Tourism Industry UpdateNews and updates for Victoria's spectacular parks and waterways.Welcome to Parks Victoria's new quarterly Tourism Industry Update, designed to keep you informed and up to date with park activities, safety and other important information about parks and waterways managed by Parks Victoria. We'd love to hear more about content you'd like to see in future editions and please share this update with your teams. We can also add your team members to our distribution list for future editions if they send their details to tourism@parks.vic.gov.au Keep your visitors and staff safe this summerEveryone in Victoria should be familiar with Fire Danger Ratings.
Visitor safety is Parks Victoria’s highest priority and we may need to quickly close parks on Total Fire Ban days or in high fire risk weather conditions (including Code Red days) to protect the public and our staff. Fire Danger Ratings are forecast up to four days in advance using Bureau of Meteorology data. Fire Danger Ratings indicate how dangerous a fire would be if one started. The recent Code Red declaration is a timely reminder to make sure your emergency management plan is up-to-date, especially your bush fire safety procedures. These procedures should take in account the current fire danger rating and your duty of care to your staff and clients. Remember, the higher the Fire Danger Rating, the more dangerous the conditions. Your procedures should include monitoring Fire Danger Ratings, Total Fire Bans and emergency warnings throughout the warmer months and also include decisions for when to cancel or reschedule tours. While Parks Victoria and other agencies endeavour to provide timely information, you should not expect to receive warnings or advice in an emergency or when parks need to be closed. Bush fire preparedness and safety is the responsibility of all Victorians so please follow this link to view important information to prepare, stay informed and safe within our parks. Six steps to stay safe during fire season1. We encourage you to download the Vic Emergency phone app now, available on android or iOS, to ensure you receive all emergency warnings and advice for a range of hazards. 2. Visit the Emergency Management Victoria site for live fire warnings and incidents and follow their social media channels: VicEmergency Facebook and VicEmergency Twitter 3. See here for a full list of parks that will be closed on Code Red days, when weather conditions pose a high fire risk. 4. Some areas (within a park or the whole park) in the Central Forecast District are closed on day/s where local conditions have a Severe or Extreme Fire Danger Rating. 5. Please familiarise yourself with the CFA website regarding what you can and can’t do on days declared Total Fire Ban. 6. For up to date CFA total Fire Bans and Ratings, click her
Parking at Port Campbell National ParkRevised Parking Conditions This summer will see a significant increase in visitors travelling to Port Campbell National Park. During this time, there will be the potential for traffic delays, and parking is expected to be at maximum capacity daily between 12 noon and 5pm daily. Parks Victoria will implement a traffic management plan to safely manage visitation at the Twelve Apostles precinct, Loch Ard Gorge and Gibson Steps. Please allow extra time for traffic congestion and to be patient, observe traffic conditions and respond to the direction of Park Rangers. If you would like to receive a fact sheet regarding the changes and information to help respond to customer esquires and provide visitors with advise please contact us tourism@parks.vic.gov.au Brand new Parks Victoria website launchedParks Victoria launched a brand new website last month replacing the former parkweb website. Visitors will be able to access more inspiring and informative content while experiencing a new uplifting design and optimised mobile experience.Annually, the Parks Victoria website attracts over four million visitors, and helps visitors discover and connect with our magnificent parks and waterways across Victoria. The new website features include:
Longer term, there will also be a range of other features and content progressively added to the site. There are over 3000 parks and reserves in the Parks Victoria estate, meaning there's a lot of content to be reviewed and renewed. Based on user data from the old website, we have uploaded the most visited parks first and we’ll be progressively adding other parks over the next 12 months. If you have links to Parks Victoria's old website in your own websites or publications, please note that these links no longer work and need to be updated. Check out the new website and let us know what you think - www.parks.vic.gov.au Grampians Peaks Trail Update We are nearing the one-year-to-go mark as construction continues on the trail and the hiker camps. The camps are located to create new and exciting views for hikers, immersing them in the remote landscape. You may see helicopters over the coming months, flying in building materials. Special consideration during the planning of this project has been given to access sites with minimal impact. Some are walk in only. In flying in materials, this minimises ground impact of large trucks and means we do not need to build road infrastructure, protecting more of the landscape. You can read more in our spring Community Update or come and visit us at the fourth listening post where you can come and say hello and find out more. The next listening post is at: The Wander Inn We'd like to hear what’s new from you? We want to know what new, exciting tours, products, sustainable initiatives you are offering or are developing for 2020. Parks Victoria has dedicated Marketing and Communications Teams who are regularly looking for content and ideas ideas when developing media releases, social media content, seasonal campaigns and other promotional opportunities which are distributed to targeted media outlets, social media channels (including WeChat) and our website.
Right now we are especially looking for Autumn ideas and content and also licensed tour operators who are Chinese market ready for a WeChat campaign for early in 2020. Let us know all about your new products/tours, locations, dates available, what languages you offer tours, website links, contact details and any other information you can share. Send your new and exciting products to tourism@parks.vic.gov.au
Meet the Tourism Team: Nature-based tourism and our industry succeed best when we all work together. Our tourism team are committed to working with you to strengthen our relationships as valued tourism industry partners and to build Victoria's reputation as Australia’s best nature based tourism experience. Our tourism team has a wide breadth of knowledge and experience across our parks and waterways and communications, partnerships and engagement. We can also help you navigate Parks Victoria and find the right person to talk to. The team is: Emma Watts - Director of Partnerships We'd love to hear any feedback you might have on what you'd like to see in future editions of this newsletter and also if you'd like us to add you to our distribution list if this e-newsletter was shared with you. Contact us via tourism@parks.vic.gov.au or call 13 1963. Photo (L-R): Prue Daley, Lisa McKenzie, Emma Watts and Jarred Parsons |