BENCHMARKING + AUDIT FINDINGS

Benchmarking with Local and Regional Tourism Organisations that face seasonality issues, while maintaining a full vibrant calendar of events was undertaken to identify significant learnings and to further develop Port Douglas Daintree’s competitive advantage. The local and regional tourism organisations benchmarked included Destination Queenstown (Regional Tourism Organisation for Queenstown, NZ), Tourism Noosa (Local Tourism Organisation for Noosa Shire) and Tourism North East (Regional Tourism Board for Alpine Region, Victoria).

Objectives of Tourism Organisations

The key objectives of the tourism organisation benchmarked were similar and included: • Destination marketing • Branding • Increase visitation to the region • Increase yield and economic benefit for the region • Attract events to the region • Support event organisers

Event Attraction and Criteria

To reduce seasonal fluctuations, the tourism organisations benchmarked actively attract business events and weddings

Criteria – Visitation breakdown, O/N stays, reduce seasonality and midweek troughs, economic benefit

LEARNINGS

• Destination Queenstown funding is through memberships • Tourism Noosa receives funding from Council through the

Tourism Levy and memberships

• Tourism North East receives funding from 11 Councils, Visit

Vic and through marketing campaign buy-in

• Noosa, Queenstown, and North East each have a vibrant full Calendar of Events

• Destination weddings are high yielding events in Noosa and Queenstown

• Dedicated Conference Centre – although Noosa and

Queenstown does not have dedicated conference centres, they actively attract business events, with dedicated convention bureau staff

• Infrastructure – Noosa closes roads to stage the Noosa Tri which generates a high economic benefit for the region and support local business operators

• Noosa manages seasonality by attracting midweek business events during the low seasons

• Tourism North East manages seasonality by aligning events to the five pillars and the seasons

• Community challenges are managed by illustrating and promoting the economic benefit for the region to host events

RECOMMENDATIONS

• Seasonality Management – actively attract business events and weddings with dedicated staff.

• Develop and market future events for people to return to Port Douglas.

• Establish collaboration between event organisers and tourism operators to market a collection of packages and events that are staged during a low season month under a themed umbrella

• Example theme – Tropical Feast as the overarching theme with tropical food events incorporating health and wellness during summer

• Road Closure – The Captain Cook Highway Strategic

Plan recommends closing/part closing the highway for 2–3 major events that are aligned to the Guiding

Principles

• Community challenges – undertake research to demonstrate both the community and economic benefit of staging events in the region vs not having events in an area where tourism and hospitality are the greatest employers.