunity market. This really shows the power of an event to brand a destination and grow visitor appeal. The strategy for Outback Queensland is to maintain their bread and butter market – older tourers, whilst at the same time grow the family market. They have identified, with support from TEQ, that the family market from Intrastate is the higher yielding opportunity market for the region, so they are focusing on strategies to attract this market. Big Red Bash has decided to align with this strategy to help the region grow that market, via their event hook power and media exposure and to also so that they can leverage the marketing activity and energy from the RTO. They have their event in the school holidays in June and they develop specific packages and marketing campaigns to target this market. They have even adjusted the dates in 2018 to better suit families travelling. In 2017 the event attracted XX families, which is an increase of XX on the previous year. EVENTures campaign If you’re a local council or RTO and have a major event or events in your region, you should be thinking about how you can work with them to help extend your market appeal and brand message. Wrap up: So if Australia’s most remote music festival can achieve results from these cooperative strategies then surely you can!
- Another great example of how a destination is using a major event to support year round visitor growth and yield… Deniliquin Ute Muster & Edward River Council 18,000 people attend the event each year in September THE EVENT IS KNOWN MORE THAN THE DESTINATION – ask anyone where Deniliquin of Deni is and they will say, oh that’s the place where they have that ute muster Council understand this, so they are now working with the the muster to look at how they can leverage the event and the media exposure to assist them in growing year round visitation and building the profile of Deniliquin as a family destination. They have also been extremely supportive over the years to build the event site and provide support with operations. They are an event friendly council!
- The blue Deniliquin Ute Muster Singlet is plastered over social media all year – extremely powerful! They sell thousands of these each year and people are encouraged to get photos in unusual locations and share via social media…. Amazing exposure for the destination. As a destination you can work with your event to produce an iconic piece of merch that will help spread the word and create digital advocates! So simple.
- Here are some practical ideas and take aways for destinations wanting to leverage their major events… Cooperative marketing! OBJECTIVES Email Subscribers Social media fan base Remarketing database TACTICS: Run a guessing competition (targeting kids > families) at the ERC stand at the Muster. “How many balloons are in the cabin of the new ERC ute?” 2. Promote the hashtag #VisitDeni via social media (using a branded graphic which will be circulated to DUM, local accommodation providers etc to use on their pages) 3. Promote the hashtag #VisitDeni using the same branded graphic and a series of user-generated photos on the big screen at the Muster
- RESULTS
- Events have become so significant as drivers of tourism and visitation that they are now forming a key part of the STO’s strategy in NT, NSW and Qld. I also see that NZ is now starting to follow this… Funding programs to assist with event development, event marketing and event growth. Every event should consult with their STO, RTO and Local council in the very early stages of planning!
- CONCLUSION Whilst events and tourism destinations may have different objectives, the NUMBER 1 goal should be for them to work together to create LOYAL event and destination ADVOCATES. Events play a critical role in introducing visitors to a destination, so the goal needs to be turning them into loyal advocates so that they return to the destination and the event and they tell others about it! Word of mouth and social media are the top ways people hear about events so advocacy and loyalty is key!! With the increased popularity of social media and review sites, destinations have less control over their brand than ever before. We have effectively outsourced our brand to consumers. KEY MESSAGE FROM ALL OF THAT: CREATE PARTNERHSIPS – ESTABLISH THEM EARLY AND NURTURE THEM!!!! I also encourage you to read the recently released document by Griffith University ‘Gold Coast business and the Commonwealth Games: Impact, legacy and opportunity’ It offers some great tangible ideas and insights into how a destination can gain long term benefits from events. https://www.griffith.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0003/1074693/gold-coast-business-and-the-commonwealth-games-report-2017.pdf Logies moving to Gold Coast! Gold Coast and Qld will benefit for years from this!!!!
- Some finishing thoughts and take aways for events! We are seeing a major spike in the number of festivals and events which is exciting, but … We all know that events are hard work – they are a major investment for a destination – it is important to always think about the why and reconsider the value of the event…is it still achieving what we set out to do, or is it time to review and refresh? Why? Regularly re-visit business plans and event strategies Regular consultation with tourism bodies Reinvigorate or re-invention Event systems & processes Consumer feedback is gold Tourism insights and trends Volunteer engagement What is happening in the industry? Stay ahead of the crowd – watch what is trending around the world! TOP TIPS FROM THE DESTINATION Q EVENTS CONFERENCE: Big gestures - think big! Be brave and ask others to support you Relationships and networking Create authentic experiences Be entrepreneurial Do NOT fall into the trap of creating an event that follows the unwritten formula of farmers market, street parade, food and wine – think outside the box and be very clear on what is special about your destination and community!