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1. Introduction Tourism North East (TNE) is the regional tourism board for the High Country, charged with developing a broad range of supply and demand driven tourism initiatives that deliver strong outcomes to the local visitor economy. TNE works closely with Indigo Shire Council as part of these regional efforts, collaborating with a range of other councils, industry partners and State entities like Visit Victoria and Regional Development Victoria to increase visitation, spend and dispersal in the High Country. As part of this partnership, Indigo Shire Council invests in a selection of tourism activities delivered by TNE that are most relevant to its own tourism efforts and product strengths, effectively leveraging a larger collective tourism spend that can maximise tourism results for the Indigo Shire. TNE generates quarterly reports about the initiatives that Council invests in. This report notes the key items delivered in quarter three of the 2017-18 financial year.
2. Ride High Country 2.1 Ride High Country Campaign Overview Cycle tourism in Victoria’s North East is marketed under the Ride High Country masterbrand. The objective of the 2017-18 Ride High Country campaign is to support the region in achieving an ownership position in the cycle tourism space, establishing it as the premier bike destination in Victoria. The Ride High Country campaign is designed to:
● Unite the region’s 12 cycling destinations; ● Unify the three cycling disciplines (mountain biking, road cycling and rail trail); and ● Progress the region’s target market from ‘awareness’ through to ‘advocacy’ within the
awareness/consideration lifecycle. Latent demand currently exists for Ride High Country - awareness is relatively low, but once made aware of the current offering, appeal of the Ride High Country product and intention to visit lifts dramatically, with visitation and yield following. Accordingly, all aspects of the 2017-18 campaign, from creative through to media channels, have been designed to drive awareness within the core Melbourne metro ‘Lifestyle Leader’ (consumer) target market.
TNE Activity Report – Indigo Shire Council 2017-18 Q3
The Ride High Country campaign commenced in November 2017 and will finish at the end of April 2018. A full review will be available in the quarter four report. 2.2 Media Channels
a) Out of Home (OOH) In accordance with TNE’s campaign objectives and position within the awareness/consideration life cycle, approximately 50% of the Ride High Country promotional budget is devoted to larger format OOH advertising in metropolitan Melbourne. This includes both digital and static billboards and other high profile outdoor executions, which have been sourced to provide maximum value for money and exposure to cyclists (both active participants and considerers). Indigo Shire ride destinations and product are well represented in these executions:
b) Digital Display Advertising
Digital display advertising, both desktop and mobile, that utilises imagery from right across the region has been placed to match the target market’s digital consumption patterns. Ride High Country placements appear in contextually relevant environments that are highly targeted to ensure the adverts are speaking to outdoor (in particular, cycling) enthusiasts who are likely to engage with them and also influence friends and family, amplifying campaign reach. Mobile devices have formed a key component of this channel with more than 50% of internet usage among key regional targets now occurring on mobile smartphones. As such, the media plan focuses on environments that have high-dwell times and high-audience reach - and tactics that allow Ride High Country to connect when people are actively engaging with content. Traditional display advertising (banners, towers, skyscrapers), featuring high impact visuals, have been placed in highly targeted environments. Flow Mountain Bike (www.flowmountainbike.com.au), as an example, features mountain bike specific creative in various sizes and creative executions as part of a run-of-site, 3 month execution. Geo-targeted to Victorian (60%) and NSW (40%) audiences, this execution forms part of a wider content partnership (see ‘Partner Marketing’). A similar investment was made in road cycling with Cycling Tips over a six month period (www.cyclingtips.com). Video consumption is an increasingly important campaign tactic in the digital space that helps create brand awareness and drive consideration. TNE has chosen to partner with Quantcast for video distribution across rail trail, mountain bike and road cycling - a programmatic display network with placements across hundreds of prominent titles. Quantcast applies a custom audience profile model to effectively reach target audiences at a time when they are actively searching and discovering content, and drives them back to the Ride High Country website. TNE has invested in ‘Native’ display advertising as part of the Ride High Country campaign, where advertising follows the natural form and function of the user experience in the channel or platform that it is placed. This tactic provides a less ‘threatening’ presence within the editorial feeds of news and lifestyle based premium websites, and is overlaid with over 40 algorithms including location, semantic, keyword and behavioural targeting.
c) Partner Marketing Ride High Country has entered into commercial content and asset generation relationships with prominent online titles CyclingTips (road cycling) and Flow (mountain biking). Advertising, in addition to editorial and content creation, means that Ride High Country appears in highly targeted and contextually relevant environments reaching true cycling enthusiasts. These packages, with activation spread throughout the entire campaign period, include:
● In-region editorial content features. This past quarter, CyclingTips delivered an exhaustive Ride High Country review entitled ‘Natural High: Your Guide to Road Cycling in Victoria’s High Country’. Promoted via their EDM and social media channels this editorial (plus stunning photography and video) features cycling routes, services and attractions from a broad cross-section of destinations including: in their ‘Road tripping Yackandandah, Beechworth, Mansfield, Mt Buller, King Valley, Myrtleford, Mount Buffalo, Bright, Mt Hotham, Mount Beauty, Falls Creek and Wangaratta. It will continue to live on the site as an SEO asset for the region.
● Filming, editing, delivery, promotion, distribution and TNE ownership of video and photographic assets. In addition to the Road tripping feature, CyclingTips delivered TNE with a suite of photography assets and have distributed a video feature. Flow Mountain Bike has produced and distributed five mountain bike park/destination videos thus far (Beechworth, Bright Mystic, Dinner Plain, Mt Beauty and Falls Creek) with Yackandandah and Mt Buller still to round out the season.
● Social media support - Instagram, Facebook and YouTube to promote all road trips and content publishing.
● Display advertising (see above)
www.cyclingtips.com.au
Follow these links for partner videos that feature destinations in Indigo Shire: Rail Trail
● Rail Trail 1 ● Rail Trail Family
Road Cycling ● CyclingTips short edit ● CyclingTips long edit
Mountain Biking ● Beechworth ● Yackandandah
d) Print
TNE has a long standing relationship with Treadlie Magazine, and is currently developing an editorial opportunity for them showcasing local industry that will be published later this year. Print advertising, specific to the region’s rail trail offering, has been booked in two editions of
Treadlie this season.
e) Database and EDM TNE has continued to build a dedicated cycle database via the Ride High Country website, which was also enhanced via sign-ups from attending Around the Bay in a Day. The database is representative of the campaign’s core target market across all three cycling disciplines, plus 7 Peaks. TNE has communicated directly with this database on seven occasions so far this season.
f) SEO, SEM and Google Adwords
Search engine marketing (SEM) and optimisation (SEO) is crucial to leverage other media channels featured in the Ride High Country program, broadening campaign impact. That is, SEO/SEM is vital to capitalise on the mass reach of OOH and digital advertising, provides pathways that allow target audiences to investigate further, ‘test-drives’ the offering, and starts the conversion process. Appropriate investment in this type of advertising, as implemented by the digital team at TNE, enables the target market to easily access the Ride High Country website and associated channels. 2.3 Ride High Country Website The Ride High Country website consolidates the regional cycle tourism offering on one, easy to use site that is optimised for both desktop and mobile, maximizing opportunities for both brand awareness and conversion. The website is featured across all advertising executions as a direct call to action, meaning that it is the first direct interaction with the brand for many consumers. Playing a central role in converting awareness into desire, presentation of the website as a flagship channel of the Ride High Country masterbrand is vital - as is its role as a hub for both audiences and information sources. www.ridehighcountry.com.au looks to achieve several key objectives:
● To make it easy for visitors to research the complete High Country cycle tourism
experience, across all destinations and disciplines, via one central portal. ● To connect people with cycle-specific businesses who can specifically cater to their cycle
needs. ● To inspire people to book a cycle tourism experience in the High Country.
Visitation to the Ride High Country website during the quarter showed strong results with 123,275 pages viewed and 38,923 visits, results that include both direct website and 7-peaks App visits. Visitors showed strong engagement with content spending an average of 2m:51sec on site and viewing 3.17 pages. Audience interest in the cycle discipline varied across the three ride types. When assessed through the views of the discipline specific landing pages, there were 22.5k for road cycling, 14.5k views for rail trails, and 12k for mountain biking. Road cycling includes the 7 Peaks visitors, which when broken down equates to 18k for 7 Peaks and 4.5k for general road cycling, demonstrating the importance of the 7 Peaks program to cycling promotion.
Businesses that are registered as part of TNE’s Ride High Country Preferred program - who specifically tailor their businesses to meet the needs of cycle tourists - are given prominence on the website. To allow for quick and easy identification of these business, both through the Ride High Country website and other channels, TNE is currently developing a Ride High Country Preferred logo, which will be launched prior to the close of the financial year. 2.4 Ride High Country Social Media TNE manages its own social media channels for Ride High Country on both Facebook and Instagram, allowing Ride High Country to engage in genuine conversations with target markets, use campaign material to continue to raise awareness (both boosted and organically), attract new followers and, importantly, leverage user generated content from in-region.
Throughout the third quarter, the Ride High Country Facebook and Instagram accounts displayed impressive numbers, with incredibly strong and steady fan acquisition and compelling engagement rates (even allowing for a marginal drop (0.13%) in Facebook engagement).
Objectives Metric KPI ACTUAL
Brand advocacy Engagement rate 3.94% 3.81%
Fan acquisition New pages likes increase 1.17% 2.90%
Objectives Metric KPI ACTUAL
Brand advocacy Engagement rate 2.23% 10.78%
Fan acquisition New followers 2.27% 12.10% Working closely with Visit Victoria, a user generated post from Mt Buller was shared on the State Instagram account (@visitmelbourne with 521k followers), which received a staggering 7k+ likes and 60 comments. A cycle related post is rare on @visitmelbourne, and this instance reinforces the collective commitment to make the High Country Australia’s premier cycling destination.
Mountain bike and rail trail video content developed by Flow Mountain Bike on behalf of TNE (as noted above), continues to prove popular on Facebook, prompting sustained commentary about considering booking a cycling holiday in the High Country. In the third quarter, user generated content in the region was dominated by imagery and videos around mountain biking and road cycling, with peak participation associated with key events and long weekends. In comparison, rail trail content was less prolific without the presence of events acting as a key post driver. Regional cycling events were added to the Events pages of the Ride High Country Facebook Page, and were promoted through feature posts. TNE has also started profiling individual tour and hire operators in the region, pointing fans to the their ATDW listing on the Ride High Country website. Town Features and Locals’ Post continue to be relatable content on the Facebook page, and will be revisited in new formats in the coming months. Moving into the fourth quarter, the official cycling seasons for mountain biking and 7 Peaks will draw to a close as the colder weather and snow arrives. While the social focus will remain on the destination and the experience on and off the bike available in the High Country, there will be increased focus on the valley offering in the colder months.
3. Ride High Country Guide The Ride High Country Guide has been reimagined in-line with the look, tone and feel of the Ride High Country masterbrand and campaign. This extremely high quality publication, launched late 2017, is image rich and visually stimulating to ensure that it effectively portrays the regional offering and importantly is a tangible reflection of the region’s position as ‘Australia’s premier cycling destination’. The Ride High Country Guide is an important component of TNE’s cycling marketing plan, playing a significant role in driving awareness of the High Country as a tourism region. Complementing the out of home advertising campaign running in Melbourne, the Guide has a prominent location within the Federation Square Visitor Information Centre, often acting as the first engagement visitors have had with the Ride High Country brand. The Guide is also broadly distributed in-region via local advertisers, Ride High Country Preferred businesses and Visitor Information Centres. It assists visitors with planning their activities, make bookings and directly engaging with supporting businesses. The high production value of the Guide also ensures that it has longevity, with many visitors bringing it
home with them and using it as a source of both inspiration and information when planning future trips. Indigo Shire is well represented in the Ride High Country Guide, positioned as one the key cycle tourism destinations in the region.
4. High Country Harvest
4.1 Program Overview High Country Harvest will run from 4-20 May 2018, featuring a 17-day regional event program that showcases the phenomenal food, wine and craft beer offering that the High Country is so renowned for. The program will feature a range of bespoke events that celebrate collaboration and innovation, offering regional visitors the opportunity to sample local produce and meet the personalities behind these products. High Country Harvest firmly positions the High Country as one of the leading regional food and beverage destinations in Victoria, and supports strategic State efforts in this space as well. The event encompasses a range of unique lunches, gourmet dinners, cooking classes and produce workshops, behind the scenes tours and so much more. It also creates tangible links with the region’s other key product pillars including cycle and nature-based tourism, which are promoted within the food/wine context. High Country Harvest is key in driving visitation, yield and dispersal throughout the region during a traditionally quiet period. The 2017 event alone attracted over 7k visitors who generated an impressive $2.69million in direct spend to the local economy. Importantly, 60% of visitors stayed overnight with 24% staying for 3 nights or more, ensuring that High Country Harvest visitors make a significant contribution to the local visitor economy. High Country Harvest also sustains ongoing visitation opportunities outside of the event both via the awareness its marketing program generates and through repeat visitation amongst those who participate in the event. Equally important is the platform High Country Harvest offers for driving product innovation and industry development opportunities. The event assists businesses to develop and trial new tourism experiences in a supportive environment; fostering products which are on-trend and have the potential to grow into a year-round product, thereby strengthening the regional offering. 4.2 Event Partnerships TNE recently secured $225k ($75k per annum for three years) in grant funding via the Regional Events Fund administered by Visit Victoria to grow High Country Harvest. This funding has been provided to assist with growing event yield, attracting higher numbers of the core Melbourne foodie market who have the strongest potential to stay and spend in-region.
In order to do this, TNE will develop a new three-year partnership program that will link with entities who can effectively engage the Lifestyle Leader market. The funding will be used to secure these partnerships and also bring them to life via a dynamic and integrated marketing campaign that will utilise the promotional networks of the partner and also allow for investment in high-impact media channels that feature purpose built campaign content. For High Country Harvest 2018/19, TNE has again partnered with high-profile Melbourne restaurant group MoVida, who it worked successfully with for the last High Country Harvest event. This year’s partnership with Movida will involve a three-staged approach including:
1. An in-region road trip that will be a produce exploration, taking place on 16-17 April. This visit will see MoVida’s head chefs, head sommeliers and co-owner/lead chef Frank Camorra in-region learning about the food/drinks profiled as part of the High Country Harvest offering. This road trip will be filmed and produced into a series of videos for online distribution, including through well known food personality Dani Valent.
2. A MoVida dinner will feature as part of the High Country Harvest event program. It will be run as a partnership with the Mansfield Coffee Merchant on Sat 19 May, starring the food and wine of the road trip as developed into a sumptuous meal by the MoVida and Coffee Merchant chefs.
3. A Melbourne lunch will take place at Movida Aqui on Sat 26 May, finishing High Country Harvest with a regional food/drink showcase amongst the core metro foodie market.
While the MoVida partnership will be central to the High Country Harvest program, the event has attracted a range of other celebrity partnerships that assist in raising the profile of the festival. For instance, the program features an event that sees a partnership between Bogong Horseback Adventure and on-trend Melbourne restaurants Lucy Liu Kitchen and Bar and Taxi Kitchen. Using produce from Spring Spur’s kitchen garden and ingredients gathered from the North East’s best producers, these two iconic Melbourne restaurants will serve a five course shared menu representing their individual restaurant styles. In Beechworth, Michael Ryan at hatted restaurant Provenance will offer a collaborative dinner with Luke Burgess, renowned Tasmanian chef and food photographer. The duo will deliver a seven course dinner showcasing local produce matched with natural wines and sake, reflecting Luke and Michael’s joint project on the food of Japan. 4.3 High Country Harvest Marketing The key target audience for High Country Harvest is the Melbourne lifestyle leader segment, with secondary markets including regional Victoria and southern NSW/ACT. The High Country Harvest campaign is live from the third week of March until event completion and has the following
objectives: ● Call to Action - direct target audience traffic to www.highcountryharvest.com.au ● Inspire - drive ticket sales of High Country Harvest events ● Value Proposition - demonstrate that the High Country offers:
○ An abundance of local produce ○ Natural surrounds that are some of the most spectacular in Victoria.
The High Country Harvest campaign creative references successful campaigns of the past, featuring a pen drawing of gumboots. This visual representation speaks directly to metro Lifestyle Leaders looking for new adventures with local products, producers and down to earth makers. In an autumnal colour palette, it is also befitting of the season. A multi-channel approach has been adopted for the marketing program to effectively reach target markets and deliver on desired objectives. The marketing plan has a digital focus that still includes traditional channels. Key activations include:
● SBS On Demand - Three 30-second High Country Harvest television commercials have been produced for distribution on SBS’s video on demand service for smart TV and web-service (desktop and mobile). These adverts appear both pre-roll and mid-roll, and target a highly engaged ‘food loyalist’ and travel orientated audience, and geo-targeted to a Victorian user base.
● Fairfax Network - Digital display advertising across their 250 site network. Fairfax is a trusted brand safe network, with affluent buyers and a historical connection to High Country Harvest campaigns. Advertising targets audience profiles across segments including The Ambitious Social, Lifestyle Obsessors, Affluent Buyers, The Foodie and Empty Nesters.
● Gourmet Traveller - This publication has a high income, food and wine obsessed readership with different user groups across digital and print publications. Advertising includes run of site digital advertising and 20k postcards inserted into the April edition of Gourmet Traveller across NSW and Victoria.
● Postcards - the same inspirational postcards produced for Gourmet Traveller will be distributed across region and surrounding destinations through local businesses, event hosts and VICs.
● Visit Victoria - digital advertising across Visit Victoria’s sites and placements in their EDM’s.
● New High Country Harvest website - featuring an all new look and feel, the website is not more functional than ever allowing guests to browse, search and book all their events
without leaving the site. It also includes regional and destination information, accommodation and itinerary suggestions plus a downloadable/printable calendar of 50+ events.
● Social Media - Facebook, Instagram and Youtube content delivery via TNE’s owned channels designed to drive awareness of High Country Harvest events and key locations, website referrals and ticket purchases.
● SEO/SEM/Google Adwords - to maximise search results driving visitors to the High Country Harvest website in addition to leveraging other lifestyle leader activities and events.
● Content Partnership - to drive awareness of the High Country Harvest partnership with Movida, TNE is working with well known and highly respected food journalist and content producer Dani Valent to produce a series of videos, photographs and editorial that will follow the Movida journey in region. Designed to position the High Country as a premier food and wine tourism region whilst elevating region and product awareness amongst Melbourne’s food and wine audience across a variety of channels.
4.4 Indigo Shire High Country Harvest Participation The High Country Harvest event program will feature 50+ hero events that range from cooking classes and behind the scenes tours through to unique lunches and gala dinners. Of these hero events, 23 have been secured for Indigo Shire including:
Destination May 2018 Date
Event Name Summary Description Operators
Beechworth 4 May ROASTED CHESTNUTS AND REDS
Chat with the winemakers, snack on roasted chestnuts and taste the wines of the region. Stay on for dinner from the brewery’s pizzeria.
Bridge Road Brewers, Stanley Chestnut Orchardists, Beechworth Vignerons
Wahgunyah 4 May SHIRAZZLE DAZZLE THE SENSES
A blind taste testing of shiraz with the winemaker, while nibbling on snacks.
Valhalla Wines
Wahgunyah 4 May THE EDIBLE TABLE Help to set the scene for dinner by creating a table centrepiece from edible herbs, plants and flowers, before using them to create lunch and unique wine cocktails.
Pickled Sisters Cafe, Cofield Wines
Beechworth 5 May PEDAL AND TASTE Ride bikes from Beechworth to Milawa on the Murray to Mountains Rail Trail, tasting wine, olives, and cheese along the way.
Tour de Vines, Milawa Cheese Factory
Destination May 2018 Date
Event Name Summary Description Operators
Beechworth 5 May BREWERS BREAKFAST Enjoy a four-course breakfast with matched beer while learning the secrets of craft brewing and how to make pretzels.
Bridge Road Brewers
Beechworth 5 6 12 13 19 20 May
THE SWEET TRAIL Create a personalised ice cream drizzled with your favourite cordial and sprinkled with lollies.
Billson’s Brewery, Beechworth Sweet Company and Beechworth Ice Creamery
Beechworth 5 May BEECHWORTH VILLAGE BONFIRE
Join Beechworth locals for music, games and the lighting of the Village Bonfire. Glowing lanterns will be floated as you mingle over toasty fireside snacks and tunes by Beechworth Music Festival.
Beechworth Honey, Lake Sambell Caravan Park, Old Beechworth Gaol, Bridge Road Brewers, Amulet Vineyard, Beechworth Music Festival
Rutherglen 5 May TWEED RIDE Ride your bike to brunch and afternoon tea while enjoying vintage fashion. Riders are encouraged to wear tweed jackets, plaid skirts, bowler hats and bring their retro bikes.
Explore Rutherglen, Pickled Sisters Cafe, Rutherglen Estates Cellar Door, Valhalla Wine, Jones Winery
Wahgunyah 5 May TO OAK OR NOT TO OAK?
Discover the impact oak barrels have on the flavours in wine in this informative and behind-the-scenes wine experience.
Pfeiffer Wines
Gooramadda 5 May YOGA, BUBBLES, BREKKIE, BLISS
Start the day with an hour-long yoga class to awaken the senses followed by a glass of bubbles and light breakfast featuring local bread, honey and fresh seasonal fruit.
John Gehrig Wines
Rutherglen 5 May RUTHERGLEN VILLAGE BONFIRE
Join the locals and the Tweed riders for an evening toasting marshmallows, sipping on local wines and enjoying each other’s company.
Explore Rutherglen, Rutherglen Wine Experience, Rutherglen CFA
Yackandandah 5 May FARM RAMBLE & FEAST See where the food you eat is grown and enjoy a three course long lunch prepared using locally produced vegetables, nuts, cheeses, meats and fruits, with local wines.
Yackandandah Organics, Saint Monday
Rutherglen 6 May CREATIVE CAMPFIRE COOKING
Cooking campfire favourites, and discover some exotic campfire recipes using wine and fresh local produce.
Jones Winery
Beechworth 8 10 15 May
BAKERS SECRETS After coffee, take a tour of the bakery and the historic building it’s housed in, and learn how to make a seasonal Harvest Pies.
Beechworth Bakery
Beechworth 10 May FERMENTATION DEGUSTATION
This four-course dinner focuses on all things fermented, from sourdough and sauerkraut to wine, beer and gin.
Bridge Road Brewers, A. Rodda Wines, Silver Creek Sourdough
Destination May 2018 Date
Event Name Summary Description Operators
Rutherglen 11 May THE ART OF HARVEST Travel from the cellar door to the winery by bus, enjoying canapes and sampling this year’s vintage, before enjoying dinner in the new Aboriginal Exhibitions Gallery.
Rutherglen Estates
Beechworth 13 May BEE CAUSE HIGH TEA Treat mums with a glass of local prosecco, honey mead or sparkling honey drink, while enjoying a selection of sweet and savoury treats.
Beechworth Honey
Beechworth 18 May JAPAN DREAMING A seven course dinner featuring Japanese cuisine and showcasing local produce matched with natural wines and sake.
The Provenance
Beechworth 19 May ROMANCING THE VINE Enjoy coffee and pastries before visiting Beechworth’s small winemakers to find out who is behind your glass of wine. Warm snacks are provided at each winery.
Taste Trekkers, Cellar Door Wine Store, Vignerons Schmölzer and Brown, A Rodda Wines, Sentiō Wines, Fighting Gully Road, Domenica Wines
Beechworth 19 May BATTLE OF THE BEANS Bring your own ingredients or forage for pine mushrooms, chestnuts and other seasonal food to create an autumn bean dish.
Jim Jam Farm
Beechworth 19 May FRESH FROM THE HIVE AND PAN
Learn how to extract honey from fresh honeycomb, before making your own crumpets.
Beechworth Honey
Yackandandah 19 May HUNTERS AND GATHERERS
Enjoy plant based small plates and platters of together with botanical cocktails, as well as meaty morsels with brewery ales.
Saint Monday, Star Hotel
Gooramadda 20 May LIQUID GOLD FROM THE GROVE
Pick olives for a special 2018 harvest of Gooramadda Olives’ olive oil, then go behind-the-scenes to learn how to grow, ferment and press olives to create table olives, oils and other artisan produce. Enjoy a river picnic before collecting your own EVO to enjoy at home.
Gooramadda olives
This year there is very strong representation from Indigo Shire businesses in the High Country Harvest program with a good mix of established, new and collaborative events. A number of wine focused events play to the strengths of the in-region wine offerings. Yackandandah events clearly show the collaborative and sustainable direction the towns businesses are following while a few high profile events support the message of high quality Beechworth food and wine.
These hero events will be supported by a range of other food and beverage focused initiatives designed to extend visitor length of stay and destination yield opportunities. This includes:
● Harvest Menus and Autumn Warmers – cafes, restaurants and cellar doors in the region who may not be at a stage to host a hero event can still be involved by adding special dishes and drinks to their menu. These will only be available during the event and will feature local and seasonal ingredients.
● Bonfires - a series of 8 bonfire evenings are planned throughout the region, allowing locals and visitors to mix and enjoy food and wine from around the region. Indigo Shire will host bonfires in Beechworth and Rutherglen as part of the 2018 program.
● 8 Brews in 8 Days – features the eight breweries of the High Country Brewery Trail offering a free back of house tour and tasting every day on the second week of the event program. Free of charge, these sessions offer visitors a unique look at the brewing process. Bridge Road Brewery and Rutherglen Brewery will both feature in this event.
5. High Country Food and Wine Guide The Food and Wine Guide is one of the region’s premier pieces of collateral, featuring the rich array of food, wine, craft beer and spirits experiences available in the High Country. The Guide is used to both inspire food and wine lovers to visit the region, and also piece together an exceptional tourism experience once they arrive. The Guide was reproduced in 2016-17 featuring new images, copy, advertisers and inspiration for visitors to the region, and is live for a two-year period (including 2018-19). Distribution to date has been strong in-region, as well as throughout Victoria and southern NSW - most noticeably through the VIC at Federation Square in Melbourne. The current version of the Food and Wine Guide will be live until approximately December 2018 (subject to stock levels), continuing to provide maximum value for the region, its destinations and stakeholders alike.
6. Walk High Country 6.1 Strategic Overview Following from the success of the Ride High Country brand and marketing efforts, TNE is looking to develop category-leading master brands for each of the region’s five product pillars, which have the ability to drive mass market awareness for the regional offering. In terms of nature-based tourism, TNE is looking to develop a Walk High Country brand to lead this product category in recognition of the following:
● Market research recently commissioned by TNE across a variety of products (like winery
tourism and cycle tourism) showed that the key activity that visitors undertake when in-region – other than the activity they were being surveyed for – was some form of walking or hiking, demonstrating that there is already strong demand for this offering.
● Every LGA/RMB within the region owns a variety of walks so has the capacity to be represented within this brand, ensuring that it encompasses a truly regional offering. This also means there is greater potential to leverage collaborative funding for promotional efforts.
● One of the region’s greatest strengths is its abundant and diverse nature-based tourism assets. A Walk High Country brand and product offering leverages this well-known regional strength.
● Consolidation and promotion of major nature-based tourism assets is consistent with the strategic approach of Visit Victoria and Tourism Australia, which creates potential for marketing and leverage opportunities.
● The masterplan for the Falls to Hotham Alpine Crossing has been completed, which looks to establish a 56km world-class walking trail between the alpine resorts. When completed, this walk will be part of a branded State portfolio of four distinctive long-distance walks called Walk Victoria’s Icons. Developing a Walk High Country brand provides the ideal platform to promote this iconic product, which is considered to be a major potential tourism driver across national and international markets.
6.2 Product Audit The first step in the development of the Walk High Country offering has been an audit of which walks are currently available in-region – from gentle scenic walks around towns through to multi-night remote hikes. Over the first to third quarters, TNE has worked with its LGA and RMB partners to identify the key regional walk offering. This process has identified a total of 175 individual walks across the region, noting walk names, description, distances, difficulty and features. These walks will be categorized into hero products, top walks and other experiences that will help shape the product and Walk High Country website to go to market. Follow up requests for images, mapping files and other information occurred over the third quarter to ensure there is a critical number of complete walks (with all of the aforementioned detail) for the launch of the website. Approximately 50% of the walks received to date have all the necessary information required to achieve this status, so TNE is currently exploring a number of avenues in order to secure this data and images.
6.3 Brand Development TNE has commissioned a designer to develop the Walk High Country brand that will lead marketing efforts in this space. The master brand will drive awareness of the hiking, bushwalking and village strolling offerings available in the High Country’s alpine resorts, parks, village and town destinations. Several brand options have been developed and will be presented to the LGA/RMB tourism/economic development/marketing managers for consideration at the start of April. Once finalised, a brand style guide will be developed to provide a framework for how the brand should be implemented across a range of executions, including the new Walk High Country website (which will launch by the end of the financial year). 6.4 Walk High Country Photography/Vision While the Walk High Country brand and website will be completed in the fourth quarter, the associated marketing campaign will launch in the 2018-19 financial year. In preparation for this, over the third quarter TNE has worked with some of its LGA/RMB partners to capture new assets that can form the heart of this campaign, recognising that they will be central to the hero experiences celebrated as part of this program. In this quarter, TNE coordinated a photoshoot to capture photographs of key walking experiences within Indigo, highlighting the unique historic and nature-based walks available within the Shire. Images were taken at Mayday Hills, Lake Sambell, Beechworth town centre, Yeddonba and Yackandandah - destinations chosen to showcase the breadth of offering across the region. Assuming that out of home media will play a strong role in this 2018-19 campaign, these assets will be key to suit large-scale, high-profile media executions.
7. Industry and Product Development 7.1 Industry and Product Development TNE drives industry and product development across the region with the aim of improving the tourism experiences offered to visitors. It does this by working with new and existing tourism operators to improve, enhance and diversify their businesses and tourism experiences to better meet visitor needs. This work includes up-skilling industry through mentoring and briefing sessions, identifying and working with businesses to fill gaps in the regional tourism offering, managing industry communication efforts, and driving ongoing industry and product innovation. It also involves facilitating relationships and tourism efforts between industry, Government organisations,
tourism associations and other public and private entities to drive regional collaboration and growth. In quarter three, TNE has delivered a range of initiatives in this space for Indigo Shire including:
● The delivery of 12 individual business development sessions where TNE worked directly with Indigo Shire tourism businesses to address the trends, issues and opportunities of most relevance to their businesses. In the third quarter, the most popular topics covered were food/wine followed by cycling and accommodation.
● The delivery of a range of group briefing sessions, which engaged a range of different
Indigo Shire businesses including: o Food and Wine Pillar Brand Engagement - presented to the Winemakers of
Rutherglen Board to discuss and disseminate ideas around directions for the upcoming food and wine brand development.
o High Country Harvest Operator Briefing - Workshop to develop current season events to be included in the High Country Harvest schedule.
o Kickstart Workshop - Two Kickstart workshops to develop new product and partnerships in region that included Indigo Shire operators.
o Food and Drink Brand Pillar Workshop - to discuss and disseminate industry thought leader’s ideas around directions for the upcoming food and wine brand development.
● Working with Council to assist it with realising its own tourism objectives including sitting
on the project steering group for the Indigo Destination Gamer Changer 2022 Strategy and providing active input into strategy drafts. TNE also met internally to workshop some of the challenging areas of the strategy to provide additional feedback to Council.
● Working with a range of businesses, groups and committees to develop or enhance new
tourism experiences in Indigo Shire, including: o Providing support and feedback for the Rutherglen Light and Love Festival in its
inaugural year, looking at ways to collaborate differently in future events. o Attending a Beechworth to Yackandandah Rail Trail site visit and discussion on
proposed alignment. o Attending Beechworth Food and Wine Group informal gathering to look at ways
to better coordinate the food and wine offering and associated partnerships. o Working with the Friends of Murray to Mountains Rail Trail.
● Developing opportunities for tourism operators to collaborate, discuss tourism trends and create new relationships at the TNE Industry Networking Dinner at Brown Brothers, which was well attended by Indigo Shire operators.
● Facilitating or being involved in a range of meetings and sessions relevant to Indigo Shire
including: o Hosting Paul Matthews Head of Regional Tourism and Strategy, Visit Victoria on a
famil in-region including time spent experiencing both recreational activities and the local food and wine offering.
o Briefing Visit Victoria’s new Aboriginal Business Development Manager about opportunities for collaboration and assistance in association with the Hume Aboriginal Cultural Trail project.
o Attending the RACV Tourism Awards Workshop hosted by VTIC, providing an opportunity for new and established operators alike to learn the application process and business self-assessment.
o Attending the Fair Food Farmers and Followers Gathering where farmers and followers engage and develop regional agritourism opportunities.
o Presenting at the regional Local Food Strategy Development Meeting to discuss the fair food movement with a view of determining tourism and collaboration opportunities.
● Strategic engagement with other associations and organisations to progress Indigo Shire
tourism priorities including Regional Development Australia, Regional Development Victoria, Ovens Murray Regional Partnership and Visit Victoria.
7.2 North East Victoria Cycling Optimisation (NEVCO) Masterplan The High Country aspires to be recognised as the lead cycle tourism destination in Victoria. In order to realise this vision, TNE has worked with RDV to develop a Masterplan that will optimise cycling opportunities in the North East, taking into account infrastructure investment, marketing and private sector involvement across the region’s rail trail, mountain bike and road cycling offering. The Masterplan was finalised in the second quarter and in the third quarter the NEVCO Project Steering Group (PSG) decided to develop a shorter summary document that highlighted the key phase one priority projects to release publicly. To this effect, TNE is currently working on the production of this document with its original author, Urban Enterprise, which will include a creative design layout, so that it can be used as an effective communication and advocacy tool when looking to secure funding and support for key projects.
Work amongst the NEVCO PSG is now underway to advance Phase One, Tier One Masterplan project priorities. 7.3 Ned Kelly Alive The Ned Kelly story is one of Australia’s most iconic narratives with widespread appeal among both domestic and international markets. The High Country has a particular affinity with Ned Kelly as many of the key historical moments associated with the Kelly story occurred within the area. However, the current Kelly tourism experience is failing to engage with the region’s target Lifestyle Leader market, representing a missed opportunity in relation to a product that the High Country is uniquely positioned to own. With this in mind, this project is looking to revitalise and reimagine the Ned Kelly tourism experience offered across the region, breathing new life into existing products as well as creating new cohesive visitor experiences with fresh market appeal.
The draft report has been developed and submitted to RDV, as the primary funding partner, for its last round of input prior to the project being finalised at the end of April. Anticipating the finalisation of this project, TNE has already commenced funding advocacy work, with the aim of gaining public and private sector investment in key concept recommendations.
7.4 Hume Aboriginal Cultural Trail (HACT) The Hume Aboriginal Cultural Trail (HACT) project aims to scope and establish a 10 year plan for the development of a connected network of significant Aboriginal cultural tourism products and experiences across the Hume region, creating a meaningful and authentic offering that engages domestic and international visitors. In the third quarter, the Hume Aboriginal Cultural Trail (HACT) project was completed and acquitted with Regional Development Victoria, with the final report submitted and shared with the HACT PSG. Over the next quarter, TNE will work with the PSG and RDV to determine the next steps for the release of the report and opportunities for Aboriginal tourism development in light of its findings. Broadly speaking, recommendations have been developed in line with four key objectives:
1. Create a tourism-focused concept and platform for the region which directs the development of Aboriginal cultural product.
2. Provide leadership for product development in the Hume Region through effective governance.
3. Increase the capability and capacity of the Aboriginal people in the Hume Region to deliver tourism products.
4. Prioritise and attract product development investment in products that can achieve the vision utilising the concept and staging development.
The report details key strategies directed at achieving these objectives, supported by an investment plan that outlines the indicative minimum funding required, and a delivery plan. 7.5 Food and Agritourism Research Food tourism and agritourism are critical economic drivers for the Hume region however there is little customer data available to understand the market segments and customer perceptions of the offering.
The research will identify both current and emerging food and agritourism customer segments with consideration given to how the segments are defined, the current barriers and motivators for visitation by each segment, the type of experiences these segments are looking for and identification of which segments represent the best yield and visitation opportunities. The research will also look to ascertain current brand and product awareness levels and perceptions of the Hume region’s food and agritourism offering. This research will guide industry and product development efforts, infrastructure investment and marketing activities. After receiving the funding agreement for this project at the very end of the second quarter, work on this project commence in the third quarter with the formation of the PSG. The PSG includes members from funding partners, including RDV, TNE, Murray Regional Tourism and Goulburn River Valley Tourism.
A request for quote has also been distributed to appropriate research agencies, with responses due on 16 April. The final report will be completed by the end of the financial year. 7.6 Agritourism Mapping Project While the aforementioned Food and Agritourism Research project is imperative in understanding market demand, an equally important project is associated with determining product supply. That is, understanding the types of agri-tourism experiences currently available in-region; where they sit within the product development life-cycle; and which operators have capacity to evolve and innovate to meet market demand.
With this in mind, TNE has developed an Agritourism Industry Mapping project that identifies current and potential agri-tourism businesses within the High Country and Goulburn River Valley tourism areas. This project looks to:
● Identify current and emerging agri-tourism businesses within the specified destinations. ● Audit their current agri-tourism experiences. ● Understand their capacity to evolve and innovate their offering. ● Create a network of connected agri-tourism businesses that breaks down the silos that
currently exist between the growers, fair food movement and tourism. ● To build in-depth and trusted relationships with operators to ensure long term project
legacy.
This project will capture both traditional and non-traditional agri-tourism operators, with a focus on identifying those who are poised to activate a genuine agri-tourism product that both meets consumer expectations and have the ability to achieve cut-through in this rapidly emerging environment.
TNE has been successful in securing $20k from Hume RDA to deliver this $25k project, complemented by contributions from TNE and Goulburn River Valley Tourism. However, while this has been noted as an approved project, the funding agreement has not yet eventuated, so work on the initiative cannot commence. It is envisaged that the agreement will arrive in the fourth quarter.
7.7 Feast High Country and Winery Tourism Marketing Campaign TNE has been successful in securing $50k towards a $100k project for the development of a new regional food/drinks masterbrand (currently referred to as Feast High Country) and the delivery of an associated winery tourism campaign. This project received funding under the second round of the Wine Growth Fund, and supports the findings of the Winery Tourism and Cellar Door Research that TNE delivered under the first round of this fund. This project will include:
● The development of a new regional brand that represents one of the High Country’s key
product pillars – food/drinks. ● The development and launch of an integrated winery/cellar door marketing campaign
that utilises media channels and messaging that is of most relevance to key segments identified in the research.
● The creation and launch of a new website that will showcase the depth and breadth of the region’s winery and cellar door experiences, complemented by the High Country food offering. This site will act as a one-stop-shop for anyone looking to explore and access an experience in this space, and will also be the key call to action for the marketing campaign.
● The launch of social media channels (Facebook and Instagram) associated with the new brand and website.
In the third quarter, a PSG consisting of the key project funding partners was established to oversee the timely delivery of all project milestones. TNE also hosted a ‘Think Tank’ session with select industry members in this space to provide valuable insights to guide brand and campaign development. Discussions with the PSG and industry will inform the development of a creative brief for the creation of the food/wine master brand, which will be submitted to a designer at the start of the fourth quarter. The preferred brand concept will be finalised in the fourth quarter, which will be followed by the development of an associated website (by the end of the financial year) and the launch of the winery tourism campaign, scheduled for Spring 2018. 7.8 Kickstart Program The Kickstart program encourages operators to create new, high quality and collaborative tourism products for the High Country in areas which are known experience gaps. The 12-month program offers seed funding and structured workshop support to assist with the development of new products, and then provides the added boost required to heighten potential for market success for products in their infancy. This includes PR, marketing and business mentoring support for the following 12 months. The current program works through six key stages:
1. A workshop that covers an introduction to the Kickstart program, analyses future trends, provides an insight into each product involved in the program and the establishment of an agreed development path (with TNE and also collaborative partners).
2. A group session, where operators participating in the program ‘shark tank’ each other’s products, dissecting the strengths and weaknesses of each offering to drive best possible experience outcomes. This is complemented by PR and digital media training.
3. One-on-one, on-site mentoring sessions for each product, supported by the creation of an action plan and budget, and a brainstorm of solutions for specific product challenges.
4. The development of a product presentation that is reviewed by the broader Kickstart group, and finessed prior to final presentation.
5. Final presentation of the product to all LGA/RMB tourism partners and the TNE Team for incorporation into the regional offering.
6. TNE presentation of each product to the Visit Victoria international, product and famil teams.
It is expected that by the time the products are presented to the Visit Victoria team, they are either already launched or very close to it. They must be available for online bookings, have an image library, be open to PR famil support, have refined the delivery of the experience, have created promotional collateral, and have a marketing plan of their own ready for execution in line with the Spring TNE press release. The kickstart program for 2018 has already moved through stages one to three. The product development is of an excellent calibre from a very engaged group of professional, focussed and clear thinking operators who are working collaboratively and supportively with each other. The successful Kickstart submission being progressed for Indigo Shire is ‘A day in the life of a baker’ which features a partnership between Silvercreek Sourdough and Peddlar. The product commences at 7:30am at the Bakery, where the visitor works side-by-side with the baker to produce sourdough, from mixing and needing to proofing and baking. They will learn the science behind the loaf and share crumpets for breakfast before delivering the day’s fresh bread to Peddlar, where they will finish the experience with a local fare lunch (including the bread they produced) and a glass of wine for two. While this is a great product, the non-tourism focus of this ‘day to day’ food producer has made them challenging to work with, as they have not properly engaged in the Kickstart process (as per other operators in the program). If they do not adequately work through the Kickstart framework, then they will not receive the product funding that is key to this program. 7.9 High Country Brewery Trail The High Country Brewery trail is an offering that encourages visitors to disperse through the region by visiting its signature breweries. The trail currently consists of the following breweries, who all co-invest in the promotion of the offering:
● Black Dog ● Blizzard ● Bridge Road ● Bright ● Rutherglen ● Social Bandit ● Sweetwater ● King River Brewing
TNE is currently working with the Brewery Trail to add another three breweries to this group including Mitta Mitta brewery in Towong, Maltshed in Wangaratta and Wrong Side Brewery in Jamieson. As per this group’s rules of inclusion, this process will roll-out over the coming 6 months. In the third quarter, the High Country Brewery Trail members successfully collaborated in the delivery of the High Country Hops festival led by the Bridge Road Brewery. The group has now also had initial meetings with RDV around funding opportunities for business development which will be explored in the coming months. TNE is now looking at how the promotion of the brewery trail can be incorporated into the food/wine masterbrand currently in development, with a marketing program earmarked for 2018/19.
8. Cultural Tourism Research Cultural tourism is one of the largest and fastest-growing global tourism markets. Culture and creative industries are increasingly being used to promote destinations and enhance their competitiveness and attractiveness. Many locations are now actively developing their tangible and intangible cultural assets as a means of developing comparative advantages in an increasingly competitive tourism marketplace, and to create local distinctiveness in the face of globalisation. In order to capitalise on this trend, as well as grow the regional offering within the High Country’s Arts and Cultural Heritage pillar, TNE will deliver a cultural tourism research project that looks to identify the key consumer segments in the arts and cultural tourism sector, uncover insights that can inform future product development, and provide guidance for a relevant and motivating marketing and communications strategy for the region. More specifically, the research will look to determine:
● Key current and emerging segments in the cultural tourism sector ● Types of marketing messages likely to resonate by key segments ● Current perceptions of the cultural tourism offering in the High Country ● Awareness levels of the High Country as a cultural tourism destination ● How these levels of awareness compare to other tourism regions across Victoria,
including Melbourne and other regional destinations. In the third quarter, Quantum Marketing Research was engaged to deliver this project. A funding partner inception meeting was held in late March to seek input and discuss the research objectives. The questionnaire for the quantitative phase has been developed. This will be
followed by an exploratory qualitative phase where key segments of interest are recruited for in-depth interviews. This project is scheduled for finalisation by the end of June.
9. Digital 9.1 Regional Digital Platform Update The Regional Digital Platform (RDP) is the technology platform that underpins the High Country’s various destination websites. To ensure that this platform and the destination websites it supports perform optimally, TNE continues to introduce new functionality that assists with management, and customer usability and engagement. TNE has scoped a program for the 2017-18 financial year that will see the implementation of new functionality across the platform. During the third quarter, the first major update to the visual content authoring tool that supports all regional and destination websites was completed. The update provides for significant improvements in the speed of page editing and publishing, version control over page content and number of new content modules that will improve the user experience particularly for users on mobile devices. Platform security has been enhanced through the introduction of what is known as two-factor authentication, a technique used on some internet banking websites. This is primarily driven to reduce the risks associated with phishing and brute force attacks against TNE staff member accounts as these provides access to all websites on the platform. This functionality can also be activated for accounts for specific LGA/RMB partners should they choose to adopt a stricter password security model. 9.2 Destination Websites TNE hosts and provides technical support for the destination websites underpinned by the RDP, however the destination websites themselves are owned and managed by Council. This means that all decisions pertaining to content, imagery, site linkages and so on are controlled by Council, with the resulting performance of the site inherently linked to how they are managed. So, while TNE reports on the quarterly performance of the destination sites, it is not responsible for the results. The easy to reference dashboard reporting for Indigo Shire’s sites is as follows:
03/04/2018 TNE Digital Dashboard - Beechworth
https://datastudio.google.com/u/0/reporting/1RsLhi1s2ENJ6vG9NgomA4YWOzkQl8ee3/page/yPMJ 1/1
Sessions
20.0K 29.8%
Audience and Engagement (compared to previous year)
mobiledesktoptablet
47.2%
16.2%
36.7%
Sessions by device type
Page Views
56.7K 23.1%
Pages/Session
2.8 -5.1%
Digital Dashboard - Q3 2017-18:explorebeechworth.com.au
Page Views by page type(compared to previous year)
Page Title Page Views
1. Beechworth, Victoria - Official Travel Website 7,897
2. Beechworth, Victoria - Official Travel Website f… 4,546
3. Search things to do in Beechworth, Victoria 4,307
4. Search accommodation in Beechworth, Victoria 2,209
5. Woolshed Falls - Beechworth 1,797
6. Search festivals and events in Beechworth, Vi… 1,594
7. Beechworth Historic Park | Beechworth, Victoria 1,507
8. Eating out in Beechworth - restaurants, cafes, … 1,400
9. Beechworth Gorge Walk - Beechworth 1,258
10. Shopping in Beechworth | Beechworth, Victoria 1,199
▼
Top 10 pages Page Title Page Views
1. Woolshed Falls - Beechworth 1,797
2. Beechworth Gorge Walk - Beechworth 1,258
3. Mayday Hills - Beechworth 1,078
4. Lake Sambell - Beechworth 886
5. Opera in the Alps - Beechworth 687
6. Picnicking at The Gorge - Beechworth 635
7. Asylum Ghost Tours - Beechworth 587
8. Ned Kelly - Beechworth 533
9. HM Prison Beechworth - Beechworth 429
10. Beechworth Visitor Information Centre and Bo… 349
▼
Top 10 listings
Which channels are driving visitation?Goal: Engaged Users
Sessions Page Views
0 10K 20K 30K 40K 50K
Organic Search
Direct
Referral
Social
Home
13,242 1.6%
Editorial
20,765 -37.0%
Listings
22,011No Data
Search Engine Terms Ranked 1 to 5
Sessions Page Views
0 5K 10K 15K 20K 25K
mobile
desktop
tablet
Which devices are driving visitation?Goal: Engaged Users
Total Clicks
2,598No Data
CTR
12%
FY1617 - Q4 FY1718 - Q1 FY1718 - Q2FY1718 - Q3
0 80 160 240 320 400
Beech…Listings: Outbound Clicks & CTR
13/04/2018 Copy of TNE Digital Dashboard - Mansfield Mt Buller
https://datastudio.google.com/u/1/reporting/1MaJ8Tw0lMHUCUlAvuX5H5GB_WG6VJxZD/page/yPMJ 1/1
Sessions
712.0No Data
Audience and Engagement (compared to previous year)
desktopmobiletablet
13.1%
26.8%60.1%
Sessions by device type
Page Views
2.2KNo Data
Pages/Session
3.1No Data
Digital Dashboard - Q3 2017-18:explorechiltern.com.au
Page Views by page type(compared to previous year)
Page Title Page Views
1. Chiltern, Victoria - Official Travel and Tourism … 843
2. Search activities, tours and places to see 195
3. Accommodation Search 158
4. Enjoy a walk through the historic gold-mining … 123
5. Search Festivals and Events 116
6. Search - Places to Eat & Drink 74
7. Cycling in and around Chiltern and the Chiltern… 59
8. Antiques and shops in the historic gold-minin… 48
9. Food and wine in historic gold-mining town of … 39
10. Historic buildings and places in Chiltern bring … 39
▼
Top 10 pages Page Title Page Views
1. Chiltern-Mt Pilot National Park - Chiltern 31
2. Chiltern Cottage and Indigo Suite - Chiltern 27
3. Dow's Pharmacy - Chiltern 26
4. Chiltern Cancer Cruise - Car and Bike Show - C… 23
5. Road Riding | Chiltern | Barambogie | Ride Hig… 20
6. Chiltern Pro Rodeo - Chiltern 18
7. Chiltern Visitor Information Centre - Chiltern 17
8. Lake View House - Chiltern 16
9. Black Dog Olives - Chiltern 14
10. Magenta Mine Cycle Route - Chiltern 14
▼
Top 10 listings
Which channels are driving visitation?Goal: Engaged Users
Sessions Page Views
0 200 400 600 800 1K
Direct
Referral
Organic Search
Social
Home
838No Data
Editorial
1,064No Data
Listings
334No Data
Search Engine Terms Ranked 1 to 5
Sessions Page Views
0 320 640 960 1.3K 1.6K
desktop
mobile
tablet
Which devices are driving visitation?Goal: Engaged Users
Total Clicks
23No Data
CTR
7%
FY1617 - Q4 FY1718 - Q1 FY1718 - Q2FY1718 - Q3
0 1.2 2.4 3.6 4.8 6
ChilternListings: Outbound Clicks & CTR
03/04/2018 TNE Digital Dashboard - Rutherglen
https://datastudio.google.com/u/0/reporting/1IPylHKyKpe7acdBG9GqQdM15__8yW3n5/page/yPMJ 1/1
Sessions
18.6K -36.2%
Audience and Engagement (compared to previous year)
mobiledesktoptablet
45.7%
14.5%
39.8%
Sessions by device type
Page Views
51.0K -22.7%
Pages/Session
2.7 21.1%
Digital Dashboard - Q3 2017-18:explorerutherglen.com.au
Page Views by page type(compared to previous year)
Page Title Page Views
1. Rutherglen, Victoria - Office Travel and Touris… 6,909
2. Rutherglen Wineries | Rutherglen, Victoria 5,651
3. Search accommodation in Rutherglen, Victoria 3,290
4. Search festivals and events in Rutherglen, Vict… 2,344
5. Muscat of Rutherglen | Rutherglen, Victoria 1,912
6. Accommodation Search 1,582
7. Search things to do in Rutherglen, Victoria 898
8. Search - Places to Eat & Drink 850
9. Rutherglen Winery Tours | Rutherglen, Victoria 846
10. Camping in Rutherglen | Rutherglen, Victoria 765
▼
Top 10 pages Page Title Page Views
1. Rutherglen Farmers Market - Rutherglen 724
2. Grapevine Glamping - Rutherglen 584
3. Tuileries Rutherglen - Rutherglen 506
4. Stanton's Bend - Rutherglen 403
5. Rutherglen Winery Walkabout - Rutherglen 385
6. Lil Tipsy Tours - North East Regional Winery T… 358
7. Lake Moodemere - Rutherglen 347
8. Tastes of Rutherglen - Rutherglen 307
9. The Police Paddocks - Rutherglen 292
10. The Wicked Virgin and Calico Town Wines - Ru… 272
▼
Top 10 listings
Which channels are driving visitation?Goal: Engaged Users
Sessions Page Views
0 8K 16K 24K 32K 40K
Organic Search
Direct
Referral
Social
(Other)
Home
6,896 -36.4%
Editorial
26,771 -51.4%
Listings
16,832No Data
Search Engine Terms Ranked 1 to 5
Sessions Page Views
0 5K 10K 15K 20K 25K
mobile
desktop
tablet
Which devices are driving visitation?Goal: Engaged Users
Total Clicks
3,161No Data
CTR
19%
FY1617 - Q4 FY1718 - Q1 FY1718 - Q2FY1718 - Q3
0 80 160 240 320 400
Ruther…Listings: Outbound Clicks & CTR
03/04/2018 TNE Digital Dashboard - Yackandandah
https://datastudio.google.com/u/0/reporting/16pCJl39WNBfb0ol07EA40oh2z2oa_c7y/page/yPMJ 1/1
Sessions
7.1K 105.7%
Audience and Engagement (compared to previous year)
mobiledesktoptablet
47.2%
17.5%
35.3%
Sessions by device type
Page Views
18.3K 128.9%
Pages/Session
2.6 11.3%
Digital Dashboard - Q3 2017-18:exploreyackandandah.com.au
Page Views by page type(compared to previous year)
Page Title Page Views
1. Yackandandah, Victoria - Official Travel and To… 5,665
2. Yack Tracks | Yackandandah Mountain Bike Tr… 1,421
3. Walking Trails & Nature | Yackandandah, Victo… 1,095
4. Search activities, tours and places to see 869
5. Accommodation Search 783
6. Yackandandah Gorge Scenic Walk - Yackanda… 655
7. Search Festivals and Events 637
8. Allan's Flat Reserve - Yackandandah 593
9. Yackandandah Folk Festival - Yackandandah 519
10. Search - Places to Eat & Drink 504
▼
Top 10 pages Page Title Page Views
1. Yackandandah Gorge Scenic Walk - Yackanda… 249
2. Yackandandah Folk Festival - Yackandandah 220
3. Allan's Flat Reserve - Yackandandah 125
4. Yackandandah Gold Panning - Yackandandah 99
5. Saint Monday - Yackandandah 90
6. Schmidt's Strawberry Winery - Yackandandah 70
7. Yackandandah Lions Walk - Yackandandah 62
8. Diggers Loop (red arrows) - Yackandandah 58
9. Kokoda Loop (purple arrows) - Yackandandah 52
10. Carcass Canyon - Yackandandah 50
▼
Top 10 listings
Which channels are driving visitation?Goal: Engaged Users
Sessions Page Views
0 3K 6K 9K 12K 15K
Organic Search
Direct
Referral
Social
Home
5,664 145.0%
Editorial
8,072 42.5%
Listings
4,480No Data
Search Engine Terms Ranked 1 to 5
Sessions Page Views
0 1.5K 3K 4.5K 6K 7.5K
mobile
desktop
tablet
Which devices are driving visitation?Goal: Engaged Users
Total Clicks
298No Data
CTR
7%
FY1617 - Q4 FY1718 - Q1 FY1718 - Q2FY1718 - Q3
0 40 80 120 160 200
Yacka…Listings: Outbound Clicks & CTR
The Beechworth and Yackandandah sites have shown strong growth during the quarter. The ExploreChiltern.com.au website is building after its launch in December and currently has 175 search terms registered with Google, however low destination awareness and consequently traffic volumes means it will take some time before these rank highly. As covered in prior quarters, Rutherglen’s site visitation continues to decline. 9.3 Destination Website Digital Campaigns Indigo invests in digital campaigns that are designed to drive traffic to its own suite of websites. The following campaigns are currently underway:
Site Digital Campaign Focus Status
Explore Chiltern Destination Awareness Active, will run through to 30-June, but low destination awareness is resulting in low campaign activity.
Explore Yackandandah
Destination Awareness Active, will run through to 30-June, but low destination awareness is resulting in low campaign activity.
Explore Rutherglen Autumn Food and Wine Pending, campaign activates on 9-April once website autumn messaging is in place, featuring messaging around High Country Harvest and dining.
Explore Beechworth
Autumn Food and Wine Pending, campaign activity to commence 16-April once autumn website messaging is in place and post Easter/School holidays.
9.4 See High Country Social Media There has been a significant increase in See High Country Facebook metrics over quarter three. In particular, Facebook engagement rates have seen an overwhelming increase. This is a very good indication that content is being received positively, and the commentary indicates a strong intention to book a trip to the region. Slideshow based posts along with the start of popular autumnal content can be attributed to this burst. Boosting well performing posts has also proven advantageous, significantly increasing reach and engagement. It is the first time in months, the See High Country Instagram account has seen a net increase in the number of new followers. The ‘unfollows’, which have been seen over the past year, are still
happening as a result of systematic closing of inactive and spam accounts by Instagram. However, there has been great momentum in new followers to the account, which now has surpassed the amount of unfollows.
Objectives Metric KPI ACTUAL
Brand advocacy Engagement rate 3.94% 8.09%
Fan acquisition New pages likes increase 1.17% 2.29%
Objectives Metric KPI ACTUAL
Brand advocacy Engagement rate 2.95% 3.17%
Fan acquisition New followers 2.27% 2.89%
Some of the most popular user generated content from around the region for quarter three has been images and videos of walking and hiking, along with the early burst of autumn colours in late March. This has been reflected on the See High Country social media accounts. TNE is also happy to report social media shares on Tourism Australia and Visit Victoria Instagram accounts, with relevant accounts and hashtags being used. These shares provide a noticeable boost to those tagged in accounts (see examples below) reaching a significant consumer base. TNE strongly recommends LGA/RMB partners promote and encourage the use of their destination hashtags and accounts, along with the key tourism organisation assets (ie/ #seehighcountry #visitmelbourne #seeaustralia). This will only encourage more content, and increase the likelihood of share across @seehighcountry, @visitmelbourne and @australia.
Two of Indigo Shire’s hero events - Golden Horseshoe and Yackandandah Folk Festival - fell within quarter three, and were featured on the See High Country, along with typical summer landscape images. Yackandandah and Rutherglen were featured on Ride High Country, and received a high amount of engagement, but more importantly, received positive commentary about planning and booking holidays. The autumn leaves were just beginning to turn at the end of March, with the hope that more user generated content will be posted from the region.
10. PR
10.1 Media Famils PR efforts during quarter three continued to focus on targeted cycle-themed media famils in support of the overall Ride High Country Campaign, High Country getaways with a food & wine focus, and High Country Harvest. Multi-day media famil itineraries were created for:
- Voyeur magazine - journalist Andrew Bain explored a range of Ride High Country cycling opportunities for a story to publish during Spring/Summer 2018 including a Tour de Vines experience and a Stanley Loop road ride as well as food, wine & craft beer experiences in Beechworth and Stanley
- Fairfax Traveller - Belle Jackson explored the food, wine and accommodation offerings of
Rutherglen
- Time Out Melbourne - editor Cassie Knowlton previewed the High Country Hops Festival in Beechworth, explored the Historic Precinct and sampled food and wine experiences at Bridge Road Brewers, The Empire Hotel and accommodation at 1860
PR support was also arranged for a writer commissioned by Boiling Billy Press to produce content for a High Country Walking Guide. Quarter four media visits focusing on High Country Harvest have been arranged for:
- Melbourne Girl - digital magazine - Good Food Fairfax newspapers - Treadlie/Green magazine
10.2 Other PR activities High Country PR also included distribution of images, information and pitching story ideas to a range of media during this period, including:
● Distribution of advance High Country Harvest information to a range of long-lead publications for May
● 1 March distribution to all major media lists of High Country Harvest media release, images and video
● Assisting new Kickstart business operators with practical PR advice ● Ongoing liaison with Visit Victoria, providing copy, story ideas, images for Pieces of
Victoria/EDMs
