Part 1 - Shire of Ashburton

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1. INTRODUCTION Shire of Ashburton Tourism Strategy January 2011 RBA Consulting (the project consultants) were contracted by the Shire of Ashburton (referred to as the Shire in this report) to review its current tourism investment and visitor based programs and to prepare a Tourism Strategy (the Strategy) for the greater Shire destination. The Strategy is written to assist the Shire in its planning for tourism development over the next 5 years. The Strategy identifies key issues that should be addressed by the Shire in order to achieve its full potential as a vibrant visitor destination. The report is divided into three key areas of review namely; Visitor Servicing; Marketing and Destination Promotion; and Tourism Investment. To gain a strong understanding of the Shire of Ashburton visitor destination the project consultants have conducted a number of personal interviews with local tourism industry representatives, Shire of Ashburton staff and elected representatives, visitor centre staff and management, broader tourism industry representatives including Tourism WA, Australia’s North West and other Regional Tourism Organisations. Extensive travel through the Shire was carried out with the consultant team visiting the major towns of Tom Price, Paraburdoo, Pannawonica, and Onslow, as well as major tourist attractions within the Shire boundary. In addition to the above, a desk top review and analysis of available written information was carried out. 1.1 Report Definitions Defining Tourist and Visitor A tourist is typically defined as a person who undertakes travel, for any reason, and involves a stay away from his or her usual place of residence for at least one night. Some definitions of tourist label only those travellers visiting for leisure or recreational purposes while other definitions also include business travellers. By most commonly accepted definitions the “fly‐in fly‐out” worker that dominates the air travel patterns to and from the Shire of Ashburton would not be classified as a tourist to the region, rather tourism researchers tend to classify this traveller group under the “business” category. A more appropriate term for travellers to a region such as the Shire of Ashburton can be simply “visitor” and in the context of this report, “tourist” and “visitor” are used to mean the same thing and also include the daytrip market. While researchers and academics may apply travel time, reason of visit and distance parameters on these definitions for measuring purposes, in the end it is the visitor level of expenditure and the net benefit gained by a destination and its community that is of real concern. This report is written with the goal of influencing those visitors with the capacity to deliver real economic benefits to the communities of the Shire of Ashburton. Defining “Iconic tourism” A common term currently used in tourism destination development and promotion within Western Australia is “icon tourism”. An iconic experience/attraction/event is “awe‐inspiring, unique to Western Australia, has the potential to draw significant visitors here gaining recognition nationally and internationally” (source: Tourism WA). To illustrate how icon tourism works, Ningaloo Marine Park is rated by Tourism WA as the state’s number 1 iconic tourist attraction. Interestingly, Karijini National Park is rated equal second with Purnululu National Park (Bungle Bungles). Iconic attractions are used by state and regional tourism promotion bodies as the basis for most marketing and promotional programs. 1
Shire of Ashburton Tourism Strategy January 2011 Tourist Yield In recent years tourist destinations have shifted their marketing focus away from simply increasing the number of tourists to enhancing the ‘quality’ associated with tourism growth. The way to increase quality is often articulated as moving away from mass tourism (with low expenditure per person ‐ low yield), and moving towards more quality tourism experiences with higher per capita spending (high yield). Tourism WA for example has recognised that within the global tourism marketplace the State faces many challenges including long haul travel times and relatively high travel costs when compared to competing destinations. Reflecting this, it has positioned and promoted the State to potential international markets predominantly as a “unique nature based and experience driven” destination and actively targets the higher yield international traveller. In contrast, a destination such as Bali, takes a mass tourism or high volume tactic that is largely price driven and would be argued as a more lower yield approach. Local Government & Industry Working Together Tourism is a broad pursuit that interlinks across numerous industry sectors and for a particular destination should never be viewed in isolation. In order to achieve a successful and economically sustainable local tourism industry, there must be a collective approach between local government and a motivated local industry. Without this cooperative understanding underpinning the efforts to develop tourism, rarely will a destination achieve its full visitor potential. One of the aims of this report is to bring these elements together and to develop and detail a range of highly actionable visitor development strategies that will establish and promote the Shire of Ashburton destination as offering quality visitor experiences. 1.2 Overview of the Structure of Tourism Destination Management in Australia The following table provides a basic outline of how the Shire of Ashburton fits amongst the wider “travel distribution system” operating throughout Australia and is provided for readers who do not possess a strong understanding of traditional travel distribution and tourism management systems. Agency/Entity Tourism Australia – Commonwealth Government Agency Role/Responsibility Marketing of Australia to external visitor markets as well as delivery of research and forecasts to industry. Tourism Western Australia (TWA) – State Government Agency Three key roles including marketing, product & industry development, and visitor servicing in Western Australia. Up until recently, TWA operated a number of regional offices throughout the State including Karratha however under its new “business model” strategy released in May 2010 it now plans to close these offices by the end of 2010 and centralise all operations in Perth. A refocus on marketing, major events and increasing aviation access is the core of the refocus. TWA staff numbers will be reduced from the current level of 159 to 74 with the savings redirected to destination marketing. This refocus appears to be the right approach to more effective marketing and promotion of the State however there will be a need for LGAs such as Ashburton and the broader Pilbara Development Commission to take up various tourism focused responsibilities left void by the closure of the TWA Karratha office. The Shire’s review of tourism is therefore considered very timely. 2
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Location Amenities Tourism Destinat
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Part 1 - Shire of Ashburton

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