Part 1 - Shire of Ashburton

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Shire of Ashburton Tourism Strategy January 2011 Goal ‐ To increase the number of local visitor industry jobs. Measure ; Growth in tourism and hospitality employment within the Shire. Goal ‐ To increase the level of visitor industry investment within the Shire. Measure ; Growth in tourism and hospitality investment. Goal ‐ To continue supporting the delivery of effective visitor servicing services by establish the Tom Price Visitor Centre as the major showcase facility for all tourism aspects concerning the Karijini region and to assist the Onslow Visitor Centre continue to act as a major information point for visitors to the Onslow region. Measure ; Visitor Centre visitor numbers, survey membership levels, and scrutinize operational performance. Goal ‐ To develop marketing strategies that enable highly focused targeting of potential markets, that generate significant awareness of the Shire’s tourism destinations in the visitor marketplace, and that achieve stated visitor growth objectives. Measure ; Monitor success of specific marketing programs. Monitor the general success levels/business confidence of the local retail and tourism operators. Goal ‐ To develop a close working relationship with the Australia’s North West RTO in developing destination visitor brands and undertaking highly focused cooperative marketing activities. To create open and effective communication linkages between all tourism stakeholders in the region including neighbouring Shires and RTOs. Measure ; Monitor level of cooperative marketing activities undertaken. Monitor level of activity undertaken with Australia’s North West. Goal ‐ Reinvigorate community pride throughout the Shire of Ashburton through a program of townscape revitalisation, creation of town entry statements, and implement a value of tourism program that will work to improve the overall marketability of the Shire’s visitor destinations. Measure ; Monitor the implementation of town revitalisation and streetscape plans. Goal ‐ To develop major special events as a major contributor to the growth of tourism development within the Shire. Measure ; Regularly monitor the effectiveness of major special events. Gain feedback on the success levels of each major event staged. A successful Tourism Strategy requires community and local industry involvement with responsibility lying with more than just the Shire and Visitor Centre staff. Because tourism is a private‐sector industry (the benefit of tourism is getting visitors to spend money in the community – at local businesses), this plan’s implementation must include both the Shire and the local business community involvement. 31
Shire of Ashburton Tourism Strategy January 2011 5.0 VISITOR SERVICING STRATEGIES 5.1 Visitor Information Centres “Tourism is worth $4.2 billion to the Western Australian economy and visitor servicing is a vital part of that industry. While tourism marketing attracts more people to our unique state, it is visitor servicing that ensures visitors see more, do more, spend more and have the best possible experiences in WA. Visitor servicing also gives the widely diverse communities of Western Australia an opportunity to share and be proud of the special places they build and protect.” Source TWA Visitor Servicing Study The Shire is a strong supporter of local tourism with its investment largely directed towards ensuring a professional and high quality local visitor information service is delivered at the major tourist focal points of Tom Price and Onslow. The successes achieved are a result of the Shire’s financial commitment to visitor servicing along with the direct employment of capable individuals to ensure activities are appropriately implemented and managed. When done well, Visitor Information Centres provide a primary medium through which to enhance visitor awareness of, and increase tourism yield for a particular destination. The principal role of a VIC is to provide high standards of visitor care by imparting useful local knowledge that significantly enhances the visitor experience. Visitor information centres can have substantial influence upon, - visitor length of stay in a destination, - the range and number of local activities in which visitors engage, - overall visitor satisfaction levels, - and the propensity of visitors to return to a destination. The key functions of a VIC include, - imparting key local knowledge on an area, - providing a showcase for the region’s major visitors assets, local produce, arts and crafts, - and marketing and promoting an area. Research carried out for Tourism New South Wales found that most VICs receive fewer than 60,000 walk‐in visitors and telephone enquiries per annum. A recent study by the Visitor Centre Association of WA (VCAWA) of 47 visitor centres around WA revealed the following, - Over 60% of visitor centres surveyed handled less than 50,000 enquiries per year and around one quarter handled between 80,000 and 150,000 per year. - Only 8% of those surveyed indicated that they generate total revenue in excess of $1m pa, while over 90% generated less than $600,000pa. - 28% of those surveyed were owned and managed by local government, 68% managed by an industry based board, and 4% privately owned and operated. - Merchandise sales remain a major source of income for VICs around the state while membership fees have considerably less importance. 32
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Part 1 - Shire of Ashburton

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