The Whitsundays Tourism Opportunity Plan - Tourism Queensland

3 A Vision for The Whitsundays Region
Dent
Island
3 Vision
3.1 Vision and Themes
The vision in The Whitsundays Destination Tourism Strategy 2012 –
2016 is for the region to be:
Globally recognised as one of the world’s
leading tropical island and marine leisure holiday
destinations.
The Whitsundays, 74 Island Wonders
The Whitsundays is one of the world’s leading tropical destinations
and is working towards being renowned as a best practice
destination for its lifestyle, leisure, business and environmental
tourism offerings.
To achieve this vision, there is a need for the region to offer island
and mainland experiences that better cater to visitor markets,
particularly international and interstate leisure visitor markets that
have been targeted for growth. This includes upgrading the facilities
(accommodation, supporting facilities and activities etc) on many of
the Whitsunday islands.
To offer such experiences, tourism nodes at Airlie Beach and
on the Bowen waterfront will also need to be enhanced. Other
enhancements required to achieve the short and long term visions
include the following.
Preserving the relaxed beachside look and feel of Airlie Beach
and its environs.
Encouraging the development of mainland attractions and
activities to offer visitors more than the maritime experiences
currently on offer.
Providing pedestrian-friendly waterfront paths; cycle-ways and
other experiences in Bowen.
Upgrading the look and feel and quality of many resorts and
hotels in the region.
Underpinning this, tourism stakeholders in the Whitsundays need
to work in a common direction to maximise the tourism potential
of the region so as to achieve a balance of economic, social and
environmental outcomes. A significant shift is required if the region
is to achieve strong levels of repeat visitation from the interstate
and intrastate visitor markets 7 or if it is to grow its share of the
inbound visitor market.
7 Current repeat visitation is estimated at 25% of domestic visitors only.
For the Whitsundays to achieve it’s aspiration for 2016 it is critical
that there is:
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a coordinated approach to destination marketing and
promotion;
innovative product and infrastructure development across the
region that delivers the marketing promise; and
a tourism industry that is operating at the highest standards
of service, safety and sustainability through effective industry
development programs.
3.2 Target Markets
Traditional methods of market research have defined consumers
by demographic and life-stage variables that assume everyone in
the same age group or with the same income act in a similar way.
In order to better understand the consumers’ needs and wants,
maximise the impact of the development, the marketing dollar
and to communicate more effectively with the consumer, Tourism
Queensland has adopted a needs-based segmentation approach
for identifying both domestic and international target markets. This
approach is similar to the experience-based segmentation adopted
by Tourism Australia for targeting international markets.
All tourism development and promotional activity is based on
consumer needs. The following target markets for the Whitsundays
include the current targets and those identified for development in
order to achieve the region’s 2016 potential.
Domestic Visitor Segments
Tourism Queensland’s segmentation model is a result of research
of some 6,000 Australian consumers, looking to understand the
emotional drivers for their ideal holiday experience. Based on the
results of this research the consumer groups best suited to the
Whitsundays Region are:
Connectors who see holidays as a chance to connect with the
people they care most about. They will often subordinate their own
preferences in terms of activities to ensure everyone has a good
time.
Social Fun-seekers the essence of a holiday is having a fun time.
While they do a lot of different activities, it is sharing the experience
with friends and other holiday makers that makes the difference.
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