Escape Discovery Adventures – Featured Business
At Escape Discovery Adventures we asked ourselves, “in all our travels around the world, what made for the most outstanding memories?”
The answer was always real value for money, a feeling of experiencing something different and above all a sense of discovery and fun- and that’s the overriding philosophy in everything we do.
Specialising in one of the most beautiful and diverse regions in the world, the Great Ocean Road, we conduct smaller group tours (max 10) with an emphasis on an attention to detail to provide a truly unique, informative and relaxed experience along our specially designed route that enables us to get closer to the experience whilst sourcing the best of regional suppliers for lunch and dinner to complete your travelling experience.
March 23, 2011 at 4:37 pm | Featured Business | No comment
Tourism Industry Fundraiser – Japan Earthquake Appeal (Red Cross)
Destination Phillip Island, with the help of Tourism Victoria and Destination Melbourne have created a fundraising event to help raise money for the Japan Earthquake Appeal with the Red Cross.
Please see the email below from Andrew Poocock, International Sales and Marketing Executive at Destination Phillip Island.
Dear Industry colleagues,
As you would all be well aware, the recent earthquake and subsequent tsunami have left a devastating impact on Japan and it’s residents. I know that many of you will have had family, friends and work colleagues impacted in some capacity by the tragedy or would have ties to Japan in other regards.
From a tourism perspective I’m sure that we are all doing what we can in regards to accommodating late cancellations and working with our Japanese trade partners in whatever capacity we can.
With the help of Tourism Victoria and Destination Melbourne we have created a fundraising event which will be hosted at Batman’s Hill Hotel on Spencer St on Wednesday 30 March 2011 from 5:30pm – 7:30pm. The whole purpose of the event is to raise funds for the Japan Earthquake Appeal with the Red Cross and give back to a country which has provided so much for Victorian Tourism. The cost will be $30pp with drinks and food included with proceeds going directly to the Red Cross to assist in the relief efforts. We are currently attempting to have some official speakers attend the event and provide all attendees with a Pre-ATE Japan market update so that we have the latest information to take to our appointments at ATE. Details will be provided as they are finalised.
Date: Wednesday 30 March 2011
Time: 5:30pm – 7:30pm
Venue: Batman’s Hotel on Spencer St
Cost: $30pp
We will also be running a raffle on the night to raise additional funds, which is where I would ask you all to assist where you can with donating prizes which can be auctioned off on the evening.
If you could please let me know what prizes you are able to provide, I can make the necessary arrangements.
Whilst I appreciate and understand how hectic we all are in the lead up to ATE, it would be terrific to see as many of you as possible at the event.
It would also be great if you could forward this email onto your colleagues to ensure we can get many people as possible at the event.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Kind Regards,
Andrew
Andrew Boocock
International Sales and Marketing Executive
Tel: +613 5951 2878 Fax: +613 5956 8394
PO Box 97 Cowes, Victoria 3922 Australia
March 23, 2011 at 4:23 pm | General | No comment
2010 QANTAS Australian Tourism Awards
The Australian Tourism Accreditation Program would like to congratulate all winners at the 2010 QANTAS Austrlian Tourism Awards.
The awards were held in Perth on March 11th at the Burswood Entertainment Complex. It was a great night where the tourism industry acknowledged and congratulated tourism businesses from around Australia who are demonstrating a commitment to quality, reliability and best practice.
ATAP would particularly like to congratulate the following accredited operators who received awards:
- Mornington Peninsula Tourism – Specialised Tourism Services
- Destination Gippsland – Tourism Marketing
- Bendigo Visitors Centre – Visitor Information and Services
For more information regarding the awards visit www.tourismalliance.org
March 23, 2011 at 4:22 pm | General | No comment
2011 Victorian Tourism Awards Preparatory Workshops
Are you thinking of entering your business into the Victorian Tourism Awards this year, but are unsure of what is involved or where to start? Or have you entered before and are just looking for some handy tips and support on how to take your submission to the next level? If you answered yes to either of the above, then this workshop is for you!
Victoria Tourism Industry Council will be delivering on behalf of Tourism Victoria the 2011 Victorian Tourism Awards preparatory workshops. The workshops have been designed for all entrants to this year’s Awards and will provide a valuable step-by-step guide to completing the submission, including templates, helpful tips and important dates.
A judge, a mentor and a previous winning entrant will attend the workshop to offer advice and to answer questions about submission writing and the application process. All entrants in this year’s Awards are encouraged to attend.
See the attached schedule for workshops near you. Please contact your regional representative to register for one of these upcoming workshops. Stay tuned for any other opportunities to get involved in this year’s program.
For more information regarding the Workshops visit www.vtic.com.au.
March 23, 2011 at 4:14 pm | General | No comment
Sea All Dolphin Swims new training programs
As part of Sea All Dolphin Swims dedication to customer and staff safety whilst out on the water, they have been working closely with Life Saving Victoria (LSV) and are now able to offer Level 2 First Aid, CPR updates & Anaphylaxis training as part of their suite of activities to schools, community groups, government agencies and the general public.
They currently have the following courses on offer for later this month:
Thursday 24th March, 2011
Where: Community Room, Queenscliff Harbour, Queenscliff
- Option 1 – CPR update: 9am – 11am, Queenscliff Boat Harbour
- Option 2 – Level 2 First Aid update (includes CPR): 9am – 5pm, Queenscliff Harbour
- Option 3 – Level 2 First Aid (full course): 9am – 5pm, Queenscliff Harbour (plus pre-course homework through flexi-delivery option)
For more information contact Sea All Dolphin Swins on (03) 5258 3889 or visit www.dolphinswmis.com.au
March 23, 2011 at 4:10 pm | General | No comment
Victoria Becomes the Stage for Tourism and Events Excellence
Melbourne is set to host Australasia’s permanent leadership conference for the $15.8 billion tourism and event industry.
The Victoria Tourism Industry Council (VTIC) and national tourism organisation, Tony Charters and Associates (TCA), have signed a Joint Venture Agreement that will bring the Tourism & Events Excellence national conference to Melbourne from this September.
The conference will focus on innovation, leading practices and successful growth strategies for the tourism and events industry.It is anticipated that the Conference will attract around 550 delegates from Australia and New Zealand in 2011 and build to 800-1000 international delegates over coming years.
The Conference will be held 5-7 September 2011 in Melbourne.
For more information contact VTIC on (03) 8662 5333.
March 23, 2011 at 4:09 pm | General | No comment
Hints and Tips – Check your insurance!
With all of the threats that are facing our industry with natural disasters, declines in visitor numbers, financial threats we are seeing more and more the importance of having a thorough understanding of your Insurance Coverage.
It is important to know what you are and are not covered for each time you renew and to ensure you have adequate coverage if an accident were to occur to/on your property/business.
In addition if your circumstances change you need to notify your insurance company to ensure you are still adequately covered. As well as if your insurance company changes direction, merges or experiences a takeover it is also very important that you understand how this can affect your policy and if changed to it.
March 23, 2011 at 4:08 pm | General | 1 comment
Hints and Tips – Customer Feedback
At ATAP we often find that feedback is an area that many businesses say they are actively involved in gaining but are unsure what they should be doing with it. Therefore we have put in below some handy hints and tips to processing feedback.
Getting Feedback
Common ways in which feedback is provided include a visitor’s book, a feedback card in room, a post stay/experience email or a survey. In addition if a visitor feels that they have experienced either exceptionally good, or bad, service they will contact a business directly by their own prompting.
Other non traditional ways will include comments on yours, or other Facebook pages as well as on travel related websites such as Trip Advisor.
If you are struggling to get feedback from your visitors you could explore the option of running a competition. You could promote that everyone that gives feedback goes into the draw to win a prize – which should be a return visit to your product/service.
What to do with Feedback
The first rule is that you should always respond to feedback. Whether it was positive or negative, the visitor has taken the time to express their opinion and you should return the effort. This is even more important when it comes to public forums e.g. Trip Advisor. Any negative comments are open for the public to see and can influence the future decision making for other visitors. In addition saying thank you to positive feedback can help to develop and maintain a positive relationship with past guests.
You should record all types of feedback and use it to form strategic direction, improvements to facilities/service, align with staff appraisals and as a measure on how you are improving from year to year.
In addition feedback can be a good marketing tool. If you are getting positive feedback let others know. Put testimonials on your website and/or Facebook page so that potential visitors can feel inspired to use your business on their next holiday.
Some Important Points to Remember:
- Above all, don’t be complacent about customer feedback and complaints, it reflects your business. After all, you never know, the next comment you receive may turn into an idea for an aspect of your business.
- A business should welcome customer complaints. Why? Complaints allow your business to focus on the aspects of the operation that need improvement.
- Don’t take complaints as negative criticism of the business or yourself as a person, but accept the criticism as an opportunity to improve customer service and satisfaction.
- There are a number of ways that you can encourage customer feedback one of the best being customer surveys as is in the sample of this section.
March 23, 2011 at 4:08 pm | General | No comment
Visitor Information Centre Summit – Save This Date
The VIC Summit will be held at Four Points Sheraton Geelong from 3-5 August 2011.
With a dynamic program, familiarisation tour and exciting destination, it’s one not to be missed!
To be placed on the database for further information contact: Mariella Mejia on mmejia@vecci.org.au
March 23, 2011 at 4:05 pm | General | No comment
Cultural Awareness Workshop
The Chinese and Indian visitor markets are growing. In the year ending September 2010, Chinese and Indian visitors were the third and eighth largest markets with 184,000 and 51,800 visitors to Victoria.
Tourism Victoria forecasts these markets will grow in the coming years, with China expected to become the largest market by 2012.
With burgeoning visitation from these cultures, what does this mean for the Tourism Industry?
Please join experienced presenter Barbara West co-founder of Culture Works to learn how to:
- Develop skills in communicating with the Chinese and Indian cultures
- Learn about communication patterns specific to these culture
- Understand patterns of behaviours
- Understand cultural styles for conflict management
- Learn about expectations of interactions by the cultures
“It was engaging, relevant, and Barbara used wonderful anecdotal experiences. Barbara’s knowledge of her area is fabulous and her ability to make the audience think and consider in light of our own experiences and future experiences was really impressive. 3 hours very well spent.”
- Simon Dalton, Old Melbourne Gaol
Key Dates:
Mornington Peninsula
Wednesday 4th May, 2011.
Meeting Room 1
Mornington Peninsula Shire Offices
Besgrove St, Rosebud
Bendigo
Tuesday 10th May, 2011.
Federation Room, Bendigo Visitor Centre, 51-67 Pall Mall, Bendigo
Melbourne
Wednesday 22nd June, 2011
Level 5 – Clarendon Room
Melbourne Convention & Exhibition Centre
For more information contact: Mariella Mejia on mariella.mejia@vecci.org.au
