Whitsunday Experience Development Audit

Mark Olsen – EarthCheck

397M 100+ $6M 67%

DESTINATIONS FACEBOOK POSTS PER ADVERTISING OF DECISIONS PER BY PER WEEK DAY WORD OF DAYMOUTH

“It’s critical that we protect this amazing place, and we’d like your help.”

Today’s workshop 1. 2. 3. 4.

What sets the Whitsundays apart The Experience Development Audit Areas for improvement Discussion and Next Steps

1. What sets the Whitsundays Apart? •

Brand Story: 74 island wonders

•

Core promise: Feel the wonder of Australia's island paradise.

•

Brand personality: Charismatic, expansive, inspiring, wide-eyed, worldly.

•

Brand values: Pride in the Whitsundays, hospitality, sharing something truly special with visitors

•

Hero Experiences: Diverse Island Wonders Sailing, Flying, Snorkelling, Diving GBR & Iconic Landscapes Airlie Beach and Mainland

GBR HERO EXPERIENCES

    2

1

You can learn to snorkel, dive or sail safely in one of the seven natural wonders of the world.

Visitors come face-to-face with the charismatic mega marine life of the GBR – the only place on the planet you can see the ‘Great 8’.

5

Seeing the reef and islands stretch as far as the eye can see reminds you that you are seeing the largest living organism on the planet.

3

4

You can be the only person watching the worlds best natural event (e.g. coral spawning, whale migration, turtle hatching).

Travel guilt-free with high standard operators and participate in the conservation of the first World Heritage listed reef.

6

On one of nine hundred islands and coral cays of the GBR you can wake up with a view of the GBR in your choice of accommodation.

7

Escape the crowds and immerse yourself in the culture and lifestyle of the island and coastal communities that call the GBR home.

Is our story starting to get lost in a competitive landscape…?

2. The Experience development Audit Experience Development is the science of delivering a consistent and inspiring message to consumers throughout their travel experience that will not only motivate them to become ambassadors for your story, but to know how to tell it. STAGE OF TRAVEL

AUDIT APPROACH & DELIVERABLES

Dreaming

• Review of ten travel blogs that include articles on the Whitsundays • Review of ten recent publications or TV programs that feature the Whitsundays • Engaging key media partners to understand their perceptions of the region

Planning

• • • • • •

Booking

Review of the five most popular websites for the region Review of five destination brochures Review of five operator brochures and websites Review of three bookings websites general / destination content Review of the TripAdvisor Discussion Boards Review of mystery shopped operator websites and their booking processes

Experiencing

• Phone booking of products for mystery shopping • Phone booking of the Whitsunday Visitor Information Centre • Review of the 17 operators mystery shopped

Sharing

• Review of 50 consumer posts on social media • Review of 20 Trip Advisor comments

Dreaming Publication/Program Source

Diverse Island Paradise

Sailing, Flying, Snorkelling, Diving

GBR and Iconic Landscapes

Airlie Beach and Mainland

Size and Use

Diversity of Wildlife

Conservation

OVERALL RANKING (/5)

GBR USP Themes

Brand Promise

Destination Heroes

The Australian





✓











3

Fairfax Traveller









✓







3

News.com.au









✓







3

Yahoo7





✓

✓

✓







4

The Guardian





✓

✓

✓







4.5

Travel + Leisure







✓









4

Rockhampton Morning Bulletin/APN





✓

✓









4

Courier Mail





✓

✓



✓





4

New Zealand Herald







✓









3

Australian Traveller







✓









3

100%

100%

50%

70%

60%

30%

80%

10%

3.6/5

AVERAGE SCORE

Dreaming Destination Heroes

GBR USP Themes OVERALL RANKING (/5)













3

Tourism Queensland

















4

Billabong

















3

Globe Trotting

















4

Frugal Frolicker

















3

The Wandering Lens

















4

That Backpacker

















3

Ytravel

















2

Young Andventuress

















4

The Merrymaker Sisters

















3

AVERAGE SCORE

100%

100%

50%

90%

20%

0%

40%

10%

3/5

Diversity of Wildlife Size and Use



Airlie Beach & Mainland



Diverse Island Paradise

Conserva tion

GBR and Iconic Landscap es Sailing, Flying, Snorkellin g, Diving

Brand Promise

Nomadic Matt

Blog Source

Planning Destination Heroes

GBR USP Themes

Diverse Island Paradise

Sailing, Flying, Snorkelling, Diving

GBR and Iconic Landscapes

Airlie Beach and Mainland

Size and Use

Diversity of Wildlife

Conservation

Brand Promise

OVERA LL RANKI NG (/5)

TourismWhitsundays. com

















3.75

Queensland.com

















3.5

Australia.com

















3

Whitsundays.com.au

















3

LonelyPlanet.com

















2.5

AVERAGE SCORE

100 %

100%

100%

100%

100%

40%

40%

0%

3.2/5

Website

Booking Booking Website Source

Brand Promise

Diverse Island Paradise

Sailing, Flying, Snorkelling, Diving

GBR and Iconic Landscapes

Airlie Beach and Mainland

Size and Use

Diversity of Wildlife

Conservation

OVERALL RANKING (/5)

Booking.com

















2

TripAdvisor

















3

Wotif

















3.5

67%

100%

67%

100%

100%

0%

0%

0%

2.8/5 AVERAGE SCORE

GBR USP Themes Destination Heroes

Experiencing

Quality of Service (/5)

TOTAL SCORE (/40)

Quality of Service in Booking (/5)

Signage to Business (/5)

Presentation of Business (/5) 4.5

3.9

Accessibility to Product Information (/5) Level of Customer Engagement (/5) Guest Atmosphere (/5)

3.8/5

Pre Trip Information (/5)

The average rating on TripAdvisor is 4.2

4.0 3.9 3.6 3.6

3.8 3.1 AVERAGE SCORE

Sharing ‘Travellers are sharing more and actively advocate their travel choices. Having experienced their travel dream first hand, this is the point at which travellers plant the seed for others. This sharing is happening in real-time on social media platforms’ Photo Gallery of last 10 Facebook Image Posts (#whitsundaysqld) 62.3K followers

Photo Gallery of last 10 Instagram Image Posts (#lovewhitsundays) 62.3 followers

Photo Gallery of last 10 Twitter Image Posts (#lovewhitsundays) 8,048 followers

3. Areas of improvement Today’s readers are after simple but informative and relatable content and this style of messaging could be improved across all stages and mediums

Active imagery

Sharing Top 5 most common used hashtags

Top posts #whitsundays on Instagram

Sharing GSL Aviation tours

Airlie Beach Hotel

Cruise Whitsundays

Embrace the Region Everyone is a part of the Whitsundays Story

What Conservation Story are you Sharing? •

The toughest laws protecting any reef enforced by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority plus the Reef 2050 future plan

•

High Standard Tourism Program rewards those certified through Ecotourism Certification or EarthCheck.

•

With the help of six official research stations, The Great Barrier Reef is the best studied tropical marine ecosystem in the world.

•

The same year as Finding Nemo the Reef Guardian School Program started to educate schools.

•

Operators contribute to conservation through Eye On The Reef program which even allows visitors to play an active role.

•

Since 2010, AMPTO has been working with unemployed youth, training them a recreational dive supervisors to control Crown of Thorns Starfish

•

The GBR Visitor Charge which funds research, education and policy development.

•

In 2004, the Australian Government increased fishing exclusion zones from 5 per cent to 33 per cent with measuring increases in diversity

4. Next step

GROUP DISCUSSION

THANK YOU

Mark Olsen General Manager EarthCheck [email protected] 0418 773 806