Welcome to the first newsletter of 2017.  I hope you are enjoying a busy summer and that summer continues to be a strong one for our industry and the Gippsland visitor economy.  I encourage you to take advantage of the information and opportunities presented this month, whether they be in PR, social media, international marketing or with upcoming events and festivals. This year we will be focusing on promoting Gippsland’s incredible food and wine (and beer and gin) producers.  Details on how to get involved will be released soon.  Let’s work together to stretch out our peak season for as long as possible.

Inspired by Gippsland
Terry Robinson

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

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

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 for operators 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) – Tuesday 4 April 2017
• South Gippsland/Bass Coast – (TBA) May 2017
• East Gippsland – Tuesday 18 July 2017
• Baw Baw – Tuesday 19 September 2017
  (Dates maybe subject to variation)

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

The Wander Victoria campaign is entering into the next stage of promotion and we are encouraging all tourism businesses to get involved by having a presence on the campaign website with a listing and shoulder season deal or offer.

To get you started we have prepared some helpful articles:

• How to create an ATDW listing that sits on visitvictoria.com.au and inspiredbygippsland.com.au
• How to create a deal on your ATDW listing
• How to grow your business in the low season

For more information contact aconroy@destinationgippsland.com.au  or phoebe@destinationgippsland.com.au

Is your town a tourism town of excellence?
The Gippsland Tourism Town Excellence (GTTE) Project is looking for Gippsland's tourism friendly towns to participate in the second year of the Program.

The Program works with towns to actively provide an excellent visitor service experience.  We have developed a Tourism Town Improvement Kit which has a variety of resources that can be used by businesses to assess their visitor servicing including some practical and easy tips to improve them.

Download the kit here.

For more information or to register your interest contact janine@destinationgippsland.com.au or your local Council Tourism Coordinator.

There are a range of funding streams available to community groups, organisations and small business with Regional Events Victoria, the Latrobe Valley Authority, Building Better Regions and Regional Arts Victoria. 

To further explore your eligibility please see read the full article here.

 

We are often approached by event organisers who are looking for information on how to promote their event.

In response we have put together a directory of tips and ideas to help out – from finding a grant to using the power of Public Relations and Social Media.  Read more 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