Tourism Talk February 2010 Please select a story from the list below or scroll down to view all.
> News from Tourism
Advertising on Prime
We hope you've seen our new Great Alpine Valleys advertisement on the Prime network (even aired in the Aussie Open men and women's finals over the weekend!). This campaign is to promote visitation during the low season in February and leads into key holiday periods such as March Labour Day Weekend, Easter and Autumn.
We ran a short burst in January and it's yielded great results. Hits to www.greatalpinevalleys.com.au are up 30% on January 2009 and in the specific advertising regions hits are up 85% in Albury and 116% in Wangaratta. The buy has also enabled us to subsidise campaigns for the Chambers of Commerce in Bright, Mount Beauty and Myrtleford, so you'll see their individual campaigns promoting the towns and the festivals in the upcoming months.
To view the Summer in the Great Alpine Valleys ad, click here
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Travel Oz - From Fires to Fireworks
Don't miss the Great Alpine Valleys showcased in the first episode of the 2010 season of Travel Oz on Monday, February 8, at 6pm on ABC1. Host Greg Grainger explores our region and discovers how we are recovering after the 2009 bushfires. Horseback riding, 4-wheel-driving, cycling and gourmet food and wine all feature along with interviews with local identities and a grand finale at the Bright fireworks.
For more information, click here
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Summer in the Alps at Mount Buffalo National Park
The Mount Buffalo National Park is continuing their popular Summer in the Alps program throughout February. Parks Victoria are offering guided tours of the majestic 100 year old Chalet on Tuesdays and Thursdays until the end of summer. Tours will also be held during the March long weekend, Easter weekend and during the Bright Autumn Festival. Tours are free, bookings are essential.
In other news, the new Eagle Point lookout opened this week and is ready for visitors to explore. The Dingo Dell Cafe is still operating throughout summer from 10am-4pm Thursday to Monday.
For more information on Summer in the Alps, click here
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Dinner Plain Village news
For visitors looking for a day out in the mountains, Dinner Plain Village can offer a range of activities and cool temperatures. It's the perfect time of the year for bushwalking and mountain biking with guided tours available for all ages and experience levels. The Onsen Retreat and Spa is open daily for treatments or the simple experience of soaking in the outdoor Onsen. Want to experience music in the mountains? The Cool Summer Festival is on again this year from 19-21 February and a regular shuttle service will be running between Dinner Plain and Hotham over the weekend.
For more information about what's on in Dinner Plain Village click here or call 1300 734 365
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The Great Alpine Time Machine
We're delighted to let you know that the Alpine Shire has received a Federal TQUAL Grant for the Great Alpine Time Machine. The project is a unique concept that delivers an exceptional customer service, both in person online.
It allows the customer to choose their individual itinerary, based on time they have to spend and various areas of interest. Based on these, a computer generated itinerary is produced to suit their needs. It links the towns and the products and will be downloaded by specially designed pods in the Alpine Shire Visitor Information Centres. In addition, the funding will allow an MP3 download that will provide a narrative as they travel between villages.
The project encourages greater travel within the region and also promotes inter-regional products such as the Great Alpine Road (Wangaratta to Bairnsdale), National Landscapes (Australian Alps) and Murray to Mountains Rail Trail (Wangaratta to Bright). TQUAL Grants is an Australian Government funded initiative aimed to stimulate growth in the Australian industry. We are expecting to annouce the successful contractor in March.
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Victoria's High Country Heritage - Audio Discovery Tour
The High Country of Victoria is a network of pathways. Some of these are invisible, but have been used for many thousands of years. They have been trodden by all kinds of peoples from all kinds of places. The first footsteps were those of the Aboriginal peoples...
The Audio Discovery Tour is a 240km drive on some of Australia's highest roads. Using this audio guide you can listen to interviews with local people and experts plus some historical drama as you drive. You can select tracks to travel between Bright and Omeo through either Mt Hotham along the Great Alpine Road or across the Bogong High Plains through Falls Creek - or you can travel the loop using both sets of audio tracks. Driving the loop would take you 5 hours without stopping, but you can plan to stop and stay.
The tour takes in the wild splendours of the Bogong High Plains and Mt Hotham as well as some interesting little towns like Bogong village, built on hydropower, and Harrietville, founded on river gold.
The audio tour can be downloaded from the Parks Victoria parkweb site
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Fire Ready Cards
The Alpine Shire has produced wallet sized cards containing essential bushfire information for visitors. The cards have information about emergency services such as the CFA and ABC radio as well as contact details for the Alpine Shire and the Visitor Information Centres. The purpose of this project is to provide visitors with all the essential information they need in the event of a bushfire on one easy to carry card that they can keep with them at all times. CFA, DSE and Alpine Shire publications can provide further information regarding total fire bans, fire danger ratings and township protection plans.
Any businesses wanting to make these cards available to their guests can collect them from the Visitor Information Centres in Bright, Myrtleford and Mount Beauty. To view an example of the card, click here.
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Queen Victoria Ride
The Queen Victoria Ride is attracting cyclists from everywhere and it will be a major force in cycle tourism in Australia, taking in climbs to Mount Hotham, Falls Creek and Tawonga Gap. The ride comprises the newly sealed Bogong High Plains Road (now the Bogong Alpine Way) and the first event, the ACE 250 (part of the Audax Alpine Classic) saw over 450 riders complete the loop.
Tourism Victoria and Murray to Mountains Cycle Tourism (Alpine, Wangaratta and Indigo Shires) have rolled out an online marketing program being driven through Facebook and SBS Cycling Central, which is primarily targeting 40+ year old men based in metropolitan areas.
For more information on the Queen Victoria Ride please click here
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Audax Alpine Classic & Semaine Federale
During late January Audax Australia hosted the inaugural Semaine Federale which was a week long cycling festival based out of Bright. The concept allows for riders to choose from a range of cycling routes each day which range from family friendly through to difficult. The event attracted 250 participants and created a great vibe around the town and provided a great deal of colour along our roads as they headed off in different directions each day.
Semaine Federale is being developed to be a lead in event to the Audax Alpine Classic which this year had 2500 participants including 460 who tackled the ACE250 which follows the Queen Victoria Ride Route. Combined with the Bonjour Bright Festival which Audax established three years ago, the week is certainly one for cyclists of all persuasions. Audax deserve a huge pat on the back for putting on such a wonderful event and making further commitment to North East Victoria with the establishment of Semaine Federale.
For more information on Semaine Federale click here, for more information on Bonjour Bright click here and for more information on Audax Australia click here.
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TOURISM VICTORIA NEWS
Open for Business industry resource launched
To assist the Victorian tourism industry, a comprehensive guide to crisis management was launched by the Minister for Tourism and Major Events, Tim Holding, last week. The online tool, Open for Business: Crisis Management for Tourism Businesses was developed to better equip tourism operators to prepare for, respond to and recover from crises such as bushfire, drought and floods.
“We want to arm tourism operators and visitors with the information they require to actively respond when they need it,” said Mr Holding.
Mr Holding said the tool kit was another government initiative to ensure tourism in Victoria’s regional areas remains strong. Developed in response to impact of last year’s severe bushfires, Open for Business includes tools, tips and case studies designed to complement the Crisis Communications Handbook for Regional and Local Tourism.
To view the Open for Business: Crisis Management for Tourism Businesses online tool click here
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Government resources and funding help tourism
The Australian and Victorian Governments recently met with tourism operators and representatives in Narbethong to outline the final details of the $10million Victorian Bushfire Tourism Industry Support Package.
The joint government package will support tourism in the badly affected Mitchell and Murrindindi shires and events in other bushfire affected areas. It includes $525,000 in funding for the Murrindindi and Mitchell Shires and $320,000 for 23 significant events in Gippsland, the Yarra Valley and Dandenong Ranges and Victoria’s High Country.
Funding allocations for events in 2010 and 2011 include the Marysville Marathon, the Palate of Passions in Mount Baw Baw, Grape Grazing in the Yarra Valley, La Dolce Vita in the King Valley and Harvest of Gippsland.
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Tourism stimulus campaigns to deliver growth
Tourism Australia has unveiled a range of tourism recovery campaigns, in both leisure and business travel, to help the industry return to growth in 2010 and beyond.
The stimulus campaigns, announced yesterday by Federal Tourism Minister Martin Ferguson, have been developed to assist Australian tourism in reversing the one per cent decline in international visitors in 2009, by taking advantage of new opportunities in key markets.
Over the coming months Tourism Australia will deliver around 62 separate additional tourism marketing projects with 20 partners in 13 markets. The recovery effort will also include activity to stimulate domestic business travel and the business events sector.
International campaigns will run in New Zealand, China, Hong Kong, Japan, India, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Gulf region, and Tourism Australia will initiate 24 charter flights to bring an additional 7,000 tourists to Australia from Greater China and Japan in February and March.
The recovery campaigns will be funded with the $9 million announced by the Australian Government last year and matched by industry contributions, to deliver a total package of around $20 million. This includes $2 million worth of activity for business events.
Since Minister Ferguson’s announcement of the additional $9 million in October Tourism Australia has received 133 individual proposals from across the tourism industry, highlighting industry’s keenness to work together to grow tourism this year.
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Alpine Shire winners to compete in national awards
Alpine Shire's Victorian Tourism Award winners - Bogong Horseback Adventures, Ovens Valley Motor Inn and the Bright Brewery - will compete for national honours in the 2009 Qantas Australian Tourism Awards in Hobart this month.
Hosted by the National Tourism Alliance (NTA), the national awards are the industry’s biggest and most prestigious event of the year where finalists from every state and territory will compete for the country’s top tourism honours in 27 categories.
The Alpine Shire wishes our finalists the best of luck.
For more information about the national awards presentation and dinner, click here.
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> News from Economic Development
Interested in buying a franchise? - Seminar
Is a franchise business for you?
Weigh up the pros and cons of buying a franchise in this practical, highly informative seminar. This seminar is ideal for any business person evaluating the franchise model seeking objective advice. You'll learn about the Franchising Code of Conduct, the personal and financial commitment required to set up a franchise as well as an understanding of the marketing and administrative arrangements.
HOW MUCH DOES IT COST?
$20.00 per person (light supper provided). This seminar is subsidised by the Alpine Shire and DIIRD. All seminar material will be provided.
HOW DO I PARTICIPATE?
Simply log onto the Business Victoria website www.business.vic.gov.au/workshops to register and make payment. Alternatively you can register and pay at the Alpine Shire office, 2 Churchill Avenue (just off Great Alpine Road), Bright.
LOCATION: Alpine Shire office, Council Chamber, 2 Churchill Avenue, Bright
CONTACT NAME: Emma Warnock PHONE: 03 5755 0522
EMAIL: emmaw@alpineshire.vic.gov.au
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> News from Visitor Information Centres
Short Films on Hot Days
The Alpine Visitor Information Centre in Bright has installed a new projector in the theatre and will be showing free short tourism films on hot days. If your guests are looking for something to do when the mercury rises then the air conditioned theatre is the perfect place to cool down and relax as they watch films about local history and national parks.
Please contact the Alpine Visitor Information Centre on 1800 111 885 for more information.
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