A TOOLKIT FOR TOURISM MARKETING IN 2020 · your business once COVID19 restrictions are lifted. By...

40
A TOOLKIT FOR TOURISM MARKETING IN 2020

Transcript of A TOOLKIT FOR TOURISM MARKETING IN 2020 · your business once COVID19 restrictions are lifted. By...

Page 1: A TOOLKIT FOR TOURISM MARKETING IN 2020 · your business once COVID19 restrictions are lifted. By working collaboratively, we can inspire visitors to come and enjoy what we know is

A TOOLKIT FOR TOURISM MARKETING

IN 2020

Page 2: A TOOLKIT FOR TOURISM MARKETING IN 2020 · your business once COVID19 restrictions are lifted. By working collaboratively, we can inspire visitors to come and enjoy what we know is

DESTINATION GIPPSLAND — TOURISM MARKETING TOOLKIT 2020 2

A TOOLKIT FOR TOURISM MARKETING IN 2020 Destination Gippsland is responsible for promoting Gippsland to domestic and international audiences with a core goal of increasing the value of the visitor economy through destination marketing, industry support and development and to attract investment into the region. In 2019 Gippsland attracted a record 7.4 million visitors (+11%) who spent over $1.3 billion (+15%).

Destination Gippsland would like to invite you to be a partner in drawing visitors back to the region. We want you to contribute to a destination story that will entice visitors to come, stay a while and spend their money in the region and in your business once COVID19 restrictions are lifted.

By working collaboratively, we can inspire visitors to come and enjoy what we know is an exceptional place to visit.

*Note — As this is a digital PDF, you can click on hyperlinks that look like this.

We are here to provide a critical marketing tool for you and your tourism business.

Page 3: A TOOLKIT FOR TOURISM MARKETING IN 2020 · your business once COVID19 restrictions are lifted. By working collaboratively, we can inspire visitors to come and enjoy what we know is

IN 2019 DESTINATION GIPPSLAND:• Introduced a new blueprint for the future in ‘Towards 2030 Gippsland Destination

Management Plan’. Click here to view.

• Launched a new brand for the region, “Gippsland – All kinds of wonder”

• Created new brand assets and launched a dedicated campaign targeting Melburnians

• Launched a new website providing a one-stop call to action for our region, featuring over 500 pages and 700 images of Gippsland at visitgippsland.com.au

• Secured over $12m in PR value to the region through editorial and media channels

• Continued to grow and curate world-class social media promoting Gippsland as a visitor experience

In 2020 we aimed to build on the work we had undertaken in 2019. A combination of the catastrophic East Gippsland bushfires in January and the emergence of the global pandemic COVID19 meant we had to pause our marketing efforts. We have had to rethink how to talk about Gippsland to our target audiences once the travel bans are lifted.

This toolkit has been created to assist tourism businesses to plan and prepare to attract visitors to their products and destinations as quickly as possible when travelling can recommence. It’s a chance to work through some ideas for change and development that you may not have had the chance to do before.

Page 4: A TOOLKIT FOR TOURISM MARKETING IN 2020 · your business once COVID19 restrictions are lifted. By working collaboratively, we can inspire visitors to come and enjoy what we know is

DESTINATION GIPPSLAND — TOURISM MARKETING TOOLKIT 2020 4

CONTENTS

Research

An audit for your business: SWOT analysis

How DGL are preparing for future marketing

ATDW Listing

Pricing and Packaging in post COVID19 world

Content planning

Social media

Public Relations

Business Events

Distribution partners and International trade

Crisis Management planning

05.

07.

12.

16.

17.

19.

22.

24.

32.

34.

36.

Page 5: A TOOLKIT FOR TOURISM MARKETING IN 2020 · your business once COVID19 restrictions are lifted. By working collaboratively, we can inspire visitors to come and enjoy what we know is

RESEARCHThere is a mine of information about what the post-COVID19 world will look like.

Here are some key points relevant to tourism in Gippsland.

Page 6: A TOOLKIT FOR TOURISM MARKETING IN 2020 · your business once COVID19 restrictions are lifted. By working collaboratively, we can inspire visitors to come and enjoy what we know is

DESTINATION GIPPSLAND — TOURISM MARKETING TOOLKIT 2020 6

RESEARCHWHAT WE KNOW

Here are a few other points to consider:

• Regional destinations will be in a prime position when travel restrictions are lifted, anticipating a focus on drive touring

• Every regional destination will be launching campaigns at the same time. Marketing budgets may not stretch as far as they did, as we all compete for the same ad space. Our messages will need good cut-through to succeed

• Not all markets will bounce back in the same way as they used to travel. Anticipate that at least one of your target audiences won’t be responsive

• Anticipate that people will have less disposable income, and possibly less leisure time to travel. People have hibernated during the crisis, which could translate to less money and less time for travel as they work at rebuilding careers and work life

• Prepare for an initial rebound in the drive and visiting friends and relatives (VFR) market, then expect to work a bit harder for bookings as borders open from other states

• Prepare your business to manage social distancing once open again. You need to think about ways to protect staff and customers, which may affect volume and revenue

• You may need to review and update your cleaning practices

• If you’re a tour operator, you will need to consider how to change capacity to meet social distancing requirements (on buses and boats in particular)

There will be new conduct codes to consider. Some ideas are outlined in future sections of this kit.

We know that 80% of tourism spend in Australia is from the domestic market. Australians spend $6500 per capita per year on travel, and 40% of their travel time in their home state. (Deloitte Access Economics, courtesy of Tourism Australia).

Page 7: A TOOLKIT FOR TOURISM MARKETING IN 2020 · your business once COVID19 restrictions are lifted. By working collaboratively, we can inspire visitors to come and enjoy what we know is

DESTINATION GIPPSLAND — TOURISM MARKETING TOOLKIT 2020 7

LETS GET STARTEDIt’s a good idea to stand back and have a look at your business before implementing any changes, so the first step to undertake now is to conduct a health check on your tourism product. We recommend taking a little bit of time to think about your business. By completing the next task, you can review what you offer, who you appeal to and why.

CONDUCT A SWOT ANALYSIS. If you haven’t undertaken a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) analysis before, it’s a great way to map out what your business is capable of achieving. There is a blank SWOT sheet in the workbook to get you started.

Page 8: A TOOLKIT FOR TOURISM MARKETING IN 2020 · your business once COVID19 restrictions are lifted. By working collaboratively, we can inspire visitors to come and enjoy what we know is

STEP 1 — WHAT YOU DO WELL. Write down what you believe you do well and what your customers tell you that you do well. Sometimes these may not be obvious to your customers (eg good staff retention).

It’s a good idea to look at your online reviews and see if they match what you believe to be the things you do well. Does customer feedback reflect where you’ve invested time and money? List these as your strengths.

STEP 2 — ASSESS YOUR SURROUNDING REGION. The further away your customers are, the more vulnerable you are to market conditions, so by assessing the surrounding region, you can come to an understanding of what you offer that complements the regions’ unique selling points. Your “region” is the experiences that guests can manage easily from your location.

Next review what your customers tell you they like about the surrounding region, as you did in step 1, using online reviews and past guest feedback.

If you’re already leveraging from the region’s attributes then add these comments to your strengths. If you can identify things that you could be doing but aren’t, list them as opportunities.

STEP 3 — ASSESS WHAT YOUR WEAKNESSES & THREATS ARE. Put simply, weaknesses are internal to your business, so things you might be able to control and change. This could include things like “rooms are tired and need a soft refurbishment” or “improve staff training for a better customer experience”. If you find it hard to audit your own business have a look again at what others are saying about you online.

Threats are things you can’t control, such as who your competitors are. Post COVID19 threats may also include changing consumer travel patterns.

Once you’ve conducted your SWOT analysis, keep it close as you work through the rest of this toolkit. You might want to add to it as you go, or turn it into a mind map that you can use to formulate your post-COVID19 marketing and business plan.

GOALS — DESTINATION GIPPSLANDTOURISM MARKETING TOOLKIT WORKBOOK

GOALSGOALS WHO? DATES BUDGETS DESIRED OUTCOMES

TIP: Download & print the workbook to complete your SWOT Analysis & Mind Map.

SWOT ANALYSIS — DESTINATION GIPPSLAND

TOURISM MARKETING TOOLKIT WORKBOOK

SWOT ANALYSIS

STRENGTHS

OPPORTUNITIESTHREATS

WEAKNESSES

Page 9: A TOOLKIT FOR TOURISM MARKETING IN 2020 · your business once COVID19 restrictions are lifted. By working collaboratively, we can inspire visitors to come and enjoy what we know is

DESTINATION GIPPSLAND — TOURISM MARKETING TOOLKIT 2020 9

THE CUSTOMER JOURNEYAt a minimum, we’d hope you’re corresponding with past guests. You can make assumptions about your market by applying simple observation tactics to audiences you’ve attracted in the past. Use the data that is available to you! Try and remember what your clients love about your product per season – summer and winter offer very different reasons to visit Gippsland! Use this information to draw up a customer profile of your current market. You should draw up one per season, and if you have both corporates and leisure travellers, (mid week versus weekend), differentiate these profiles as well.

If you’re interested in taking this one step further, apply this data to humanise the customer profile, by creating customer personas. Persona’s can help unlock ideas you might not have otherwise thought of, particularly the way your customers find you. There’s lots of tools available to help you with this. Here’s a couple we found:

Customer journey mapping for tourism brands

Increasing sales through marketing — Define and know your customer

Having established who your audience has been to date, you can now consider new audiences you may want to attract. For example, how easy would it be to adapt your product to be child or pet friendly?

Page 10: A TOOLKIT FOR TOURISM MARKETING IN 2020 · your business once COVID19 restrictions are lifted. By working collaboratively, we can inspire visitors to come and enjoy what we know is

10 DESTINATION GIPPSLAND — TOURISM MARKETING TOOLKIT 2020

A NOTE ABOUT YOUR BRANDIt takes a lot of effort to look effortless. Your brand is what the outside world thinks of you, and although you can influence your brand with carefully curated content, your brand is actually determined by your customers.

Brand triggers include marketing materials, images, website, style guides and language, but also staff in their service delivery of the customer experience, word of mouth, customer follow up, and the tone of language you use. By reviewing your brand triggers you’ll be better able to ensure that all your brand elements are aligned, which should make your product more visible when you go back to market.

Page 11: A TOOLKIT FOR TOURISM MARKETING IN 2020 · your business once COVID19 restrictions are lifted. By working collaboratively, we can inspire visitors to come and enjoy what we know is

DESTINATION GIPPSLAND — TOURISM MARKETING TOOLKIT 2020 11

LIST YOUR GOALSThere’s never been a better time to look at changing what you’re doing. What do you want to change about how you currently do business? Not everyone in small business wants to be busy all the time, you simply might not be attracting the customer you expected to attract. What are your ultimate goals and how do you change what you’re doing to match them?

For example, do you want to:

• Increase occupancy or length of stay?

• Want more guests for single night stays mid week?

• Want to improve your reviews by recognising that you may need to improve the guest experience

If you’re ready to start planning, start a plan, perhaps with these suggested headings:

You can start this plan now, then adjust as you work through the rest of this toolkit.

GOALS

List your goals

WHO?

Who owns the task

DATES

Set a date parameter for achieving the goals set

BUDGETS

How much can you spend to achieve it?

DESIRED OUTCOMESWhat is the direct desired outcome?

Try and be specific.

Page 12: A TOOLKIT FOR TOURISM MARKETING IN 2020 · your business once COVID19 restrictions are lifted. By working collaboratively, we can inspire visitors to come and enjoy what we know is

THE FUTUREPlanning now for when travel restrictions are eased

Page 13: A TOOLKIT FOR TOURISM MARKETING IN 2020 · your business once COVID19 restrictions are lifted. By working collaboratively, we can inspire visitors to come and enjoy what we know is

DESTINATION GIPPSLAND — TOURISM MARKETING TOOLKIT 2020 13

HOW YOU CAN BE PART OF DESTINATION GIPPSLAND’S FUTURE MARKETING Destination Gippsland are working on our post-Covid marketing plan. Subject to funding, we will undertake an initial burst of marketing activity after the travel bans are lifted, followed by a dedicated, content-driven year-long promotional calendar for Gippsland.

Revival marketing for your business will be essential and will require pricing and packaging that can be launched at short notice, and by season.

Page 14: A TOOLKIT FOR TOURISM MARKETING IN 2020 · your business once COVID19 restrictions are lifted. By working collaboratively, we can inspire visitors to come and enjoy what we know is

14 DESTINATION GIPPSLAND — TOURISM MARKETING TOOLKIT 2020

HOW TO MARKET DURING COVID19While you’re preparing to rebound from Covid19, we suggest that you undertake a few initial tasks that will help you recover more quickly. Some local communities might not want visitors back as quickly as we anticipate when restrictions are lifted. Talk to your local tourism association and make sure you’re ready to promote your destination again, otherwise the visitor experience will be impacted.

Here is a checklist of some ideas to get you started.

Virtual experiences: can your business manage these? Some ideas include wine

masterclasses, how to SUP lessons and watching an artist create a new piece of

work through video content. Remember to use your best storytellers. Have you seen

the Tourism Australia “Live from Aus” campaign – you might want to include this for

your product. Tourism Australia - Live from Aus

It’s a good time to review previous campaigns. If something worked well, repackage

it and try using it again.

Do you offer gift vouchers? If you add these to your marketing mix, be sure to allow

3 years validity in line with consumer protection legislation Consumer Victoria - Gift

Vouchers & Gift Cards

Can you adapt your product to sell more? Is there something you can add to attract

new markets?

Page 15: A TOOLKIT FOR TOURISM MARKETING IN 2020 · your business once COVID19 restrictions are lifted. By working collaboratively, we can inspire visitors to come and enjoy what we know is

DESTINATION GIPPSLAND — TOURISM MARKETING TOOLKIT 2020 15

WHEN THE TIME COMES, YOU’LL NEED TO BE READY. The next stages of this toolkit look at what we would like you to do to prepare to support the regional marketing plans.

Review your keyword search: has it changed? Check your analytics. What pages are

getting good traffic right now and why. How is it different to normal?

Keep in contact with your past guests. If nothing else just entertain them! Show them

you care –perhaps offer a past guest exclusive deal for when they can travel (and be

loose with booking and travel timelines).

You may not want to return to how you used to do things – that’s fine, but think about

the best way to communicate this with your loyal followers and new audiences

If your business is in an area with lots of holiday homes, how can you target them

when they can travel again? Can you get them to spend money with you rather than

bring their own (especially food and wine!)

Will your local community want visitors back when restrictions are lifted? How soon

do you want to start marketing to target audiences? You will need to communicate

this to Destination Gippsland and your local tourism association

If you’re listed with Online travel agents (OTAs) it’s a good time to check your listing

and update if required

Page 16: A TOOLKIT FOR TOURISM MARKETING IN 2020 · your business once COVID19 restrictions are lifted. By working collaboratively, we can inspire visitors to come and enjoy what we know is

DESTINATION GIPPSLAND — TOURISM MARKETING TOOLKIT 2020 16

HAVING AN ATDW LISTING As a minimum, you should contact Destination Gippsland for a voucher code for a FREE Australian Tourism Data Warehouse (ATDW) listing.

These listings are normally $295 per annum and provide you with a listing on visitgippsland.com.au, as well as visitvictoria.com and Australia.com to name just three sites. Your listing provides you with a call to action to your own website. You upload your entry, and control content and images used.

For more information about the ATDW listing, please go to: https://corporate.visitvictoria.com/resources/marketing-opportunities/about-atdw

To secure your ATDW voucher please get in touch with a member of the Destination Gippsland team, listed at the back of this toolkit.

AND if you already have an ATDW listing, don’t neglect it – now is the time to check it for updated information and imagery.

Page 17: A TOOLKIT FOR TOURISM MARKETING IN 2020 · your business once COVID19 restrictions are lifted. By working collaboratively, we can inspire visitors to come and enjoy what we know is

17 DESTINATION GIPPSLAND — TOURISM MARKETING TOOLKIT 2020

PRICING AND PACKAGING IN POST COVID19 WORLD. WHAT STEPS CAN YOU TAKE TO GET MORE BOOKINGS WHEN THE TIME COMES?Don’t assume that the pricing structure you’ve always used will work in the future. Here is a checklist for you to consider when reviewing your pricing and packaging.

Create forward opportunities through offers. For example, offer pay/stay deals, free

upgrades, meal inclusions, buy one, get one free offers and free inclusions for children.

Consider relaxing your travel conditions to get more bookings; review your

cancellation policy – will it still work in a post-COVID19 world? Is it too strict?

If you currently have a 2-night minimum on weekends, consider a one-night rate at a

slightly higher price.

If a 2-night minimum stay works for you, what deal can you offer to stretch the

booking to 3 nights. Eg Stay 3 nights pay for 2 or value add the booking with breakfast

Focus on the market that is geographically closest to you with your Facebook and

other digital marketing – Latrobe Valley, and the Melbourne eastern corridor.

Prepare a media release with your offers, ready to go to market (particularly good for

local area marketing). If you pay for ads, negotiate editorial/live reads if possible

Page 18: A TOOLKIT FOR TOURISM MARKETING IN 2020 · your business once COVID19 restrictions are lifted. By working collaboratively, we can inspire visitors to come and enjoy what we know is

DESTINATION GIPPSLAND — TOURISM MARKETING TOOLKIT 2020 18

Work TOGETHER with your competitors. If you’re full for the first weekend after

COVID19 restrictions are lifted, recommend another product in town if they can’t

change their travel dates. Better we keep the booking in Gippsland and the guest, and

your competitor won’t forget that you made a personal recommendation to them!

Target your past guests first. Create a special and offer to them as an exclusive for

being a valued past guest if they want to book as soon as travel restrictions are lifted

Work with other businesses to build that package you’ve never had time to develop.

Some markets will travel differently (eg the Grey Nomads doing their lap of the map)

and will need to feel welcome – by you, and by your community. Discuss this with your

local tourism association if you work with one. Develop a communication plan so that

guests feel confident to come.

Establish how to manage social distancing and communicate it to your guests.

For guidelines, go to the Safework toolkit here: Safe Work Australia - COVID19

Resource Kit

Add your cleaning process and social distancing opportunities to your marketing and

confirmation process. For example: “Did you know that each of our rooms are

stand-alone cabins, located 2m apart?”

Add details about your cleaning procedures to your website, social media and

confirmation correspondence

Page 19: A TOOLKIT FOR TOURISM MARKETING IN 2020 · your business once COVID19 restrictions are lifted. By working collaboratively, we can inspire visitors to come and enjoy what we know is

CONTENTPLANNING

Now is the time to plan what you want to say, and when to say it

Page 20: A TOOLKIT FOR TOURISM MARKETING IN 2020 · your business once COVID19 restrictions are lifted. By working collaboratively, we can inspire visitors to come and enjoy what we know is

DESTINATION GIPPSLAND — TOURISM MARKETING TOOLKIT 2020 20

CONTENT PLANNING Put simply, content planning means taking all the things you offer and overlaying them with outside factors that can influence your business. This could be the time of the week, seasonality, signature events and nearby experiences.

Now is the time to plan your content calendar. The best suggestion we can make is that you start a calendar from for example, June 1st and plan for a full year worth of content. Obviously you will need to add to this as time progresses, but if you have a go at creating a content calendar, you can align website, social media and newsletter or past guest communications from the outset.

Page 21: A TOOLKIT FOR TOURISM MARKETING IN 2020 · your business once COVID19 restrictions are lifted. By working collaboratively, we can inspire visitors to come and enjoy what we know is

DESTINATION GIPPSLAND — TOURISM MARKETING TOOLKIT 2020 21

Review what content you’ve used successfully in the past to grow engagement and

following, and revisit for 2020. Some examples include wildlife spotting near you,

winter warmer lunches and local seasonal menu items.

Content triggers could include events (when we can start having them again), your

staff, your new packages/product, your partnerships with other products in the region

Remember too that content is there to be shared, so be mindful of partnership

opportunities; with media, with other product, and with paid partnership marketing

platforms if you undertake paid marketing

Don’t forget Destination Gippsland is here for you, so share your content with us

by tagging #visitgippsland and #eatdrinkgippsland whenever possible

DOWNLOAD THE WORKBOOK, TO COMPLETE YOUR CONTENT PLAN.

CONTENT CHECKLIST POINTERSHere are a few ideas to get you started.

Page 22: A TOOLKIT FOR TOURISM MARKETING IN 2020 · your business once COVID19 restrictions are lifted. By working collaboratively, we can inspire visitors to come and enjoy what we know is

SOCIAL MEDIA

Keep posting, sharing, tagging and commenting as much as you can

Page 23: A TOOLKIT FOR TOURISM MARKETING IN 2020 · your business once COVID19 restrictions are lifted. By working collaboratively, we can inspire visitors to come and enjoy what we know is

Be honest and use inspirational messaging to keep

people dreaming about when they can visit you

Use images that reflect social distancing rules

Try something new – for example, if you’re not used to

posting pictures of your people, now is the time to try it!

Keep your Instagram stories going, they can build some

amazing connections with your audience

Pin important posts to the top of your Facebook feed

to keep them top of mind

Ensure your ‘book direct’ message is prominently

displayed through your social media marketing

Host a Facebook LIVE tour of your product, provide

a behind the scenes or sneak peek at something you

may not have thought to share before

News is news: if you’ve got a new product/package to

share, share it as soon as the restrictions are lifted

Video is a great tool to get cut through – and people

are craving snapshots of a life they can’t have right

now, so aim to take short form video with your phone

and post them on your social media channels.

Ever wondered how to get your product featured by

Tourism Australia? Take the time now to review their

social media tips for success at Tourism Australia —

Using Social Media and get involved with their “Live

from Aus” campaign

SOCIAL MEDIAIT’S ALSO A GOOD TIME TO AUDIT AND UPDATE YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA. Social media consumption has risen exponentially in lockdown, so rule number one right now is don’t “go dark” on social media.

HERE ARE A FEW POINTERS:

Page 24: A TOOLKIT FOR TOURISM MARKETING IN 2020 · your business once COVID19 restrictions are lifted. By working collaboratively, we can inspire visitors to come and enjoy what we know is

PUBLIC RELATIONS

How to work with media

Page 25: A TOOLKIT FOR TOURISM MARKETING IN 2020 · your business once COVID19 restrictions are lifted. By working collaboratively, we can inspire visitors to come and enjoy what we know is

DESTINATION GIPPSLAND — TOURISM MARKETING TOOLKIT 2020 25

WE’VE IDENTIFIED SIX KEY BENEFITS A SMALL BUSINESS WILL GAIN FROM POSITIVE PUBLIC RELATIONS:• It stretches your budget

• It’s more effective than advertising

• PR complements and supports your marketing

• Good PR strategies prevent problems - ensure your message is accurate

• PR boosts brand visibility - news articles remain visible on search engines indefinitely.

• Creates long-lasting relationships – with industry, media and other partners

When preparing information for media, remember, everyone is busy – media included – so keep your information relevant, using short emails.

Page 26: A TOOLKIT FOR TOURISM MARKETING IN 2020 · your business once COVID19 restrictions are lifted. By working collaboratively, we can inspire visitors to come and enjoy what we know is

26 DESTINATION GIPPSLAND — TOURISM MARKETING TOOLKIT 2020

WHAT IS NEWSWORTHY?WHEN PLANNING YOUR PITCH, STICK TO NEWS THAT IS RELEVANT TO THE PUBLICATION OR MEDIA OUTLET YOU ARE CONTACTING Here is a checklist of ideas of what makes you news:

New business / activities

Expansions / new features

A point of difference

Seasonal news – what does your business offer for Spring / Autumn?

Events – relate to your business

Partnerships / collaborations in your area

Attractive packages / deals

Wildlife at your business

Awards / accreditations

Something quirky / interesting

Page 27: A TOOLKIT FOR TOURISM MARKETING IN 2020 · your business once COVID19 restrictions are lifted. By working collaboratively, we can inspire visitors to come and enjoy what we know is

DESTINATION GIPPSLAND — TOURISM MARKETING TOOLKIT 2020 27

MEDIA RELEASESHERE ARE SOME TIPS FOR WRITING A MEDIA RELEASE, A ONE-PAGE DOCUMENT SUMMING UP YOUR NEWS :• DON’T BURY THE LEAD – put the most important, newsworthy info in

the first sentence!

• WHO? Your business, your name and your partners

• WHAT? Clearly describe what is happening

• WHEN? Dates for events, opening dates

• WHERE? Property address, route of the tour

• WHY? Why is this news?

• A website / Facebook / Insta page for more info - make sure it is up to date!

• Your contact details

• A link to a Dropbox of high-resolution images

Page 28: A TOOLKIT FOR TOURISM MARKETING IN 2020 · your business once COVID19 restrictions are lifted. By working collaboratively, we can inspire visitors to come and enjoy what we know is

28 DESTINATION GIPPSLAND — TOURISM MARKETING TOOLKIT 2020

MEDIA KIT 2020

TOURISM AUSTR ALIA

See an example Media Kit in the downlodable workbook.

MEDIA KITNOW IS A GOOD TIME TO CREATE YOUR OWN MEDIA KIT.Here are some things you should include in your media kit:

PHOTOS ARE SO IMPORTANT! For media, follow these golden rules when sending your images:

Fact sheets about your business / tour / accommodation

A backgrounder on your business’ history

Recent awards

Latest brochures

High-resolution images (either on USB or downloadable)

Must be high res, at least 1MB

Update & share regularly

Interior, exterior, views, people

Upload to Dropbox for sharing

Page 29: A TOOLKIT FOR TOURISM MARKETING IN 2020 · your business once COVID19 restrictions are lifted. By working collaboratively, we can inspire visitors to come and enjoy what we know is

29 DESTINATION GIPPSLAND — TOURISM MARKETING TOOLKIT 2020

MEDIA CONTACTIf the media contact you, try to respond as soon as possible, even if just to acknowledge the request.

• Find out exactly what they need

• Find out the deadline

• Write down their contact details

• If you are unsure or would like time to prepare, ask to call them back shortly

Page 30: A TOOLKIT FOR TOURISM MARKETING IN 2020 · your business once COVID19 restrictions are lifted. By working collaboratively, we can inspire visitors to come and enjoy what we know is

DESTINATION GIPPSLAND — TOURISM MARKETING TOOLKIT 2020 30

THE ROLE OF SOCIAL MEDIAFOR MEDIAThe media often fact-check and look for leads from social media. They will use your social media as their first port of call for more information, make sure it addresses the following.

Demonstrates who your business is - what images / video you may have and who your market is

Tells a story, builds your brand

A source of news and information that Destination Gippsland monitors

Social media is another media channel to reach out - tag @visitgippsland

Use the ‘About’ section of your profile. One of the most important sections of your Facebook page, it is the first place people look for info – including media. Ensure you include:

• Contact details

• Opening days and hours

• Short description of your business

• Awards / achievements

• Product information

Page 31: A TOOLKIT FOR TOURISM MARKETING IN 2020 · your business once COVID19 restrictions are lifted. By working collaboratively, we can inspire visitors to come and enjoy what we know is

DESTINATION GIPPSLAND — TOURISM MARKETING TOOLKIT 2020 31

KEEP DESTINATION GIPPSLAND INFORMEDDid you know that Destination Gippsland generates over $12m worth of editorial for the region each year? Chances are the article you see about your town has been generated or managed through our office. So please keep us updated on your news, images and video.

When we create or receive a media release, we:

• Distribute to our media database

• Consider your business for inclusion in famils / requests

• Include your news in seasonal updates

• Pass on your news to Visit Victoria for further distribution

Page 32: A TOOLKIT FOR TOURISM MARKETING IN 2020 · your business once COVID19 restrictions are lifted. By working collaboratively, we can inspire visitors to come and enjoy what we know is

BUSINESS EVENTSIf your business has a meeting and conferencing facility, or if you work with a

conference centre, it’s important to review how you’re going to go back to market once we can have business events once more.

Page 33: A TOOLKIT FOR TOURISM MARKETING IN 2020 · your business once COVID19 restrictions are lifted. By working collaboratively, we can inspire visitors to come and enjoy what we know is

DESTINATION GIPPSLAND — TOURISM MARKETING TOOLKIT 2020 33

Keep us informed with your business events news and information. We have a quarterly newsletter which goes

out to over 500 Melbourne-based meeting planners.

Be ready with your meeting packages and offers to get bookings back as quickly as possible.

Have a look at your layout configurations – do you need to update them to allow less people and more space and

change the maximum number capacity for business meetings?

You might want to create new floorplans to support these changes in your business events prospectus

Review your breakout spaces and activities and make sure they are also social-distancing compliant.

Take pictures to send to potential clients so they can see the measures you’ve taken

Start by targeting your past Business Event database, especially those that had to cancel when group

restrictions started.

Review your cancellation policy – will it still work in a post-COVID19 world for business events? You might want

to consider relaxing your cancellation conditions to get more bookings.

Prepare a media release with your business packages, ready to go to market (particularly good for local area

marketing)

Add your cleaning procedures and social distancing messaging to your confirmation process. For example, will

each table in a conference room have access to hand sanitiser?

Stay connected with clients and industry on LinkedIn. Post content relevant to your business and tag

#visitgippsland and #businesseventsvictoria

Communicating these changes will instil confidence in meeting organisers

HERE ARE A FEW THOUGHT STARTERS FOR YOUR BUSINESS EVENTS PROGRAM: Make sure you have a listing on the Business Events Gippsland website, which is FREE in 2020 (normally incurs a

partnership cost) https://www.visitgippsland.com.au/resources/business-events-venues

Page 34: A TOOLKIT FOR TOURISM MARKETING IN 2020 · your business once COVID19 restrictions are lifted. By working collaboratively, we can inspire visitors to come and enjoy what we know is

WORKING WITH THE TRAVEL TRADE

If you’ve ever thought about working with travel trade, there are a raft of benefits to doing so, so now is the time to think it through and possibly add trade bookings to your business mix.

Page 35: A TOOLKIT FOR TOURISM MARKETING IN 2020 · your business once COVID19 restrictions are lifted. By working collaboratively, we can inspire visitors to come and enjoy what we know is

35 DESTINATION GIPPSLAND — TOURISM MARKETING TOOLKIT 2020

HOW TO WORK WITH THE TRAVEL TRADE Travel trade expect commissions of up to 30% to be built into pricing to allow them to distribute the product on your behalf. Online travel agents (OTAs) usually expect less commission than wholesalers or Inbound Tour Operators (ITOs) but usually offer less service to their customers.

If you’ve always thought about building your opportunity to partner with the travel agency network, now’s the time to do the research to see if your product is a good fit for trade. For more information on working with trade (particularly international), Tourism Australia produce an excellent resource to review. You can find their export toolkit here: Tourism Australia — Tourism Export Toolkit

Page 36: A TOOLKIT FOR TOURISM MARKETING IN 2020 · your business once COVID19 restrictions are lifted. By working collaboratively, we can inspire visitors to come and enjoy what we know is

DESTINATION GIPPSLAND — TOURISM MARKETING TOOLKIT 2020 36

HERE IS A CHECKLIST TO ASSIST YOU IF YOU ARE CURRENTLY WORKING WITH TRADE:

Be ready to contact trade and provide product or destination information when needed

Are you working with Flight Centre and Helloworld? As the two largest domestic travel partners, you might want to

consider contacting them to contract your product through their vast distribution and marketing networks

OTAs: check your listings and update as required with any OTAs you partner with (e.g. Booking.com)

Creating new product? Build commission into your pricing and create a trade friendly package

Update your trade sales kit – including product fact sheets, nett rates, terms and conditions and images.

Don’t forget to send rates to international trade for 2021 and beyond – they are still loading product into their systems

for future sales

Destination Gippsland — Trade Marketing will become our trade portal for updates and information (currently in

development). Please keep sending us information about your business that you’d like to share with travel trade.

Stay connected on LinkedIn. Connect with your clients and industry stakeholders here, and post content relevant to

your business for trade, tagging it with #visitgippsland

Have a look at the Aussie Specialist Program and get an offer ready to share with Aussie specialists for when they

can travel. You might like to add an educational video now to introduce or remind them of your product.

Visit https://www.aussiespecialist.com/en-us

Page 37: A TOOLKIT FOR TOURISM MARKETING IN 2020 · your business once COVID19 restrictions are lifted. By working collaboratively, we can inspire visitors to come and enjoy what we know is

CRISIS PREPAREDNESS

If 2020 has taught us anything, it’s that we need to be ready

Page 38: A TOOLKIT FOR TOURISM MARKETING IN 2020 · your business once COVID19 restrictions are lifted. By working collaboratively, we can inspire visitors to come and enjoy what we know is

DESTINATION GIPPSLAND — TOURISM MARKETING TOOLKIT 2020 38

CRISIS PREPAREDNESSIt seems that we could actually write our own book on crisis management after just four months of 2020!

A final point for our toolkit is to remember and review your crisis planning each year, in light of bushfire, flood, and now global pandemic.

Destination Gippsland has developed a number of resources to assist with being crisis ready, and we would encourage you to review the information, and add it to your own business and marketing plans. For more information go to: https://www.visitgippsland.com.au/destination-gippsland/industry-development/crisis-preparedness

Page 39: A TOOLKIT FOR TOURISM MARKETING IN 2020 · your business once COVID19 restrictions are lifted. By working collaboratively, we can inspire visitors to come and enjoy what we know is

DESTINATION GIPPSLAND — TOURISM MARKETING TOOLKIT 2020 39

STAY CONNECTED WITH USOur industry website and newsletter contains a mine of information for you as a tourism operator. We love sharing news and stories, so please keep in touch with us too.

Subscribe to our Industry newsletter here: https://www.visitgippsland.com.au/destination-gippsland

Keep us informed, we love hearing from you.

Page 40: A TOOLKIT FOR TOURISM MARKETING IN 2020 · your business once COVID19 restrictions are lifted. By working collaboratively, we can inspire visitors to come and enjoy what we know is

40 DESTINATION GIPPSLAND — TOURISM MARKETING TOOLKIT 2020

+61 3 5668 2141

[email protected]

P.O. Box 203, Mirboo North VIC 3871

30 Ridgway (Old Shire Hall, Strzelecki Hwy) Mirboo North

Terry Robinson

CEO

[email protected]

Ph: 0428 595 634

Janine Hayes

Manager Tourism & Events, Latrobe Valley

[email protected]

Ph: 0488 042 838

Kelly McCarthy

Public Relations & Marketing Executive

[email protected]

Ph: 0410 271 794

Lyndel Moore

East Gippsland Visitor Economy Bushfire

Recovery Manager

[email protected]

Ph: 0414 640 660

Alison Conroy

Marketing Manager

[email protected]

Ph: 0419 487210

David Elder

Project Manager, Visitor Economy

[email protected]

Ph: 0487 006 231

Makayla Rimington

Tourism, Marketing and Events Officer –

Latrobe Valley

[email protected]

Ph: 0417 445 877

Visit us at:

Facebook.com/Gippsland

Instagram: @visitgippsland

Twitter: @visitgippsland

www.visitgippsland.com.au/destination-gippsland