Destination Gippsland recently held its Annual General Meeting.  Our AGM was an opportunity to reflect on the year and acknowledge the support of our financial members.  We thank the member Councils of the Gippsland Local Government Network and Visit Victoria who continue to demonstrate regional leadership for the tourism sector by investing in their Regional Tourism Board as well as their own tourism programs.  Our AGM also allowed us to look forward with renewed enthusiasm and welcome Nicola Pero and Leigh Kennedy to the Board.  Nicola is the CEO of Lardner Park and has extensive major event experience and has been appointed as a Director.  Leigh is the Gippsland Director for Regional Development Victoria and joins the board in an Observer capacity.  It is great to add new ideas and skills to any Board and we look forward to their contributions as we all work to grow the Gippsland Visitor Economy.

Kind regards, 

Terry Robinson - CEO Destination Gippsland

The Gippsland tourism industry has had a good year – investment activity increased and visitation was well up on last year (+23%).  This result was announced by Destination Gippsland at its Annual General Meeting held at Lardner Park on November 21, 2016.

The Destination Gippsland Board for 2016/17 consists of Steven Hibbard (Chairman), Richard Longmore (Finance Committee Chairman), Caillin Flint (Industry Development Committee Chairman), Trent Fairweather (Marketing Committee Chairman), Paul Ashton, Cameron Johns, Sue Smethurst and Nicola Pero.  Observers to the Board are Tim Tamlin (South Gippsland Shire Council), Leigh Kennedy (Regional Development Victoria), Will McCutcheon (Parks Victoria) and Chris White (Visit Victoria).

The Annual Report 2015-16 was released at the AGM. The report highlighted positive news for the region.  Read full story here>>

Destination Gippsland has confirmed its ongoing support for the community of the Latrobe Valley and sees great potential in growing its Visitor Economy.

The announcement of the closure of Hazelwood creates challenges for all industry and community leaders. We believe there is an opportunity for tourism,events and major infrastructure projects to be a key part of the economic future of the Latrobe Valley.

Latrobe City attracted over 1 million visitors last year on the back of a strong sporting, cultural events program and business conferences. Holiday makers visiting friends and relatives are using Latrobe City as a base to visit Mt Baw Baw and Walhalla to the north, Tarra Bulga National Park to the south and the Gippsland Lakes in the east. The economic value of tourism to the Latrobe areas is over $250million per annum and growing.

Read full story here>>

The spotlight was on Victoria’s leading tourism businesses at the RACV Victorian Tourism Awards gala ceremony at the Crown Casino on Thursday November 16.  Winners and finalists across 33 categories were announced.  

We would like to congratulate Gippsland businesses Jetty Road Retreat who received Silver for the Standard Accommodation Award and Big4 Inverloch Holiday Park who were a finalist in the Caravan & Holiday Parks category.  We would also like to congratulate Bass Coast Shire Council who won Gold for Visitor Information Services and received Bronze in the Local Government Award for Tourism category.

For more information on award categories and finalists, please visit: victoriantourismawards.com.au

Operators contracted with the Expedia Group are encouraged to support the current Wander Victoria activity which is currently in market promoting travel until June 2017. 

The Expedia Group includes brands Wotif.com, Lastminute.com hotels.com and stayz.com. The campaign includes banner advertising, blogs, social media support and dedicated emails to over two million Expedia newsletter subscribers.

For more information contact Alison Conroy aconroy@destinationgippsland.com.au

Destination Gippsland is pleased to announce the 2017 International Partner Program. The program offers Gippsland’s internationally active tourism operators the opportunity to participate in our extensive international marketing activities at a highly subsidised rate.

In 2017 Destination Gippsland will continue to market Gippsland internationally as a key nature based tourism destination. Participating businesses have a fantastic opportunity to partner with the organisation and leverage from these activities.

Benefits include:

• Lead referral, PR and sales calls and famil opportunities to showcase your business to Inbound Tour Operators, International Wholesalers and Online Travel Agency partners
• Product representation at Visit Victoria’s ITO sales missions and updates
• Aussie Specialist program opportunities and updates
• An international “tool kit”, outlining how to work with international trade
• Expert advice on working with international trade
• Inclusion in updates sent to Inbound Tour Operators via email.

For more information contact Alison Conroy aconroy@destinationgippsland.com.au

Resilient businesses prepare for possible risks, take appropriate action during emergencies, and recover.

We have a range of resilience resources available to businesses and encourage all to 'Do One Thing' to prepare for the upcoming Summer using the Business Continuity Toolkit created for Gippsland tourism businesses.

For more information visit http://crisis.destinationgippsland.com.au or contact Janine Hayes jhayes@destinationgippsland.com.au

Are you new to the Gippsland tourism industry or is there something new about your visitor experience?  If so, we want to hear from you.

Recently Promhelis opened in South Gippsland offering helicopter tours of Wilsons Promontory.  We welcome them to the industry and wish them success!

We love hearing about new businesses as well as new visitor experiences in existing businesses.  By ‘telling us your story’ just like Promhelis did, we can then it share with Tourism Australia, Visit Victoria, and our network of Melbourne media.

Contact us on our Industry Facebook page or email Phoebe Honey phoebe@destinationgippsland.com.au

There are many highly regarded online resources available to assist tourism businesses with social media and digital marketing.  Here are four low cost or free options to get you started:

1. Tourism Tribe
   Tourism Tribe is an online community that connects tourism operators, industry and digital experts in a supported learning environment.
    
2. Australian Tourism Data Warehouse Tourism E-Kit.
   The highly regarded, multi-award winning Tourism e-kit resource, which was developed by the Australian Tourism Data Warehouse (ATDW) covers the A to Z of online marketing and distribution. This online training programme, now comprising over 64 tutorials, was developed to support, train and raise the professional standards of the tourism industry and to improve their understanding and confidence with online digital technologies.
    
3. Tourism Australia
   Offering comprehensive resources including industry webinars specific to tourism businesses.
    
4. The Digital Garage – with Google
   Boost your digital knowledge with free courses on everything from search to social media, to help you grow your business or career.  Free tutorials from Google on everything from your website to online marketing and beyond. Choose the topics you want to learn, or complete the whole online course for a certificate from Google supported by IAB Australia.

We recommend setting aside time to review your strategy and catching up on current trends with these resources. 

We will be hosting a series of four Gippsland Tourism Leaders and Industry Forums across Gippsland in 2017. 

The Forums will provide an opportunity for a greater number of operators and industry leaders to engage with Destination Gippsland and receive updates on relevant policy issues affecting the Tourism Industry (Visitor Economy).   It will also allow stakeholders to make a contribution to key policy matters and actions in relation to advocacy, Destination Management, industry success, product development,marketing and governance.

Specifically foroperators there will be relevant keynote speakers, a practical workshop component and a Networking Function at the end of the day.

The proposed dates are:

• Central Gippsland (Latrobe City/Wellington Shire Council) - Tuesday 3 April 2017
• South Gippsland/Bass Coast - (TBA) May 2017
• East Gippsland - Tuesday 19 July 2017
• Baw Baw - Tuesday 19 September 2017
• (Dates maybe subject to variation)

For more information contact Janine Hayes jhayes@destinationgippsland.com.au

The free government Grant Finder helps find grants and assistance programmes that are relevant to your business.  For more information visit the grant finder website here.  

• Baw Baw Shire 
• Bass Coast Shire - Event Calendar
• East Gippsland Shire - Discover East Gippsland
• Latrobe City - What's on in Latrobe
• South Gippsland Shire - Prom Country
• Wellington Shire Council - What's on in Wellington

The Gippsland Visitor Economy generates an estimated $1.2b in Gross Regional Product (11% of the total Gippsland economy). It supports 12,400 jobs (12% of all Gippsland employment) in over 3,000 businesses across every community in Gippsland. Tourism in Gippsland is everyone’s business.

Find out more about our Board of Directors here

Contact our team here