New West Coast GM, Ciara Spencer and Gabriella Conti geared up to have a tour at Bluestone mine
SAVE the DATE for the annual WxNW Regional Tourism Forum - Wednesday 19th June! Full details will be announced soon.
February may be the shortest month, but it has been jam-packed! Sarah visited King Island to witness the sod turning of their new Hub alongside various political figures, including the Premier Jeremy Rockliff and Senator Ann Urquhart. While there, Sarah and Events Tasmania caught up with numerous operators talking all things “events” on the island.
WxNW and TICT have collaborated closely throughout the election cycle to ensure our regional prioritiesare effectively communicated. We extend
our gratitude to TICT for their lobbying efforts, particularly in highlighting the importance of tourism.
I spent this week in the West Coast, meeting with the new council GM Ciara Spencer, catching up with the industry, and meeting West Coast Strategic Partnership Group. This group is a collective of core businesses on the West Coast, mining, aquaculture, hydro, RDA, tourism, and local government. This group has been formed to improve accommodation, infrastructure, and amenity of towns to attract and retain workers and families. This collaborative approach brings together various sectors to work collectively towards achieving the best outcomes for the West Coast community.
Meg has been out and about assisting operators with their ATDW profile and preparing their Off Season offers. With the Off Season fast approaching the Tasmanian Government has launched aWinter Event Grant anyone organising an event through the Winter months please apply! Please reach out to Meg if you need any assistance with the grant of Off Season offers.
Looking ahead, March promises to be a month with industry events. From the THA’s Great Customer Experience program workshops around the regions to Tourism Tasmania’s Off-Season updates and TICT's Positive Impact Tourism Workshops, there's a lot to look forward to. Be sure to read on for more information and see you out and about.
Photo | (left to right) Cyndia Hilliger, Sarah Norton, Gabriella Conti and Meg Hely
TICT | Tassie's Top Tourism Town - Entries Open!
In 2023, our region won all three Top Tourism Town awards in Tasmania. Queenstown, Stanley and Devonport all recognised as top tourism destinations.
Tassie Top Tourism Town showcases what makes Tasmanian towns an amazing for visitor destination. It's a chance for recognition and collaboration among tourism operators, businesses, and the local community.
Entries are now open, for Accredited Visitor Information Centres, Local Councils, 'DAP' Groups, and Local Tourism Associations. Nominations close Thursday 7 March.
During an emergency or severe weather event, visit TasALERT.com or listen to ABC Local Radio for the latest emergency information and key communications. Visit the Tasmania Police website for information on road closures.
It is important to ensure your staff and visitors are aware of these emergency information sources. You can also share the following bushfire and flood safety brochures that are available on the Tasmanian Visitor Information Network website:
Join WxNW, your LTA and the THA's Great Customer Experience (GCE) Program for an opportunity to network with industry colleagues. The Tasmanian Hospitality Association will present an overview of their highly regarded Great Customer Experience program, providing operators with an understanding of how the GCE Program provides support and training to enhance your customers experience.
FAR NORTH WEST
CIRCULAR HEAD TOURISM ASSOCIATION
When | Monday, 18, March
Time | 5:30 - 7:00 pm
Where | Tall Timbers, Smithton
CENTRAL COAST
CAVES TO CANYONS, BUSINESS NORTH WEST & MERSEY VALLEY
When | Tuesday, 19 March
Time | 5:30 - 7:00 pm
Where | The Hive, Ulverstone
WEST COAST
DESTINATION WEST COAST
When | Wednesday, 20 March
Time | 6:00 - 8:00 pm
Where | TBC
*** As we are yet to confirm a venue, please book your spot on the WC by emailing meg@wxnw.com.au
As we move into the winter season, make sure you come along to Tourism Tasmania's industry update. Hear the latest tourism market outlook, preview the upcoming Off Season campaign, and learn how to leverage the Off Season for your business.
Afterwards, take the opportunity to network with your industry peers, Tourism Tasmania team members and us! Drinks and nibbles will be provided.
If you’re a tourism business that is a TICT member or accredited, there is a still a chance for you to join Nic Cooper, a regenerative tourism specialist, and TICT Carbon Advisor Lauren Cameron at the TICT’s upcoming workshop series.
Workshop participants will explore the why, what and how of sustainable, positive impact tourism, with a specific focus on reducing carbon emissions in your businesses. The highly practical program will equip you with practical tools, guides and knowledge to act on your emissions reduction goals and ambitions.
Key learnings will include:
Case studies of how tourism businesses around Tasmania, and also Australia are tackling emissions reduction.
Where and how carbon emissions can be reduced, even when juggling the challenge of staffing, time and business cost pressures.
Where and how emissions reduction can lead to more meaningful and locally connected visitor experiences.
How to communicate your positive impact and decarbonisation journey authentically and transparently, so you maintain visitor trust in an often un-trusted space.
Hobart workshop: 8:30am – 4pm Monday 18 March 2024 | AURA Crowne Plaza
The Off Season campaign shows mainlanders that Tasmania has unique winter experiences like nowhere else. The campaign aims to reduce seasonality and drive winter visitation by encouraging Australians to book a winter holiday with a difference.
KEY DATES
31 March 2024 All Off Season offers to be submitted.
8 April 2024 Off Season campaign launch (offers must be bookable on operator websites).
1 May 2024 Off Season offer redemption period commences.
31 August 2024 Off Season concludes.
Please reach out to Meg (meg@wxnw.com.au) if you need any assistance in coming up with an idea or need help inputting your offer.
The Tasmanian Government has committed $100,000 to the Event Marketing Tasmania – Winter 2024 Edition program. Grants are available to the organisers of events held in Tasmania from April to September 2024. Eligible applicants can apply for a grant between $5,000 and $10,000, specifically designated to their interstate marketing activities that target visitors from outside Tasmania. Applications will be assessed in order of receipt of a submission and will continue until the program closes (Wednesday, 1 May 2024 at 2:00 pm) or until all the funding allocated to this program is exhausted – whichever occurs first.
The scheme aims to ensure that Tasmania’s built heritage places are valued, protected, maintained, and leveraged for the benefit Tasmania and Tasmanians.
A total of $1 million is available under Round 1 (2023-24) of the Grants Scheme through two programs:
Conservation Program:
Small grants of $5,000 to $20,000 to support state-registered property owners to undertake small but significant, heritage conservation and restoration activities.
Activation Program:
Large grants of $20,000 to $200,000 to support heritage property owners, skills development organisations and the community to activate heritage places.
Through the support of the Tasmanian Government, the TICT is supporting tourism businesses in reducing their emissions by matching eligible tourism operators with one of two programs over 2023 and 2024.
The Small Business Advice and Financial Guidance Program supports Tasmanian small businesses to be flexible, innovative and efficient. It provides eligible small businesses with access to relevant and current specialist financial services or business support to assist in their growth, transition, business recovery from unexpected events or application of other management strategies.
A total of $525,000 has been allocated for round three of this program, across the following two streams:
General support grants - $465,000
No Interest Loan Scheme (NILS) application support grants - $60,000
Touring grants of up to $20 000 are available to eligible organisers of auto, motorbike, cycle or walking tours in Tasmania during the winter and shoulder season. Funding is based on the number of interstate or international participants staying in paid commercial accommodation for five nights or more, with 40 percent or more of the tour being held in regional areas.
The Scheme will provide no-interest loans of between $500 and $10,000 over three years to eligible households, residential landlords, small businesses and community organisations for funding investment in energy-efficient products.
VXT is a purpose-built organisation, providing training in the hospitality and tourism industry. Visit their website for upcoming training courses in our region.
The Cultural Tourism Accelerator Program The Cultural Tourism Accelerator Program is a $5 million targeted measure announced by the Australian Government as part of the Regional Arts Tourism package.
There are four grants available under this program. See website for more detail.
Grants of up to $50,000 are available to help your workers improve their reading, writing, maths, speaking, listening or digital skills. Applications must be completed by September 29 to be assessed in the first tranche of funding.
Most local councils offer their own grant programs. Check your local council website for further information.
For more detail on grants and funding, you can ring the Business Tasmania helpline any time on 1800 440 026 or email ask@business.tas.gov.au.
If you know of anybody who would like to receive tourism updates from WxNW, please forward this email and encourage them to subscribe HERE. Note this mailing list has been drawn from ATDW, council websites, correspondence to date and other web-based research. If you wish to be removed, you may unsubscribe below.
Also, for more regular updates and interaction with our region's tourism industry, join the Friends of WxNW Facebook group.
We acknowledge Tasmanian Aboriginal people as the traditional and ongoing custodians of lutruwita (Tasmania). We honour their deep cultural connection and care of these lands, skies and waterways, and pay our respects to Elders past and present.