Welcome to the first newsletter of 2016.  I hope you are enjoying a busy summer and that the peak season continues to be a strong one for our industry and Gippsland visitor economy.  I encourage you to take advantage of the information and opportunities presented this month, whether they be in PR, to work with Tourism Australia or to improve your online marketing reach. I also take this opportunity to thank and farewell our Marketing Manager Andrew Wilson. For those that have worked with Andrew you will know what at loss this will be for our team and for our industry. He has been a tireless promoter of Gippsland over the past three years and we wish him well with his next career move. I look forward to introducing a new Marketing Manager in coming weeks to continue our work to grow tourism in Gippsland this year and beyond.

Kind regards,
Terry Robinson

An Accessible Tourism Resource Kit is available to all tourism businesses to help them make important changes to become accessible.

One in five people has a disability and 8 billion dollars per year is spent on Australian tourism by travellers with a disability. But the market for accessible tourism is much broader than people with a disability.

Download load the kit here.
Read the full story here.

We have sourced advice from emergency agencies on how best to plan, prepare, respond and recover in the event of an emergency. As a result we have launched a new crisis website.

This site is designed to provide tourism businesses with specific information on current incidents in Gippsland as well as providing valuable resources and a directory to assist in planning and preparation for the event of an emergency.

For more information visit http://crisis.destinatongippsland.com.au

The new visitvictoria.com / inspiredbygippsland.com consumer website has launched to the world.

With 8.8 million global visitors during 2015, Tourism Victoria’s consumer site is a key marketing channel for Gippsland, Melbourne and Victoria.  The new site is a significant enhancement on the previous version providing the consumer with a graphically appealing design, quality Gippsland content and enhanced navigation and search.

Visit the new site at inspiredbygippsland.com.au 
Find out how you can list your business on the new site here.
Read the full story here.

Tourism Australia is launching a new global campaign focusing on one of Australia’s key competitive advantages – our world-class aquatic and coastal experiences.

There will be a number of opportunities for businesses to be involved in and to support the campaign:

• Industry can submit their best aquatic and coastal video, film, stills and social content via existing Tourism Australia channels, including Facebook, twitter and Instagram. The best user-generated content will be curated and featured across Tourism Australia’s platforms and in content initiatives. Find out more.
• Industry will be able to access new campaign assets from Tourism Australia for use in their own marketing activities. Find out more.

Download the latest news here.
Read the full story here.
 

The editorial team for Pieces of Victoria has created an editorial calendar for the first half of 2016. We would like to give businesses the opportunity to share any suitable story ideas for consideration ahead of each deadline.

Please read the full story for a list of regional features which we plan to include over the coming months.

Read the full story here.

The Creating Smart Connections program is offering the opportunity for Gippsland tourism businesses to join the online community Tourism Tribe at no cost. 

Tourism Tribe is an exciting new online learning community where people who work in tourism can access the knowledge and tools they need to succeed online.

Register as a fully subsidised Gippsland business here.

Tourism businesses can keep up to date with Destination Gippsland by visiting the new website destinationgippsland.com.au.

The website is updated regularly with blogs by team members sharing news, tips and ideas for Gippsland tourism businesses.

Visit our blog here and join the conversation on our industry Facebook page Destination Gippsland - a page for tourism businesses here.

For more information contact Phoebe Honey: phoebe@destinationgippsland.com.au

• 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 $2.8 billion in total expenditure.  It supports approximately 15,000 jobs in over 3,000 businesses across every community in Gippsland.  Tourism in Gippsland is everyone's business. 

Contact our team here
Find out more about our Board of Directors here