2023 TASMANIAN TOURISM AWARDS

GETTING READY FOR THE

2023 TASMANIAN TOURISM AWARDS

Launceston Finalists Announcement Event - Photo Credit: Ella Marquis.

Thinking of entering the Tasmanian Tourism Awards in 2023? TICT Entrant Support Program Facilitator and Mentor, Kelly LuckWoolley, shares her hot tips to start preparing now!

Now that the sparkly dust has somewhat settled on the Tasmanian Tourism Awards for 2022, we eagerly await the national awards in Sydney next year. As any previous entrant will tell you, entering these awards is quite a commitment – but the right planning and preparation can make the process much smoother. So, rather than rest on our laurels, I thought it would be useful to provide some tips on what you can begin implementing now to help prepare for your 2023 submission. Whilst the official program and questions won’t be released until next year, it’s envisaged the focus will remain on tourism excellence, business planning and innovation, marketing, the customer experience, and responsible tourism.

Kelly Luck-Woolley with the The Cove Tasmania team and TICT’s Christine Pritchard - Photo Credit: Alastair Bett.

ACCREDITATION

Firstly, ensure you are accredited through the Quality Tourism Framework. If you are new to accreditation, you will need to register. If you’re already accredited, log in to the accreditation portal and check that your business details and any renewal information is current and complete.

REVIEWPRO

Most award categories include a Consumer Rating element. This score is generated from your business’ Global Review Index (GRI) via ReviewPro, an online reputation management platform which collates reviews from 140 review sites. All accredited operators are entitled to a free ReviewPro account to help you monitor, manage, and benchmark your online reviews. To activate yours, log in to the accreditation portal, locate the ReviewPro section at the bottom right of your dashboard, and click ‘verify’.

ENCOURAGE CONSUMER REVIEWS

To generate a GRI for the 2023 Awards qualifying period, businesses need to obtain approximately 25 consumer reviews, across any of the 140 applicable channels, during the period 1 July 2022 to 30 June 2023. It is worth noting that Facebook and Airbnb are not currently included. Ensure you have a plan in place to encourage consumer reviews from your visitors. This could be as simple as including a link to your preferred review site in your follow-up thank you email/text, a card upon departure, or perhaps including a QR code somewhere within your venue, vehicle, or at a strategic point during the visitor experience.

REVIEW YOUR ONLINE PRESENCE

Every category includes an online review judging element, so conduct a health check of your website, SEO, social media channels, and reviews sites to identify areas for improvement, then create a plan to make this happen. If you don’t have them already, consider creating a basic Social Media and Consumer Review Plan to help keep you on track – a template is available in the accreditation portal if you need some guidance, or reach out to the team at TICT!

Launceston Finalists Announcement Event - Photo Credit: Ella Marquis.

The Fat Pig Farm team - Photo Credit: Alastair Bett.

START COLLECTING

Start gathering relevant data, notes, and evidence now that could support your submission when it comes time to write. A digital file (or physical if preferred) is a great way to quickly gather copies of relevant reports, spend/ results of your activities, noteworthy statistics, thank you letters, letters of support, stand-out testimonials, a tally of donations or industry events attended, and photos of your business throughout the year (screen shots of social media posts/engagement, business development projects, staff training sessions, events, sustainability initiatives, community engagement activities, etc.).

JUDGES’ FEEDBACK

If you’ve entered the awards previously, ensure you review the judges’ feedback from your most recent entry and pay particular attention to any identified gaps. What research, data or action could you include next time to strengthen your submission? Did they have useful suggestions for your business which you could implement? Create a plan with timelines. If you have any questions on your feedback, please contact me. Please feel free to reach out to the Kelly with any questions you may have about the Tasmanian Tourism Awards at

tourismawards@tict.com.au