Tourism Industry

Understanding the Industry

As tourism becomes increasingly more understood and develops, the industry and all levels of government have recognised the value in strengthening partnerships to guide infrastructure development, promotions and information, data gathering and analysis. For CoPP to be successful in managing tourism it will need to rely in part on strong relationships with TV, CoM DML and other IMAP partners (CoY, CoS).

Tourism Victoria

In recent years, the domestic promotional focus has shifted to regional Victoria with an emphasis brought about by bushfires in the Alpine and Grampians areas, and most recently, the North East and Gippsland.

Development continues to be around infrastructure (regional accommodation) industry improvement and excellence, airline routes and cruise shipping.

Promotional expenditure continues to be directed to building interstate overnight to regional Victoria, attracting internationals to Melbourne and increasing international length of stay in Melbourne and surrounds.

In recent times, the promotion of the city centre, focusing on laneways and discovery of hidden treasures in the city, and the big events throughout the year have been high on the promotional agenda.

Promotion of themes (food and wine, Bed and Breakfast, indulgence, wellness etc) on offer in Victoria has tended to be the mechanism to do this, and is in line with the national effort overseas to promote similar themes in international markets

CoPP and Tourism Victoria’s marketing activity

Since the commencement of the Tourism Victoria Campaign (You’ll love every piece of Victoria) in 1993, Melbourne has been promoted in Australia and overseas using iconic images of the CoPP, partly because it was viewed as a ‘jewel in Melbourne’s crown’, and also partly due to a perceived lack of competition.

Regular familiarisations with interstate and international journalists have taken place and a major percentage have included visits to Port Melbourne and St Kilda waterfronts, dining in local establishments and staying in local accommodation. This expense has been borne by the operators and Tourism Victoria. In subsequent surveys conducted out of Victoria, parts of the City of Port Phillip are well known, thanks to these efforts.

In the past 3-5 years the competitive landscape has changed. The advent of Docklands and Federation Square in particular have helped to expand the capital city offer. The CBD has also become a viable nightlife, leisure and dining option following several static years. Shopping attendance has also improved in the same period.

As the Tourism Victoria (TV) campaign moves from phase to phase (now phase 8.2), increasingly, focus shifts from the macro to the micro. Now, Melbourne is being promoted using laneways and the unique retail and entertainment available in those laneways.

At the same time, TV, Destination Melbourne (DML) and the City of Melbourne (CoM) have formed close partnerships and begun to focus on the CBD and its expanded offer. The CoM has also built a solid unit focused on tourism in order to secure their place in tourism, have a voice in the industry and to implement strategies that will deliver a growth path for visitation.

Target markets will not automatically see images of CoPP in CoM and DML promotional communications and indeed CoPP images are being, and have already been, replaced by these competitive offers.

These combined factors mean that the promotion previously enjoyed at no expense to CoPP is now diverted, and CoPP will be working in a much more competitive marketplace. To even maintain our position, CoPP must build strong relationships and functioning partnerships with our neighbours and with the state.

City of Melbourne

In recognition of the importance of neighbouring LGA’s to extending stay and increasing spend, the CoM is actively seeking to collaborate with other metropolitan LGA’s to build overall visitation and visitor value.

The CoM has in recent years developed a significant tourism unit within Council, understood its role in supporting the efforts of tourism Victoria to build visitation, and taken in hand the responsibility for maximising the quality of experience for Melbourne’s visitors.

This includes opening the Visitor information Centre at the Town Hall, later moved to Federation Square, supporting the City Circle Tram, training a large contingent of volunteers to help visitors to move about and make the most of a Melbourne visit, a Cruise shipping strategy to meet and greet passengers at Station Pier with welcome information packs, and regular collaboration with transport providers and events to maximise value and engagement generally.

The City of Melbourne tourism unit has 13 full time people and over 300 volunteers.

As the majority player, the CoM can heavily influence the parts of the greater city they will use to spread their message. This means the images, the places they take visiting journalists from interstate and overseas, how ‘Melbourne is presented to visitors at points of enquiry and so on, will depend on which LGA’s co-operate and to what extent.