1. Introduction Tourism North East (TNE) is the regional tourism board for the High Country, charged with developing a broad range of supply and demand driven tourism initiatives that deliver strong outcomes to the local visitor economy. It operates across the key areas of regional marketing, industry development, infrastructure and product development, strategic planning, advocacy and research, and works collaboratively with a range of stakeholders to drive visitation, yield and dispersal throughout the High Country. At the end of each quarter, TNE produces a report that provides an overview of all of the regional activities that Indigo Shire Council invests in, and key deliverables within that period. Following is the report for the second quarter of 2018/19, which has seen the launch of major marketing campaigns under the Feast High Country and Ride High Country brands, the completion of strategic projects like the agritourism mapping initiative and walk consumer segmentation research, and the commencement of new strategic activities like the Human Capital Review and the Arts and Cultural Heritage Action Plan. Visitation figures for the year ending September 2018 have also just been released, showing that the region has experienced strong visitation growth. During this period, the High Country attracted 3.75 million visitors who generated $1.145 billion in spend - both up 17% from the previous year. This increase has been fuelled by strong growth in domestic visitation, particularly the region’s valuable overnight market which grew 7% in terms of visitors and 9% in terms of total spend. The sustained delivery of large scale marketing campaigns has assisted in driving awareness and subsequent demand for the High Country offering, and ongoing public and private sector investment in the visitor experience has provided increased opportunities for spend and dispersal. For the rest of 2018-19, TNE will continue to deliver strategic supply and demand side tourism projects against the region’s five product pillars in order to sustain this impressive level of growth. TNE Activity Report – Indigo Shire Council 2018-19 Q2
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1. Introduction Tourism North East (TNE) is the regional tourism board for the High Country, charged with developing a broad range of supply and demand driven tourism initiatives that deliver strong outcomes to the local visitor economy. It operates across the key areas of regional marketing, industry development, infrastructure and product development, strategic planning, advocacy and research, and works collaboratively with a range of stakeholders to drive visitation, yield and dispersal throughout the High Country. At the end of each quarter, TNE produces a report that provides an overview of all of the regional activities that Indigo Shire Council invests in, and key deliverables within that period. Following is the report for the second quarter of 2018/19, which has seen the launch of major marketing campaigns under the Feast High Country and Ride High Country brands, the completion of strategic projects like the agritourism mapping initiative and walk consumer segmentation research, and the commencement of new strategic activities like the Human Capital Review and the Arts and Cultural Heritage Action Plan. Visitation figures for the year ending September 2018 have also just been released, showing that the region has experienced strong visitation growth. During this period, the High Country attracted 3.75 million visitors who generated $1.145 billion in spend - both up 17% from the previous year. This increase has been fuelled by strong growth in domestic visitation, particularly the region’s valuable overnight market which grew 7% in terms of visitors and 9% in terms of total spend. The sustained delivery of large scale marketing campaigns has assisted in driving awareness and subsequent demand for the High Country offering, and ongoing public and private sector investment in the visitor experience has provided increased opportunities for spend and dispersal. For the rest of 2018-19, TNE will continue to deliver strategic supply and demand side tourism projects against the region’s five product pillars in order to sustain this impressive level of growth.
TNE Activity Report – Indigo Shire Council 2018-19 Q2
2. Ride High Country 2.1 Campaign Overview and Funding The North East Victoria Cycling Optimisation (NEVCO) Masterplan identifies a range of priority projects that offer the greatest cycle tourism growth opportunities for the region, defining the infrastructure, private sector activation and marketing required to achieve a leadership position in this space. Of all of the priority projects identified in the Masterplan, investment in a marketing campaign of scale was determined to deliver the greatest impact on the visitor economy, with the potential to attract an additional 99k visitors to the region who will spend $37 million per annum. This recommendation was supported by a significant body of market research that was undertaken as part of the Masterplan process. This research identified that one of the primary issues inhibiting cycle tourism growth in the region is lack of awareness of the High Country bike offering. A lack of consumer awareness points to the need for sustained investment in a marketing campaign of scale – one that has the ability to move current and potential market segments from awareness through to inspiration and finally conversion – to generate cycle-related visitation and yield opportunities for the region. Recognising the need for marketing investment, $4 million from State Government has been committed to the delivery of a four-year marketing campaign that looks to capitalise on the clear and identified latent demand that exists for the High Country’s cycle tourism offering. Delivered by TNE, the program is led by the region’s ‘Ride High Country’ cycle tourism master-brand and launched in the second quarter (October 2018) at the start of the region’s cycle season. The delivery of a highly targeted and integrated marketing campaign of this scale will enable the region to own the cycle tourism category ahead of its competitors. It will effectively leverage the existing public and private sector investment that has already been made in the development of a broad range of cycle assets, and will create a platform for clear and competitive growth within the local visitor economy. 2.2 Campaign Channels a) Above the Line With the objective of the first two years of the campaign being to drive brand awareness, TNE’s focus firmly sits with above the line (ATL) in 2018-19, incorporating a range of mass media channels to stimulate brand recall and recognition. Highly visual in nature, these channels promote hero products and competitive differentiators of the Ride High Country offering, showcasing the array of cycle products that establish the High Country’s ride experiences as being the best in Victoria. TNE has designed a marketing plan that, through multiple touchpoints, brings the entire cycle tourism destination offering to life, which is key for success in establishing the High Country as the leader in this space.
The current status of key components of the 2018/19 campaign are as follows, primarily targeting the region’s core metropolitan Melbourne market:
● Out of Home (OOH) – a total of 30 premium large and medium format billboards in geo-targeted high-traffic, high-impact locations are scheduled throughout the campaign with 13 currently executed (the remainder continuing through May 2019). This has been complemented with 10 ‘bus back’ placements servicing Eastern Melbourne between October and December 2018. All placements have unique artwork, fresh for this season.
● Melbourne Airport Takeover – a linked activation throughout the Qantas and Multi Airline Terminals that allows Ride High Country to own the consumer journey of travellers from airport arrival through departure, and again on arrival through to leaving the airport. This component commenced on 24 December 2018 and will continue for one lunar month. This activity ensures that Ride High Country has a dominant presence throughout the airport including nine individual video placements (some of which include multiple locations eg. all baggage carousels), plus a static OOH large format billboard on approach and another digital OOH medium format billboard on departure. New video was captured and edited specifically for this execution featuring 12 High Country riding destinations.
● Digital Display Advertising – targeted digital advertising on key cycling, news and entertainment sites, as well as advertising via Video on Demand channels. To date, the top traffic driving publisher has been nine.com.au, while the SBS and Newscorp sites have provided wide reach. Exposure via Cycling Tips and Pinkbike.com have captured audiences that have produced the top engagement rates upon reaching the Ride High Country website, reflecting the targeted nature of these mediums.
● Content Partnerships – primarily with cycling publications to reach engaged audiences with high frequency via a combination of digital advertising and editorial. Just prior to Christmas, Cycling Tips released the first of its sponsored content pieces titled ‘Beer, Coffee and Perfect Roads: our search for the High Country’s best-kept cycling secrets’ consisting of a video and editorial that will live in perpetuity on their ‘Adventure’ pages. Content from Pinkbike.com and Flow Mountain Bike has been developed for release over the upcoming months.
● Print Advertising – TNE has agreed to advertise with dedicated cycle titles, leveraging PR opportunities, including: Treadlie, Cyclist Magazine (Australia/New Zealand), Australian Mountain Bike and Bicycling Australia. This advertising is spread across the length of the campaign, including through the winter months when readership of these titles increases.
● Strategic Marketing Alliances – with brands in the cycle space that have strong profiles and presence within the cycling community, and can add credibility and reach to the campaign. The strongest Ride High Country partnership at this stage is with MAAP, a premium Melbourne based cycle clothing company, who has featured High Country destinations across their social media and product photography in addition to supporting the 7 Peaks and other Ride High Country events. Additionally, Ride High Country supported GT Bikes in a large scale consumer mountain bike promotion. TNE is also continuing to pursue strategic marketing opportunities with Specialized, Rapha and SRAM.
● Ride High Country Managed Digital – TNE directly communicates with the target audience via the Ride High Country website and social media platforms, in addition to complementary search engine marketing (see item 2.3).
b) Below the Line Where ATL has a mass communications approach, below the line (BTL) channels provide opportunities for conversion with primary segments via highly targeted and personalised engagement opportunities. Through this communication, the campaign can progress high value consumer segments through the purchase consideration funnel more rapidly. Key BTL campaign components have been executed as follows:
● Events and Exhibitions – attending cycle events and expos enabling direct engagement with high-value visitors to promote the regional ride offering and supporting tourism experiences. Ride High Country has so far attended Amy’s Gran Fondo in Lorne (September), Around the Bay in a Day (October) and Giro Della Donna (Warburton - November) in addition to partnering with organisations for additional exposure at Gears & Beers, Sydney Beer Week and Canberra Ride Day. The next event that TNE will attend is Tour Down Under in Adelaide (January).
● Event Sponsorship – Ride High Country has sponsored two in-region events that offer brand exposure to a targeted audience, and support repeat visitation opportunities. In December, Ride High Country supported the Great Vic Bike Ride that attracted over 5k cyclists to the region. These cyclists were exposed to Ride High Country brand and associated destinations through the ride itself, as well as via the event signage, website, social media, rider briefings and video content screened nightly in the event village. In April, Ride High Country will sponsor the Australian National Mountain Bike Championships hosted in Bright for a new range of exposure opportunities.
● Database Acquisition and Communication – via events, competitions and directly on-line, TNE has grown the regional cycle tourism database by a third since the beginning of the season to almost 11,000. TNE regularly communicates directly with this audience to drive both awareness and conversion.
● Ride High Country Ambassadors – TNE has appointed local athletes Paul van der Ploeg (MTB World Champion), Teagan Atherstone (Australian Champion in two disciplines), Aaron Gungl (future World Cup MTB Downhill prospect) and the Soup Boys (Melbourne based cycling collective with a High Country heritage) as Ride High Country ambassadors. Via their own social media reach and additional media features, these athletes enhance campaign reach and provide further authentication from trusted sources that the High Country is Australia’s premier cycle offering.
● Hosted Rides – in 2018, there were two 7 Peaks Hosted Rides, at Mount Buffalo (November) and then Hotham (December). These rides, led by Ride High Country
Ambassador Soup Boys, enable visitors to engage with ‘cycling personalities’ and participate in a hosted opportunity that has ride groups and support for cyclists of all capabilities. The next scheduled hosted rides will be at Buller (February) and Falls Creek (March) to round out the season.
● Public Relations – TNE has planned an extensive PR campaign via targeted media channels to influence consumer opinion and travel trends, and keep the regional cycle offering front of mind (see item 10). These PR opportunities are supported by paid media.
● Road Signage Program - TNE has worked with Regional Road Victoria to install co-branded signage on the hero road cycling ascents in the region. Mount Buffalo was installed as a pilot in November and planning is currently underway to deliver the Falls Creek and Lake Mountain signage, with the remaining 7 Peaks assets to follow prior to the end of the season.
c) Asset Development
High quality, modern hero imagery and video that displays the depth and breadth of the Ride High Country offering is essential for the ongoing performance of ATL channels and the subsequent success of this campaign. With this in mind, in the second quarter TNE in conjunction with the region’s LGA and RMB partners completed an audit of existing imagery and video, identifying a number of asset deficiencies. A plan was developed to address this issue and capture a comprehensive suite of assets that can be used over the life of the campaign, with minor additions/refresh required each year following. Asset acquisition sessions (photo and video shoots) have now taken place across every LGA/RMB and in all appropriate disciplines already this season. Key asset development items are as follows:
● Video and photo assets - a range of shoots have taken place over Spring to build a comprehensive library. The major activity was a 14 day TNE led shoot that was completed in early December. Additional assets have been generated by the program’s editorial partners including Flow Mountain Bike, Cycling Tips and marketing partner MAAP.
● ATL creative - over 60 creative executions are required for the ATL campaign alone. Creative production is complete for the first four months of OOH, digital, video on demand and print advertising executions.
● Ride High Country TVC - TNE is producing the first ever Ride High Country TV commercial (for use across TV plus video on demand channels) for future use. Filmed in conjunction with the airport take-over videos and still photography, editing will be complete in February/March.
● Social Media Ambassadors - TNE is in the process of appointing highly respected cycling Instagrammers to generate assets and amplify the Ride High Country message via their own established networks. A ‘famil style’ weekend will be hosted by TNE in April, generating and delivering photography assets to the ambassadors for use next campaign period.
2.3 Ride High Country Digital Assets a) Website The Ride High Country website - ridehighcountry.com.au - is the central call to action for the cycle tourism marketing campaign. During the second quarter, TNE has focused on optimising this site through ongoing content creation and refining the user experience, which includes:
● The introduction of a dedicated events page that highlights the significant destination and regional cycle events on offer.
● The introduction of an editorial page covering Gravel road riding, an emerging bike discipline that the region is well positioned to capitalise on.
● Layout changes for each of the 12 cycle destination pages to prioritise the ‘Stay, See & Do’ product and cycle highlights for each destination.
● The introduction of new ride cards on each of the cycle destination pages to provide a stronger visual presence, improved mobile layout and faster filtering.
● Updates to the Road and MTB ride details to ensure there is differentiated lead imagery for each ride, leading to stronger visual cut-through on discipline and destination pages.
b) Social Channels Ride High Country social channels experienced a high performing quarter two, due largely to a significant increase in campaign spend as part of the Ride High Country Facebook managed ads campaigns for 2018/19.
FACEBOOK
Objectives Metric KPI ACTUAL
Brand advocacy Engagement rate 4.00% 4.63%
Fan acquisition New pages likes
increase 5.2% 17.99%
INSTAGRAM
Objectives Metric KPI ACTUAL
Brand advocacy Engagement rate 2.23% 9.13%
Fan acquisition New followers 2.27% 91.48%
The quarter also experienced a noticeable increase in Ride High Country social engagement and in-region User Generated Content (UGC) related to road cycling and rail trail use, resulting from the start of the 7 Peaks season (a highly engaged social segment) and the Great Victorian Bike Ride. Instagram activity was targeted at achieving strong channel growth, with the need to achieve 10k followers in order to unlock the level of functionality (analytics, post and story links, discover channel placement, etc.) that will make it a more effective marketing and engagement channel. In quarter two, Ride High Country Instagram new follower growth was double that of the previous 16 months. However, due to the increasing prioritisation of paid content on Instagram, it is likely to take some time before the 10k follower goal can be achieved Facebook continues to be the most effective social channel for driving web traffic (14k webpage views in quarter two). Paid campaign activity was directed at high value brand awareness results utilising content placement throughout Facebook, Instagram and Facebook’s Audience Network (which includes related websites, news channels, blogs, online marketplace and search). This does not necessarily result in growth of page followers or engagement, but achieves very high reach and visibility of the Ride High Country brand. Facebook paid content achieved over 1.6 million views, compared to under 300k organic views, and resulted in 127k engagements and 10.5k link clicks. While YouTube has not been an actively managed social channel for Ride High Country, website referral statistics indicate this is a source a for highly engaged audience. Further consideration as to how to leverage this channel will occur during next quarter.
Indigo Shire is well represented via Ride High Country social channels, gaining strong exposure for its mountain biking in Beechworth and Yackandandah, as well as Pedal to Produce and cycle friendly business offerings. Indigo’s social presence via Ride High Country also benefited from user content produced during the Great Vic Bike Ride and high quality output from CyclingTips and Flow Mountain Bike media famils : Facebook
Instagram
3. Feast High Country Campaigns 3.1 Feast High Country Overview The Feast High Country brand represents the region’s food/drinks pillar, effectively unifying a strong and diverse industry. The long-term objective of the Feast High Country brand is to raise awareness of the High Country’s breadth of food and drink tourism experiences, and help position the region as a ‘must-visit’ destination for associated target segments. The creative concept for the Feast High Country campaign celebrates the people that capture the essence of High Country’s food/drink offering, and aims to convey the welcoming feel and authentic spirit that is alive and well in the region. The tagline ‘Join our table’ will be used across all Feast High Country executions, featuring portrait-style imagery of the region’s industry personalities with copy that depicts their impressive credentials, history and connection with the region. The call to action for the Feast High Country brand and associated campaigns is the feasthighcountry.com.au website, which has been developed in an editorial style, ideal for telling the story of the rich food and drink offering across the region, profiling producers and personalities, and providing the opportunity to change content in line with seasonality. 3.2 Winery Campaign The first two campaigns launched under the Feast High Country brand are now live, focussed on driving awareness of the region’s winery and cellar door offering. This Feast High Country program is split across two campaign streams:
● Domestic campaign: targeted at key wine tourism segments in Melbourne, largely funded by the Victorian Government’s Wine Growth Fund.
● Chinese VFR campaign: targeting the Chinese visiting friends and relatives (VFR) market in Melbourne, primarily funded via the Australian Government’s Wine Australia International Wine Tourism State Grant.
These campaigns went live in November, and will be in market until April 2019 to optimise brand impact. A brief overview of the media placement and some creative examples of each are outlined below:
a) Melbourne domestic campaign Digital - Broadsheet:
Out of home - billboard:
Digital - Good Food, Gourmet Traveller, Google Display:
b) Chinese visiting friends and relatives (VFR) campaign Chinese overseas visitors’ guide - Melbourne: & Youku.com and SBS On Demand video pre-roll:
Out of home - shopping centre animated panels:
Social media:
3.3 Brewery Campaign Following the delivery of a High Country Brewery Tourism Development Strategy in quarter one, TNE has been working to develop a brewery tourism campaign that will be delivered in quarter three that features Bridge Road and Rutherglen breweries. This campaign will target passionate beer consumers for whom craft beer is a hobby. Aged 25-45 and predominantly male (but with an increasing female audience), this segment visits venues and destinations based on available beer selection, so is a strong target for a brewery tourism campaign. Working with TNE’s appointed media agency, a video campaign across YouTube and social media has been deemed the most targeted and cost effective method for reaching the target audience for the available budget. With this in mind, TNE conducted a shoot to capture assets for the video content in November, managing to cover five locations in a one-day shoot in order to showcase as much variety as possible. 3.4 Feast High Country Website The Feast High Country website, which launched at the end of 2017/18, is the primary call to action for all Feast marketing campaigns. Current content on the site is targeted at the Summer period with products, experiences and imagery aligned with this season.
Across the last quarter, several articles have been produced and published on the Feast High Country platform surrounding the hero wines of Rutherglen - Muscat and durif. These articles derive their content from interviews with six different operators, exploring their passion, process and view of their craft. All copy for Pedal to Produce Wandiligong, Milawa and Rutherglen has also been updated, complete and ready to be uploaded to the website in a new, dynamic style. Feast High Country Festival content is currently being developed across some 39 events. This content was created through individual interviews with each key operator contact so as to ensure authentic and unique event listings in line with the Feast style guide. 3.5 Feast High Country Social Feast High Country social pages were launched on Facebook and Instagram in mid-November in line with marketing campaign activity. The focus has been on building page audience by targeting brand awareness content at Melbourne-based audience segments defined by the two campaigns (Domestic and Chinese VFR). Initial content has been aligned to the ‘People, Place and Product’ theme of the marketing plan.
Social media click-throughs contributed to 35% of visits to the Feast High Country website, with Instagram providing the best results for bounce rate and page visits per session. Facebook content reach was 284.1k, of which approximately 52% was targeted paid reach. With only 6 weeks of activity, it is too early to report on page engagement.
However, it is envisaged that organic audience reach and engagement on Facebook is likely to be challenging due to the large amount of established food and wine content currently present on the platform and competing for attention in Melbourne. As such, early stage page likes and engagement will need to be supported by paid content to be effective.
4. Feast High Country Festival 4.1 Event Overview High Country Harvest, the region’s signature food/drinks festival, has been reimagined to align with the new Feast High Country brand. Accordingly, the event is now known as the Feast High Country Festival, effectively enhancing the impact of the master brand amongst the core Melbourne foodie market. In 2019, the Festival will be held on 3-19 May, featuring a 17-day regional event program that showcases the phenomenal food and drink offering that the High Country is renowned for. Importantly, the campaign will look to encompass the broader Feast campaign, celebrating the faces and personalities of the High Country. TNE is currently working to secure a new partnership with a high profile restaurant in Melbourne to further extend the reach of the Festival’s program and marketing efforts. 4.2 Marketing Campaign As part of the re-naming of the event, TNE has worked with a design agency to develop the below brand, which reflects the look and feel and values of Feast High Country, whilst remaining identifiable with previous High Country Harvest event participants. This logo will be rolled out across the marketing campaign, website and social media assets in quarter three. Feast High Country Harvest - brand identity:
The 2019 event campaign, which will be live in early March, will seek to complement and leverage Feast High Country marketing activity already in market, thus increasing the impact of all activity. TNE is working with the appointed media agency to develop a targeted campaign aimed at the crucial Melbourne metro market across a range of channels.
Creative executions will work in synergy with other Feast activity, whilst remaining sympathetic to the previous creatives rolled out for High Country Harvest. TNE shot a number of new photo and video assets during last year’s event, as well as for the Feast campaign activity, which will ensure there is a wide array of food and drink offerings and events showcased in the campaign.
5. Feast High Country Guide In December, TNE finalised the production of the new Feast High Country Guide, an updated edition of the region’s popular High Country Food and Wine Guide. Produced biennially, the Guide provides a comprehensive outline of the region’s food and drink offering. The publication is a valuable tool for visitors before and during their stay, both as a source of inspiration to visit the region with the food and drink offering as a driver, as well as providing a complete guide for visitors in-region. A total of 90 businesses from across the High Country are represented via advertisements and business listings. The Guide has been updated with a fresh look and feel, incorporating the new Feast High Country brand and associated identity and colour palette. Distribution has commenced via TNE’s brochure distribution partner and will be widely available in market during the month of January.
Indigo Shire is well represented in the Feast High Country Guide with separate sections covering Beechworth and surrounds and the Rutherglen area. The 14 page Beechworth and surrounds section focuses on the wineries of the Beechworth area, with information about the availability of local produce and unique cafes providing menus featuring fresh seasonal produce.
A further 16 pages showcases the strong winemaking traditions and historic wineries in the Rutherglen area, with information about cellar door restaurants and cafes, accommodation options and activities for leisurely touring in the area.
6. Walk High Country Campaign 6.1 Campaign Overview The Walk High Country brand leads regional marketing efforts in the nature-based tourism pillar, representing a product that has widespread appeal across key market segments. Walking constantly ranks as the number one ‘alternate/extra’ activity of those who have travelled to the High Country to experience other activity options (including cycling, snowsports and food & wine), and integrates well with all other products/attributes that the High Country is known for. The first Walk High Country campaign will launch in February and aims to raise brand and product awareness of the hiking, bushwalking and village strolling offerings available in the High Country’s alpine resorts, parks, village and town destinations, and will look to capitalise on existing latent demand for walk offerings. The call to action for the campaign will be the Walk High Country website www.walkhighcountry.com.au, which was developed by the TNE digital team. 6.2 Marketing Program The Walk High Country campaign will follow a market penetration strategy, designed to drive awareness (of the brand, destinations and products) among higher value target segments. Research conducted by Quantum (see item 7) has identified two priority consumer segments to target:
1. Destination Explorers - Mostly under 40, motivated to explore, and actively plan walks to points of interests (up to half a day) in ‘controlled’ environments. The High Country nature assets align with their desires but, as they do not currently visit the High Country in any great numbers, there is a significant opportunity to positively impact this audience via marketing.
2. Committed Hikers - This segment is already highly engaged with walk tourism embarking on a number of planned walking holidays per year. As the name suggests, they enjoy the walk itself as much as the scenery or the final destination. Committed Hikers are already aware of the High Country (and may have even visited before). The goal with this high value (frequent travelling) segment is to move the High Country back to the top of the planning list and encourage repeat visitation across the entire region (multiple destinations).
Specifically designed for maximum impact within these target markets, the marketing program has been designed to maximise budget and generate the highest impact during a limited campaign period. Predominantly in market in February, this campaign will take advantage of the six public holidays occurring between February and April.
● Asset acquisition and creative development - TNE engaged talent and photographers for a series of photo shoots late in 2018. This imagery will be used throughout the campaign, primarily in paid advertising. Creative development is currently underway and will be available in the third quarter.
● Content partnership - TNE is working with Broadsheet to influence their audience, which perfectly aligns with the region’s Destination Explorers segment. This includes:
○ The creation of two unique content pieces published in February 2019. ○ Dedicated content to tap into Broadsheet Melbourne's social networks, and in
turn, drive brand awareness and engagement via Facebook and Instagram posts driving to the content housed on site.
○ All content is written in Broadsheet tone and style, inclusive of photography with 100% tourism SOV display targeting around content.
○ Month long high impact display across Broadsheet throughout campaign ○ Roadblocks/high impact digital display advertising (desktop and mobile) and
photo galleries (desktop and mobile). ● Programmatic (digital display advertising) - designed to specifically target Committed
Hikers, which includes: ○ A full suite of display banners running cross device for 4 weeks in February 2019
featuring beautiful imagery from hero destinations of the High Country with a strong call to action (artwork under development)
○ Combination of keyword targeting and third party audience segments with pixel retargeting for repeated impact.
● Out of Home - a billboard in a high impact Melbourne location to drive general brand awareness.
Whilst it has a relatively small budget, the Walk High Country campaign will benefit from leveraging other High Country marketing campaigns, Ride and Feast, which are in-market at the same time.
6.3 Walk High Country Digital Assets The Walk High Country website launched in July 2018 featuring over 100 walks. All site content is currently indexed by Google and other search engines, and as a result the Walk High Country website was listed in 9657 web searches throughout the quarter. During January there will be some further refinement of page content in readiness for campaign and social media launches in late January. Walk High Country social pages on Facebook and Instagram are currently being built and due to be launched prior to the Australia Day holiday weekend. Given the strong representation of Walk campaign related User Generated Content already experienced via the See High Country social channels, it is anticipated the Walk High Country social pages should resonate relatively quickly with existing High Country audiences.
7. Walk High Country Research In the second quarter, Quantum Market Research delivered the Walk High Country segmentation research report commissioned by TNE, providing insights into the walking tourism market and associated visitor segments. Key recommendations of this research were as follows:
● Target those at the more committed end of the walking market: Walking encapsulates a broad range of different tourist visitors, but only contributes to destination choice among those for whom it is a focus of their trip. This in itself is a sizeable potential market.
● Inspire breadth rather than sell specifics: The majority travel with only a loose idea of the walks they will undertake. The ambition should be to secure the belief that appropriate walking options will be available to choose from once in-region.
● Hero breathtaking alpine scenery: Alpine scenery most reliably triggers intention to visit to a broad range of those who have not done so before. Once introduced, the platform can drive repeat visitation and dispersion.
● Ensure mainstream relevance: Only a minority undertake walks of greater than 10km / half a day. Furthermore, showing prepared hikers in promotions alienates the mainstream by reinforcing the misconception they are underqualified.
● Compile choice edits to support itinerary planning: Addresses critical barriers to visitation: Being overwhelmed by choice and not knowing where to base. Edits resonate with key target who are motivated to seek stand-out walks / points-of-interest.
In November, this research was delivered to industry and partners at an all-of-region presentation by Quantum. This will be followed by smaller sessions hosted by TNE in February, which will workshop the research findings and assist industry in applying the learnings to their
own operations. This engagement will then be supported by one-on-one mentoring sessions to assist businesses in leveraging from the Walk High Country brand.
8. Industry and Product Development While significant efforts are dedicated to driving demand for the High Country offering, it is essential that a commensurate effort is committed to diversifying and enhancing the supply side of the tourism equation. TNE delivers on this need through the provision of a broad range of industry and product development services that are focused on providing a high-quality tourism experience. 8.1 Industry Development TNE supports existing High Country tourism operators in optimising their businesses and the experiences they offer visitors. This work includes up-skilling industry through mentoring and briefing sessions, identifying and working with businesses to fill gaps in the regional tourism offering, managing industry communication efforts, and driving ongoing industry and product innovation. It also involves facilitating relationships and tourism efforts between industry, Government organisations, tourism associations and other public and private entities to drive regional collaboration and growth. In the second quarter of 2018-19, TNE has delivered a range of initiatives in this space for Indigo Shire including:
● The delivery of 12 individual business development sessions to address the trends, issues and opportunities of most relevance to their businesses. For this quarter, the most popular topics covered were food, drinks and cycling.
● The delivery of a range of both Indigo-specific and broader regional group briefing sessions, which engaged 16 Indigo Shire tourism businesses. This included:
○ Walk Tourism Research - All of region presentation clearly identifying walking tourist segments with the greatest potential for visitation and growth in the High Country. The research has also noted some top-level observations regarding opportunities for the region.
○ Cycle Tourism Workshop - Ride High Country tourism workshop covering cycle research, the cycle tourism marketing campaign and the Ride High Country Preferred business program.
○ Agritourism Deep Dive - interactive workshop for businesses to explore their own ideas in line with new agritourism research and industry mapping.
○ Crisis Comms - Stakeholder briefing covering the effects of bushfire on tourism businesses and how to manage communications during emergency events.
● Facilitating or being involved in a range of meetings and sessions focused on developing
tourism experiences and opportunities for Indigo Shire, including:
○ Attending a planning meeting for the Beechworth to Yackandandah Rail Trail with trail builders TrailScapes
○ Meeting with GTR events to discuss the proposed route for the 2020 Jayco Herald Sun Tour.
○ Working with Friends of Murray to Mountains Rail Trail about cycle tourism opportunities.
○ Wine Growth Fund project steering group meeting to discuss the future directions of the Feast High Country campaign.
● Attending or being involved in a range of meetings and sessions of relevance to Indigo
Shire and its strategic tourism direction including the following:
○ Facilitating discussion with VicRoads to develop road cycling signage across region. ○ Attending Visit Victoria Industry Development workshop to share learnings from
across the state and ways to streamline resources. ○ Attending and participating in the Cycling Tips Giro Della Donna road cycling event,
promoting Ride High Country.
● Strategic engagement with other associations and organisations to progress Indigo Shire
tourism priorities including Regional Development Australia, Regional Development Victoria, Ovens Murray Regional Partnership, and Visit Victoria.
8.2 Product Development In the product development space, TNE works across the region to deliver tourism projects of scale, most of which are supported by grant funding. TNE is instrumental in securing this funding, leveraging its reputation with Government for developing and delivering significant and strategic projects that have the potential to be regional gamechangers to deliver positive outcomes for the High Country and its stakeholders. TNE also work directly with its public and private sector partners to assist them in delivering new products and experiences that have the ability to enhance the destination offering, and diversify the broader regional landscape. In quarter two, the projects that TNE has been working on in this space that are relevant to Indigo Shire are as follows:
a) Agritourism Mapping Project
TNE has followed the delivery of the Food and Agritourism Consumer Segmentation research with the delivery of the Agritourism Mapping Project, which was completed in the second quarter. To enable supply and demand to be matched, this project looked to identify the agritourism experiences currently available in-region, and assess where they sit within the product development life-cycle, and determine which operators have capacity to evolve and innovate to meet market demand.
This project has made the following key recommendations:
● Formalise clusters - The scale of the total region is too great to be promoted as a single market, so should be arranged into formal clusters for both operational synergies and promotional opportunities. the Beechworth, Stanley, Wooragee cluster is the priority for new initiatives in the next financial year.
● Create a consumer-facing digital platform - A platform featuring every operator in the agritourism space would be a powerful tool to express the depth and breadth of the region to potential visitors and allow for seasonality to be expressed.
● Strengthen the local food system - A strong local food system provides the foundation for investment and innovation by providing a dependable income stream for operators, allowing for growth into agritourism.
● Provide support / advocacy - Operators self-identify that funding is the single biggest limitation on their expansion. Support for grant applications would therefore go some way toward facilitating growth, as would assistance in addressing the red tape often associated with these project
In order to progress efforts in the agritourism space, TNE is currently developing an action plan that draws on the learnings from both the research and mapping projects. This will be finalised in quarter three.
b) Arts and Cultural Tourism Action Plan With the completion of the cultural tourism consumer segmentation research, along with the Ned Kelly Alive and the Hume Aboriginal Cultural Trail projects, TNE is currently developing an Arts and Cultural Tourism Action Plan to activate the Arts and Cultural Heritage product pillar. This plan will incorporate the key learnings and recommendations of these reports, and determine the future direction of associated industry and product development in the region. The tourism and economic development teams of TNE’s LGA and RMB partners have already been involved in this planning process, and will be engaged regarding the recommended strategic direction in the third quarter.
c) Human Capital Review Project Attracting and retaining quality tourism staff in the High Country is increasingly one of the key challenges faced by local tourism businesses. As a result, operators face a difficult task maintaining and growing their businesses due to:
● Operator burn out, as they constantly have to cover unfilled roles in their businesses. ● An inability to spend adequate or necessary time on business development. ● An increase in sub-standard guest service, which brings reputational risk for the individual
business and the region as a whole. ● Reduced investment because businesses are reluctant to grow if they cannot manage
staffing for additional services and products. In particular, there is significant unmet demand in the region for skilled staff in the following service sectors:
● Kitchen personnel - especially trained and qualified chefs from executive to chef de partie positions.
● Front of House - service staff skilled in food and drink ● Housekeeping staff - particularly in and around Alpine Shire ● Snow personnel - at all resorts.
In the second quarter, TNE commenced a Human Capital Review to define this issue, including qualifying existing staffing shortfalls and quantifying the value of future demand for services and staff. A project steering group has been developed for this project, which will first meet in the third quarter. d) Ride High Country Signage Strategy The NEVCO Masterplan identifies 12 priority projects across the High Country that have the potential to significantly impact the region’s ability to own the cycle tourism category. One of these projects is ‘High Country Cycling Culture’, which notes that if the region is being promoted as Australia’s premier cycling destination then the experience on the ground should reflect this byway of the following:
● Consistently branded cycling information boards at all bike hubs and orientation points; ● Consistent approach to mountain bike directional signage across all mountain bike parks
that is on brand; ● Consistent approach to rail trail signage; ● Welcome signage for cyclists to key bike towns; ● Consistently used bike safety signage; ● Reinforcement signage that is branded for road cyclists on key cycle routes and climbs
(including the ‘7 Peaks’ climbs); and
● Consistently branded visitor information services and collateral. In order to deliver on this project, TNE has created a brief for the development of a Ride High Country Signage Strategy. The aim of this regional strategy is to deliver consistent cycle tourism signage across the region, reinforcing category ownership through support of the Ride High Country brand and delivering a common ride experience that is easy to navigate. It will effectively provide a signage framework that will ensure that cyclists engage with the same signage standards across all destinations and ride products in the High Country. It will address some serious gaps in the region’s cycle wayfinding signage, and also allow for a truly collaborative regional cycle tourism offering. To fund this body of work, TNE submitted an application to the Building Better Regions Fund in the second quarter, with successful recipients likely announced in the third quarter. e) Chinese New Melbournian Resident and Visiting Friends and Relatives (VFR) Research As a component of the work delivered under the Wine Australia International Wine Tourism Grant (see item 3.2), research will be conducted into the potential of the Chinese new Melbourne Resident and VFR markets to the region. This research will be delivered by researchers from Monash and Melbourne Universities National Centre for Australia Studies. The research will cover visitor profiling, travel behaviours and expectations of the Chinese VFR market focusing specifically on cellar door and winery visitation. This will be delivered by a combination of social media analysis, online surveying, qualitative interviews with Chinese new-Melbourne residents and an in-region site visit. Findings are expected to be delivered by April 2019. f) Cellar Door Visitation Survey In 2016, TNE worked with cellar doors throughout the region to conduct on-site surveys capable of providing market insights and profiles of the current visitor market. This data, complemented by findings garnered from consumer segmentation research, has been used to guide strategic business decisions and attract funding for regional, GI and business-specific projects. TNE and industry have determined that delivering similar research on a biennial basis will be valuable in identifying market shifts, so it will again be delivered in 2018/19. To this effect, a survey process commenced in early December 2018 and will run until March 2019. Ipads will be hosted at all of the region’s 48 open and operating cellar doors and intercept surveying will take place over the holiday period. Results of this survey will be available to stakeholders and industry in mid-April 2019. g) High Country Rail Trail Development Plan
TNE has produced a brief for a High Country Rail Trail Development Plan that identifies a framework for the strategic and sustained growth of the trail into a cycle tourism asset that generates visitation, yield and dispersal opportunities for surrounding townships and the region. This Plan will:
● Define the range of works and enhancements required to optimise the current ride
experience ● Identify development opportunities to optimise the trail into the future ● Recommend the most appropriate management and delivery model required to support
trail funding and growth ● Outline funding opportunities to support the delivery of this plan.
As the majority of this trail sits within the Wodonga and Towong LGAs, TNE has engaged with these entities as well as Parklands Albury Wodonga and DELWP about the project brief. However, a portion of this trail also sits within Indigo Shire, involvement from Council moving forward is likely. Furthermore, with the extension of the Murray to Mountains underway between Beechworth and Yackandandah and longer-terms views to connect to the High Country Rail Trail at Huon Reserve, enhancement of this offering will be key.
9. Digital 9.1 Regional Digital Platform Update A series of major infrastructure software updates were performed on the Regional Digital Platform that supports the destination and regional assets. These updates were largely targeted at security and minor bugs fixes, and are aimed at ensuring ongoing platform stability. Works on the mapping changes reported in quarter one are continuing, specifically looking at capabilities to display multiple overlays on a single map. This functionality is required to be able to show the relationship of different items such as walking or cycling routes such as all the trails in a mountain bike park, or all town walks at a given destination. This remains on track for delivery at the end of quarter three. Planning for major updates to the website page content authoring is complete and will be rolled out in late January. This update will deliver a series of new capabilities for finer control of where content can be positioned on a page. 9.2 Destination Websites TNE currently manages the content for Council’s suite of websites, looking to drive synergies between these channels as well as optimise visitation and engagement. The easy to reference dashboard reporting for Indigo Shire’s sites are as follows:
Sessions
24.2K 53.0%
Audience and Engagement (compared to previous year)
mobiledesktoptablet
11.9%
36.2%51.9%
Sessions by device type
Page Views
57.5K 29.1%
Pages/Session
2.4 -15.6%
Digital Dashboard - Q2 2018-19explorebeechworth.com.au
Page Views by page type(compared to previous year)
Page Title Page Views
1. Beechworth, Victoria - O�cial Travel Website 10,961
2. Search things to do in Beechworth, Victoria 3,918
3. Woolshed Falls - Beechworth 2,331
4. Search accommodation in Beechworth, Victoria 2,219
5. Search festivals and events in Beechworth, Vic… 1,765
6. Beechworth Historic & Cultural Precinct | Beec… 1,717
7. Beechworth Gorge Walk - Beechworth 1,580
8. Asylum Ghost Tours - Beechworth 1,403
9. Eating out in Beechworth - restaurants, cafes, … 1,202
10. Shopping in Beechworth | Beechworth, Victoria 1,107
▼
Top 10 pages
Page Title Page Views
1. Woolshed Falls - Beechworth 2,331
2. Beechworth Gorge Walk - Beechworth 1,580
3. Asylum Ghost Tours - Beechworth 1,403
4. Mayday Hills - Beechworth 1,057
5. Ned Kelly - Beechworth 809
6. Lake Sambell - Beechworth 797
7. Billson's Brewery - Beechworth 588
8. Ned Kelly Vault - Beechworth 431
9. Beechworth Farmers' Market - Beechworth 422
10. The Honey Shop by Beechworth Honey - Beech… 410
▼
Top 10 listings
Which channels are driving visitation?Goal: Engaged Users
Sessions Page Views
0 10K 20K 30K 40K 50K
Organic Search
Direct
Referral
Social
(Other)
Home
11,132 0.8%
Editorial
20,787 38.2%
Listings
25,326 41.7%
Search Engine Terms Ranked 1 to 5
Sessions Page Views
0 5K 10K 15K 20K 25K
mobile
desktop
tablet
Which devices are driving visitation?Goal: Engaged Users
The Beechworth site experienced strong growth this quarter compared to the same time last year with pageviews increasing by 29.13% and sessions increasing by a very significant 53%. Following work undertaken in quarter one on the Historic Precinct page, further search-engine optimisation has been completed on this page, along with a frontpage hero area call-to-action. As a result, the views of this page have increased by 545.5% compared to the same time last year, resulting in it being the third highest viewed page during the quarter. Content for the Burke Museum landing pages has been developed and will be launched once stakeholder review is complete. The Yackandandah site has also seen very good growth compared to the same time last year, with pageviews increasing by 22.4% and sessions increasing by 30.3%. Whilst the Yack-Tracks MTB park has strong coverage on the Ride High Country website, the Mountain Biking page on the Yackandandah website was the second highest viewed page after the homepage and saw an increase in views of 14.58% compared to last year. This is a good example of how regional and destination websites both contribute to showcasing hero product. There was a strong increase in visitors’ desire to see the overall offering within Yackandandah with pageviews of the See & Do search page increasing by 247.4%. Content for the Walks page has been developed, but is awaiting some further track details before this can be published. As for the Chiltern site, YOY performance comparison figures are not available given the Chiltern site launched in December of 2017. Content for the Walks page has been developed, but is awaiting some further track details before this can be published. The Rutherglen site has also delivered good growth compared to same time last year with page views increasing by 13.5% and session increasing by 10.2%. The Rutherglen muscat page was redeveloped with new editorial, imagery and format. Two articles were created, one talking to the significance of the Rutherglen muscat, the other linked page talking to the Rutherglen Muscat Classification. Both were created with interviews from five winemakers across their respective wineries. The Muscat Classifications page is the highest rank page for this search term and has already achieved 682 click throughs.
The Rutherglen durif page was redeveloped with new editorial, imagery and format. This article talks to the difficult but rewarding process of growing and making Durif, with interviews from two winemakers of different wineries.
Content for the Walks page has been developed, but is awaiting some further track details before this can be published.
10. PR 10.1 Media Famils During quarter two, media famil itineraries aligning with Walk High Country, Feast High Country and Ride High Country campaigns were prepared for visiting journalists from Australian Traveller magazine, Fairfax Traveller, Cyclist Australia/NZ magazine, Australian MTB magazine and for the leading travel influencer, Liz Carlson - The Young Adventuress. Freelance journalist, Elspeth Callender, will deliver major features for leading travel publications, Australian Traveller (Autumn 2019 issue) and Fairfax Traveller, as a result of a comprehensive, region-wide itinerary covering food, wine, walk and ride experiences during November. The Australian Traveller angle - What to do on the peaks and in the valleys when there’s no snow - included the Old Beechworth Gaol tour, Provenance, The Empire Hotel, Beechworth Spa and a Beechworth Gorge Walk. Journalists/photographers - including the influential Instagram photographer @beardymcbeard from Cyclist Australia/NZ magazine - visited Beechworth and Yackandandah December, generating daily social media posts along the way. Their itineraries combined great cycling with High Country food, beer, travel experiences and included Bridge Road Brewers, the Old
Beechworth Gaol, Saint Monday and the Historic Precinct. The magazine and online editions will publish April 2019
TNE also negotiated coverage in Australian MTB magazine with famil support for two features - including the Beechworth and Yackandandah MTB parks and trails, publishing in the February issue in print and online and in March, the 8-Day MTB Adventures High Country Bikes, Beers & Bakeries tour, including Beechworth, will feature online and in the magazine as a result of TNE support for the visiting journalist/photographer, Colin Levitch.
During December, the leading NZ-based travel blogger, Liz Carlson (the Young Adventuress) embarked on a week-long tour of the High Country, co-sponsored by Indigo Shire. Her Instagram and Facebook posts and stories have to date attracted thousands of likes, with her key platform, The Young Adventuress travel blog, which has more than half a million followers, to publish early 2019.
In quarter two, the Virgin Airlines inflight magazine, Voyeur, published a Ride High Country feature in the December issue following a media famil prepared for adventure writer, Andrew Bain in March 2018. The itinerary included a Tour de Vines experience from Beechworth to Bright.
During October, Beer Diva published a series of travel blogs based on her region-wide High Country Brewery Trail itinerary in September, featuring Bridge Road Brewers and other Beechworth-based businesses, Provenance and The Empire Hotel.
10.2 Other PR activities Key members of Visit Victoria’s marketing and communications team visited the region during November. TNE prepared a two day itinerary highlighting a range of Feast High Country food, wine and beverage experiences as well as several new tourism businesses, such as Bilson’s Brewery, the Old Beechworth Gaol, Beechworth Spa and Mount Ophir for the team, ahead of Visit Victoria’s forthcoming wine tourism campaign. A Ride High Country media release announcing the official start of the 2018/19 season was prepared and distributed to all travel/lifestyle/general news and cycle-specific media. The story was picked up by region media including the Border Mail as well as Treadlie magazine.
