Tourism NT Annual Report 2016-17...Tourism NT Annual Report 2016-17 Tourism is an incredibly important economic driver for the Territory and through dedication and collaboration we

Tourism NT

Annual Report

2016-17

Tourism is an incredibly important economic driver for the Territory and through dedication and collaboration we have achieved visitor growth and industry progress.

About this report

This annual report identifies successes and outcomes achieved during 2016-17 against our strategic objectives as set out in Tourism Vision 2020: Northern Territory’s Strategy for Growth and outlines how effective we have been at achieving our goals over the past year, as articulated in our 2016-17 Operational Plan.

In accordance with section 28 of the NT Public Sector Employment and Management Act and section 12 of the Financial Management Act, this report provides information to Parliament (through the responsible Minister), Territorians and other interested parties about our primary functions and responsibilities, performance and significant activities, future business directions, and a summary of our financial performance undertaken during the year.

Further information about Tourism NT, and an electronic copy of this report, is available online at www.tourismnt.com.au

Visitor information about the Northern Territory can be obtained from our consumer website www.travelnt.com.au

© Northern Territory Government Cover images

Published November 2017 by Tourism 1 Enjoying sunset drinks at Kings NT, a statutory authority of the Creek Station Northern Territory Government. 2 Airboat on Outback Floatplane Adventure ISSN: 1835-1387 (Online) 3 Pyndan Camel Tracks tour

4 Painting at Uluru

1 2

3 4

www.travelnt.com.auwww.tourismnt.com.au

1

2

Contents

Transmittal Letter

01 Introduction 3 Chair and CEO Foreword 4 2016-17 Highlights 6 Key Output Reporting 10 Regional Snapshot 12

02 Our Organisation 14 About Tourism NT 15 Organisational Chart 16 Our Leadership Team 17

03 Our Performance 18 Grow Value 19 Address Supply Constraints 34 Improve the Visitor Experience 36 Improve Business Sustainability 40 Operational Sustainability 42

04 Corporate Governance 44 Board of Commissioners 45 Planning Framework 49

05 Financial Snapshot

Appendices06 52 Contact Us Inside back cover

Tourism NT Annual Report 2016-17

50

Tourism NT Annual Report 2016-17 Back to Contents page 2

Introduction01S E C T I O N

4 Chair and CEO Foreword 6 2016-17 Highlights 10 Key Output Reporting 12 Regional Snapshot

Back to Contents page Tourism NT Annual Report 2016-17 3

4 Tourism NT Annual Report 2016-17 Back to Contents page

01 Introduction From the Chair and CEO

M I C H A E L B R I D G E A L A S TA I R S H I E L D S

The Department of Tourism and Culture was formed in September 2016, and it brings together the former Departments of Sport and Recreation, Arts and Museums, Parks and Wildlife with Tourism NT, The Darwin Waterfront Corporation, Northern Territory Major Events Company and the Heritage Division from the former Department of Lands, Planning and Environment. The legal entity which is Tourism NT is unchanged, however a number of functions, such as Corporate and Secretariat have been centralised within the Department. In bringing these functions together, the Territory Government wishes to see a more streamlined, coordinated and integrated approach. This has created a number of opportunities to influence the development of new tourism product.

Tourism is an incredibly important economic driver for the Territory, with its share of the economy at five percent for direct Gross Value Added in 2015-16; the highest of all jurisdictions.

Another positive year in 2016-17 saw five percent growth in the total number of visitors for all purposes to the Northern Territory, and a total expenditure of $2.5 billion. Overall, there was a 5.7 percent of growth in holiday visitation across the Territory. Looking at the regional breakdown, Central Australia saw a 5.9 percent growth in combined domestic and international holiday visitation, while the Top End increased by just 2.0 percent. We acknowledge that there is a two-speed economy between the regions and endeavour to address this as a priority over the following year.

Tourism NT’s domestic marketing efforts saw continued success, launching the next phase of the highly successful ‘Do the NT’ campaign – ‘Stop Guessing, Start Doing’. This phase brought together the active imagery of ‘Do the NT’ and the urgency of ‘It’s about Time’ with a new element that highlights the value and variety of offerings in the NT.

5 Back to Contents page Tourism NT Annual Report 2016-17

Targeted brand campaigns focused on millennials, events and the highly anticipated second season of the Million Dollar Fish. Cooperative campaigns with distribution partners strengthened our brand activity, offering attractive sale fares, deals and packages.

Between the illuminating Parrtjima – A Festival in Light and the immersive installation Field of Light Uluru by internationally acclaimed artist Bruce Munro, Central Australia gained significant attention nationally and internationally, and saw a 12 percent increase in visitation. We are thrilled that both of these unique displays will continue in 2018.

Well on-track to achieve our Tourism Vision 2020 goal, initiatives were developed and implemented to support the future performance and longevity of the sector. The launch of a number of exciting projects enhanced business sustainability and our partnership approach with industry. The Digital Leap workshops saw 140 operators gain digital marketing skills, while over 100 updated their business listings through our Digital Assets Program. Our China Ready programs were also well received with over 40 businesses now accredited.

Building on our efforts to improve on-ground experiences for visitors, the free WiFi hotspot network was expanded. Further investment into infrastructure and experience development was stimulated by various tourism infrastructure grant programs and innovative strategic product initiatives. Robust engagement directly with airlines and in cooperation with partners has significantly advanced a new potential direct aviation link between Darwin and China.

While we have seen positive results this year there is no denying we face ongoing challenges. Aviation capacity, visitation from overseas markets, regional dispersal and Top End visitation continue to demand our attention. There is also the issue of the competitiveness and quality of the

Territory’s tourism experiences, which have seen little change over the past decade. Further to this, major projects in the Territory have a greater impact on our smaller communities and the challenge lies in balancing their impact as they near completion.

As the construction phase of the INPEX project nears completion we are beginning to see business travel expenditure contract. We are also anticipating an impact on the visiting friends and relatives (VFR) market. To ensure we remain on-track to achieve our 2020 targets our efforts are concentrated on boosting the holiday market.

Tourism NT remains dedicated to working with all key stakeholders to enhance the sector. Our strategic focuses going forward include: aviation route development, with specific attention on gaining direct flights from China; targeted domestic campaigns that leverage drawcard events in the Territory; working with industry to grow awareness of the Territory; and investment into nationally iconic tourism attractions, leveraging our strengths such as Aboriginal art and culture experiences, and military history.

Michael Bridge Chair

30 September 2017

Thank you to our Board Members for the strategic advice and direction, our team of staff for their dedication and professionalism, and the industry for their investment and perseverance in pursuit of our shared goals. It is important that we build on current momentum and continue to develop new, improved and innovative tourism products that meet increasingly sophisticated and demanding visitor expectations. We are confident that ongoing collaboration will see continued progress and success of tourism across the Territory.

Alastair Shields Chief Executive Officer

30 September 2017


01 Introduction 2016-17 Highlights

BILLION 2.49 MILLION 1.91 1,300 OVERNIGHT SPEND BY TRAVELLERS TOTAL VISITORS TO THE NT AVERAGE SPEND PER TRIP

+10 percent +5.0 percent +$60 per trip

7.0NIGHTS NEW MEASURABLE 2.1% 182 NT MARKET SHARE OF HOLIDAY VISITORS AVERAGE LENGTH OF STAY BUSINESS EVENT LEADS GENERATED

no change -0.1 nights +7 bids


17,300 JOBS CREATED BY TOURISM (2015-2016)

62,273 CRUISE SHIP PASSENGERS

-4.5 percent

47 CRUISE SHIP VISITS

+2 visits

2.06 MILLION 446,392 FACEBOOK FANS INBOUND AIRLINE SEATS

+2.2 percent +2.6 percent

184,000 9,089 INSTAGRAM FOLLOWERS ACCOMMODATION ROOM SUPPLY

+24 percent +36 rooms


01 Introduction

H I G H L I G H T S

Overnight visitor expenditure in the Northern Territory reached $2.5 billion, a 10 percent year on year increase, as a result of increased spend from both interstate and international travellers

Total overnight visitors grew by 5 percent to 1.9 million, which was slightly lower than the national result of 5.5 percent growth. As a result, visitor market share held steady at 1.9 percent

Total visitor nights were up by 3.3 percent to 13.3 million nights, resulting in an average length of stay of 7 nights

International visitors to the Northern Territory were estimated at 302 000. This 8.2 percent year on year increase shows early signs of recovery after the lows experienced in 2013

Domestic overnight visitors were up 4.4 percent to 1.6 million due to an increase in leisure travel (holiday and visiting friends and relatives) by interstate visitors

Earth Sanctuary World Nature Centre, Alice Springs


0.0

Mar

-08

Mar

-08

Jun-

08Ju

n-08

Sep

-08

Sep

-08

Dec

-08

Dec

-08

Mar

-09

Mar

-09

Combined (total) Domestic InternationalTotal visitor expenditure in the NT

Overnight visitor expenditure ($ billion)

2.6 2.5

2.4

2.2 2.0 2.0

1.8

1.6

1.4

1.2

1.0

0.8

0.6 0.5

0.4

0.2

Rolling annual (year ending)

Graphs derived by Tourism NT from Tourism Research Australia’s National and International Visitor Surveys, year ending June 2017 *Change in National Visitor Survey methodology from 2014 - domestic and combined estimates are not directly comparable to previous years

2,000 1,914

1,800 1,612

1,600

1,400

1,200

1,000

800

600

400 302

200

Jun-

09

Sep

-09

Rolling annual (year ending)

InternationalCombined (total) Domestic Total visitors to the NT

Overnight visitor numbers ('000s)

Jun-

09

Sep

-09

Dec

-09

Dec

-09

Mar

-10

Jun-

10

Sep

-10

Dec

-10

Mar

-11

Jun-

11

Sep

-11

Mar

-10

Jun-

10

Sep

-10

Dec

-10

Mar

-11

Jun-

11

Sep

-11

Dec

-11

Dec

-11

Mar

-12

Mar

-12

Jun-

12Ju

n-12

Sep

-12

Sep

-12

Dec

-12

Dec

-12

Mar

-13

Mar

-13

Jun-

13Ju

n-13

Sep

-13

Sep

-13

Dec

-13

Dec

-13

Mar

-14

Mar

-14

Jun-

14Ju

n-14

Sep

-14

Sep

-14

Dec

-14*

Dec

-14*

Mar

-15

Mar

-15

Jun-

15Ju

n-15

Sep

-15

Sep

-15

Dec

-15

Dec

-15

Mar

-16

Mar

-16

Jun-

16Ju

n-16

Sep

-16

Sep

-16

Dec

-16

Dec

-16

Mar

-17

Mar

-17

Jun-

17

Jun-

17

0


01 Introduction Key Output Reporting

In accordance with section 28 of the NT Public Sector Employment and Management Act, the following table provides an overview of our reporting against the output structure of Budget Paper 3, which lists all NT Government agency deliverables. Budget figures for the following year are typically set in the first quarter of a calendar year, well before actual results are known for the current year.

Key deliverables Budget 2016-17 Budget 2017-18

Budget Actual Budget

Holiday visitor expenditure

Domestic overnight $626 million $780 million $886 million

International $362 million $363 million $362 million

Holiday visitors

Domestic overnight 652,000 628,000 652,000

International 277,000 259,000 277,000

Holiday visitors to regions

Central Australia 453,000 461,000 N/A

Top End 500,000 523,000 N/A

Proportion of holiday visitors outsidethe peak season1 67% 62% N/A

Note: These budget measures have been discontinued as a result of the move of Tourism NT into the wider Department of Tourism and Culture.

KEY VARIATIONS Domestic results for holiday visitation and expenditure were better than estimated, up 8.5 percent and 25 percent respectively. When comparing actual results for 2016-17 to the previous year, the increase was due to more Australians holidaying in the Northern Territory rather than Territorians traveling locally. In particular, this growth came from our key target markets with more interstate holiday visitors aged 25-34 years and over 50 years.

International results for holiday expenditure were marginally higher than the budget estimate. Although the actual result for international holiday visitors fell short of the budget estimate of 259 000, this represented 8.6 percent growth on the year prior. Attracting international holiday visitors has been on ongoing challenge for the Northern Territory. Fewer travellers from the United Kingdom, France and Japan have been including the Territory on their holiday to Australia; however there has been a rise in holiday visitors from North America. Numbers from Greater China have also been growing but not at the same rates when compared to other Australian destinations with direct aviation services.

Combined domestic overnight and international results for holiday visitation in both the Top End and Central Australia were higher than the budget estimate. When comparing the year on year actual results however, there was only a small increase of 2.0 percent for the Top End due to a

reduction in intra-territory holiday travel which impacted on the overall domestic result. This was experienced across all three regions in the Top End as well (i.e. Darwin, Katherine Daly and Kakadu Arnhem). For the Central Australian area, the year on year change in actual results was more positive, up 5.9 percent. Even though there were fewer Territorians taking holidays, International holiday travel was stronger across all Northern Territory tourism regions.

REGIONAL HIGHLIGHTS Year on year growth from holiday visitors was mixed across the Northern Territory. In 2016-17, the Top End attracted more holiday visitors overall compared to Central Australia (59 percent compared to 52 percent respectably). This was expected given the largest volume of holiday travel comes from the domestic market, which demonstrates a stronger preference for taking holidays in the Top End. In contrast, Central Australia is more popular with overseas markets.

1 Figures do not add to 100% as visitors can travel to more than one region during the trip.


Bitter Springs, Elsey National Park


01 Introduction Regional Snapshot

Holiday visitors to NT Tourism Regions by Origin

204,000

GREATER DARWIN

K AK ADU

ALICE SPRINGS AND MACDONNELL

BARKLY

K ATHERINE DALY

ARNHEM

106,000 99,000

Inte

rsta

te

Intra

-Ter

ritor

y

K ATH ERI NE DALY

GREATER DARWIN

Inte

rnat

iona

l In

tern

atio

nal

Inte

rnat

iona

l

Inte

rsta

te

81,000

57,000

Intra

-Ter

ritor

y 42,000

Inte

rsta

te

64,000

35,000 L ASSETER

(ULURU)

Intra

-Ter

ritor

y

18,000

K AK ADU ARNHEM


Nitmiluk National Park, Katherine Daly 40,000

Inte

rsta

te

Intra

-Ter

ritor

y 17,000

Inte

rnat

iona

l

BARKLY

Inte

rnat

iona

l

6,000

117,000 114,000

Inte

rsta

te

Intra

-Ter

ritor

y

34,000

George Brown Botanic Gardens, Greater Darwin

ALICE SPRINGS AND MACDONNELL

166,000

143,000

Inte

rsta

te

Inte

rnat

iona

l

Intra

-Ter

ritor

y

18,000

L ASSETER (ULURU)

Rainbow Valley, Alice Springs and MacDonnell

Our organisation02S E C T I O N

10 About Tourism NT 10 WHO WE ARE 10 WHAT WE DO 10 WHO WE WORK WITH 11 OUR VISION 11 OUR GOALS 11 OUR VALUES

12 Organisational chart13 Our divisions & executive team14 Our people 14 HIGHLIGHTS / SNAPSHOT 14 OVERVIEW 15 WHAT WE DID 18 WHS 18 FUTURE INITIATIVES

--

02S E C T I O N Our Organisation

15 About Tourism NT WHO WE ARE OUR VISION WHO WE WORK WITH WHAT WE DO

16 Organisational Chart 17 Our Leadership Team

1414 TToouurriissmm NNTT AAnnnnuuaal Rl Reeppoorrt 2t 2001166 1177 BBaacck tk to Co Coonntteenntts ps paaggee


About Tourism NT

Grow value

OUR VISION Our vision is to grow the visitor economy in the NT to $2.2 billion by 2020 as measured by overnight visitor expenditure.

There are four strategic requirements listed in the Tourism Vision 2020: Northern Territory’s Strategy for Growth to be addressed in order to achieve this vision: grow value, address supply constraints, improve visitor experience, and improve business sustainability.

WHO WE ARE Tourism NT is a statutory authority constituted by the NT Government under the Tourism NT Act 2012, responsible for:

• Marketing the Territory as a desirable visitor destination

• Encouraging and facilitating the sustainable growth of the tourism industry in the Territory

• Advising the Minister on all matters relating to tourism in the Territory.

Tourism NT operates as a division of the Department of Tourism and Culture. We are governed by a Board of Commissioners who report to and advise the Minister for Tourism and Culture.

Improvevisitor

experience

WHO WE WORK WITH We work with these key stakeholders and partners:

• The NT tourism industry, to market the Territory interstate and overseas as a visitor destination and to facilitate appropriate tourism development.

• The travel industry, to influence and coordinate partnerships that facilitate distribution of the Territory’s tourism product through wholesalers and retail agents.

• The Northern Territory Government, through the Minister for Tourism and Culture, by providing policy and other advice.

• The Board of Commissioners, on strategic issues facing the Northern Territory’s tourism industry.

• Regional Tourism Organisations – Tourism Top End and Tourism Central Australia – to create opportunities for their members, and ensure consistent branding and messaging that attracts visitors to ‘Do the NT’.

VISITOR ECONOMY

BILLIO

N 2.2

2020 TARGET Improvebusiness sustainability

Address supplyconstraints

WHAT WE DO Our activities are guided by Tourism Vision 2020: Northern Territory’s Strategy for Growth which details a partnership approach between Tourism NT, government and industry to collaborate and achieve this vision. Tourism Vision 2020 recognises the value of the whole visitor economy — that is, all visitors who come to the Territory for leisure, business events, corporate travel, to visit friends and relatives and other purposes — to the tourism sector. We are charged with leading delivery of this vision; and, as a marketing agency rather than a regulatory body, we have the particular responsibility of growing the holiday and business events markets.

16

Our organisation

02 Our organisation Organisational Chart As at 30 June 2017

Guiding our strategic direction and objectives are the Minister for Tourism and Culture, the Hon. Lauren Moss MLA, and the Board of Commissioners chaired by Michael Bridge. The Chief Executive Officer is responsible for implementing the strategic direction set by the Board and managing our day-to-day operational, administrative and marketing functions. Tourism NT comprises three key operational areas as detailed in the organisational chart below.

MINISTER FOR TOURISM Hon Lauren Moss MLA

BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER Alastair Shields

Marketing Solutions Angus McLean

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Angela Collard NT Convention Bureau

MARKETING General Manager Jo Smallacombe

DESTINATION DEVELOPMENT General Manager

Valerie Smith

CENTRAL AUSTRALIA General Manager

John Di Maria

Destination Development - Top End Tony Clementson

Domestic Operations Suzanne Morgan

Strategic Research Kirstin Hannan

Destination Development- Central Stuart Ord

International Operations Robert Crack

Investment Attraction Daryl Hudson

TToouurriissmm NNTT AAnnnnuuaal Rl Reeppoorrt 2t 2001166--1177 Back to Contents page

Our Leadership Team As at 30 June 2017

C H I E F E X E C U T I V E O F F I C E R

E X E C U T I V E D I R E C T O R

A / G E N E R A L M A N A G E R M A R K E T I N G

Alastair Shields Alastair was appointed Chief Executive Officer of the Department of Tourism and Culture in September 2016. Prior to that Alastair was Chief Executive Officer of the Department of Land Resource Management from March 2015, and he acted as Chief Executive Officer of the Department of Business during 2014. Alastair was born and educated in Darwin and has more than 35 years of public sector experience in the Northern Territory, most of it at the Northern Territory Department of the Attorney General and Justice and its predecessors. He has substantial experience in the negotiation of agreements, including Indigenous Land Use Agreements, and agreements concerning Aboriginal land under the Commonwealth Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act, and the Native Title Act. He was part of the negotiating team that established a number of joint management arrangements for Northern Territory Parks. Alastair has also been involved in commercial negotiations for major projects in the Northern Territory, such as the North East Gas Interconnector (NEGI) Project, long term lease of the East Arm Port, the AustralAsia Railway, Darwin City Waterfront and the Marine Supply Base. He has qualifications in Law and Accounting, and a Masters Public Administration. He is the Chair of the AustralAsia Railway Corporation.

Angela Collard Angela was appointed Executive Director of the tourism division of the Department of Tourism and Culture in September 2016. Angela provided strong guidance and strategic leadership for the division and was integral in overseeing the transition of Tourism NT into the Department of Tourism and Culture. Territory born and raised, Angela has over 30 years’ experience in within the NT public sector, predominantly in tourism, and holds a Master of Business Administration (Executive) from RMIT.

G E N E R A L M A N A G E R D E S T I N AT I O N D E V E L O P M E N T

Valerie Smith Valerie has nearly 20 years’ experience within Tourism NT. She has held a variety of roles, including Ministerial Advisor, and with her strong background in evidence-based strategic planning, has led strategic development and research teams and championed tourism priorities. Valerie has also been an independent consultant with a focus on strategic market research and insights and is a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Jo Smallacombe Jo has extensive experience in marketing and communications across a number of industries within government and private sectors, both locally and internationally. Jo led the whole-of-government marketing function for the NT Government from 2014 to 2016 before joining Tourism NT for six months as Acting General Manager Marketing in January 2017.

G E N E R A L M A N A G E R C E N T R A L A U S T R A L I A

John Di Maria John started out in hospitality before progressing to Qantas management in Central Australia. John has worked in a range of leadership roles across Tourism NT for more than 18 years including as General Manager of Territory Discoveries from 2010 to 2014. As the General Manager for Central Australia he maintains a close relationship with industry through partnerships with the regional tourism organisations and specialist destination development.

Back to Contents page TToouurriissmm NNTT AAnnnnuuaal Rl Reeppoorrt 2t 2001166--1177 17

18

Our Performance

-

03S E C T I O N

19 Grow Value 34 Address Supply Constraints 36 Improve the Visitor Experience 40 Improve Business Sustainability 42 Operational Sustainability

Tourism NT Annual Report 2016 17 Back to Contents page


Grow Value

H I G H L I G H T S

Total visitors grew by 5 percent to 1.9 million

Total expenditure was $2.5 billion, up 10 percent, as a result of increased spend across domestic and international visitation

Domestic and international holiday visitors saw growth of 5.7 percent

Exceeded our business events bids target.

This year we achieved an overnight visitor expenditure of $2.5 billion, which exceeds the growth target set in our 2020 vision; but, to continue to achieve and exceed year-on-year targets there is still work to do. We are constantly monitoring and improving our approach to employ innovative market growth strategies that effectively increase visitor numbers, attract visitors that stay longer and spend more, encourage repeat visitation, encourage regional dispersal and address seasonality.

S T R AT E G Y

Increase the desirability of the NT as a travel destination, inspiring more people to visit, stay longer and spend more.

BRAND CAMPAIGNS We continued creating awareness in the Australian domestic market of the ‘Do the NT’ brand, building on significance groundwork laid in previous years. With a focus on our core target market of those aged 50 - 64 years, we promoted travel to the NT through bursts of activity in September, February and May across broadcast media, digital content partnerships, outdoor advertising and online advertising. The campaigns used the existing ‘Do the NT’ messaging but also highlighted that there is more to do in the Northern Territory than you think with the “Stop Guessing, Start Doing” tagline and new creative. Trade partners for the campaign included Qantas, Flight Centre and Wotif, who provided incentives to travel now with Red Centre and Top End travel packages.

These campaigns maintained the number of Australians open and intending to visit the NT through the year, and achieved a significant increase in unprompted awareness for the NT measured over the period. Feedback collected from those who saw our ads were that they were believable, told them something new about the NT and peaked their interest in the NT. When a partner was included, the advertising also delivered the message of ‘makes me want to go to the NT now’.

Some key campaigns were:

Phase 9 of ‘It’s About Time…Do the NT’, which created a sense of urgency, advising consumers that ‘It’s About Time’ they booked a holiday to the Territory using humour and irreverence. This campaign included the new ‘Stop Guessing, Start Doing’ television commercial and incorporated a trade partner sale fare to drive conversion. The campaign was recognised at the 2017 Australian Tourism Exchange in Sydney, winning ‘Destination Campaign of the Year’ at the Expedia Media Solutions 2017 APAC Partner Awards. Leveraging the exposure, the advertising was expanded online and outdoors across the country in June.

Our Summer Well Spent campaign, which promoted travel to the Territory over the December to January period showcased what’s on offer in the Territory over the traditional east coast summer holiday season. Aimed at young families, the campaign was supported by travel deals from hotels.com and Webjet to encourage them to make the most of the low season specials.

http:hotels.com

20

03 Our Grow Value Performance

COOPERATIVE MARKETING CAMPAIGNS We work with cooperative partners domestically and internationally to encourage consumers to book their travel and visit the NT. Our cooperative partners this year included Silk Air/ Singapore Airlines, Philippine Airlines, Jetstar Asia, Indonesia Air Asia, Malaysia Airlines, Jetstar Airways, Virgin Airlines, Flight Centre, Expedia/Wotif Group, AAT Kings, Territory Discoveries, Webjet, Apollo and Thrifty/ Hertz.

Our campaigns during 2016-17 were increasingly concentrated on times of the year where people ‘look and book’. Domestically we worked with 17 partners to produce 32 cooperative campaigns that ran throughout the year and delivered year on year growth. The final quarter campaign, which ran from 30 May to 15 July, achieved 18 percent growth in passengers and 23 percent growth in room nights.

Designed to leverage awareness generated through the broader NT brand campaigns in market, these (largely) digital activities

were highly tactical and targeted, drove conversion, increased people’s desire to visit the Northern Territory and have enabled us to build our own consumer databases for future promotion.

Internationally, in addition to an “always-on” approach to consumer campaigns via global programmatic and TripAdvisor, we executed 55 cooperative campaigns in Western markets and 34 cooperative campaigns in Eastern markets. We worked with 50 key distribution partners including Qantas Vacations, Expedia, Priceline, Flight Centre, TUI, Virtuoso, CTrip and Singapore Airlines on these campaigns, which resulted in 8.6 percent growth in international holiday travellers to the NT and an increase of 9.9 percent international visitor nights.

PUTTING THE PRODUCT FIRST We worked side-by-side with industry to promote the Territory as the destination of choice. Consumers and travel trade were directly connected with NT product at both consumer and travel trade events using

impactful activations to evoke the Territory’s uniqueness and colourful nature (see case study on page 21).

Some of these key events included:

• Australian Tourism Exchange (ATE), Australia’s largest annual travel and tourism business-to-business event, which hosted 31 NT tourism businesses.

• NT Muster, the annual domestic trade roadshow, held in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane that showcased NT products, experiences and destinations to hundreds of key online, retail and wholesale travel agents.

• Backpack the Outback Roadshow visited Sydney, Byron Bay, Melbourne and Cairns. The roadshow, which is an excellent platform for NT tourism operators in the backpacker/ youth adventure sector to promote their product to travel agent hubs on the East Coast. Nine NT operators participated in the roadshow with approximately 200 agents attending the events.

Tourism operators at the Brisbane 4x4 Outdoors, Fishing and Boating Expo


21

Case Study Brisbane Airport takeover with Virgin Australia

Partnering with Virgin Australia, we staged a major takeover of Brisbane Airport from 20 March to 15 May 2017. Humorous advertising was placed in the Virgin Australia domestic terminal at the airport, and in 21 prime outdoor placements across Brisbane.

The placements featured stunning images of Top End landscapes and

adventures, combined with special sale fares from Brisbane to Darwin. They used the cheeky tone of the NT brand to reflect travellers’ journey from check in to boarding the aircraft.

They invited the traveller to park themselves on an infinity pool at Gunlom, rather than at the airport carpark; or to imagine they were walking through the escarpment landscape of Ubirr, while walking through an aerobridge.

The Virgin sale fares were also promoted at the Brisbane 4x4 Outdoors, Fishing and Boating Expo where sixteen operators took the opportunity to promote the destination and their own products to potential visitors. Our creative use of live entertainment, NT-inspired food samples, Aboriginal art workshops and animal handling displays, the NT won Best Outdoor Stand of the show, successfully complementing the Brisbane takeover.

Advertising placements in Brisbane Airport

Back to Contents page TToouurriissmm NNTT AAnnnnuuaal Rl Reeppoorrt 2t 2001166--1177

22

03 Our Grow ValuePerformance

Case Study Do it the Hayden Way

This year, we worked with Matt Hayden, former Australian test cricketer, to create content for our annual drive market campaign. Matt Hayden and his family were filmed as they toured the NT from Uluru to Darwin, via Kakadu, to create a series of videos and library of images and articles to inspire Australian families to visit the Territory for their next drive holiday.

An integrated media buy, including editorial and advertising, provided the context for the ‘Do it the Hayden Way’ message used across print, digital, social and programmatic platforms. We provided information to show our target market of 30-49 years with children how they could create lasting memories on an NT holiday.

The important 55+ active seniors market was not forgotten, as they were targeted with 20 percent of media buy including specialised print to help them join the dots on planning their Territory drive adventure.

The drive pages on northernterritory. com were refreshed and additional campaign landing pages created to showcase the rich content, articles and videos of the Hayden Way. Over the campaign period of February to June 2017, the landing page received 82,120 visits from potential NT visitors and was the second most popular page after the home page.

The media buy achieved 18.8 million impressions and generated 154,000 clicks. Almost 2,500 itineraries were downloaded from our website, illustrating that we successfully engaged travellers and helped them plan their journey to the NT.

‘Do it the Hayden Way’ advertising in drive publications

Matt Hayden and his family rugged up to view Uluru at sunrise -Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park


23

CREATING NT ADVOCATES We brought trade to the Territory on familiarisations (famils) to experience the NT and our product first hand. Some key famils included:

• 43 domestic travel agents visited Darwin to meet with NT tourism industry at the NT Round Up workshops, with a pre-famil of the Top End.

• Following the Backpack the Outback Roadshow, we hosted post-famils in the Top End and Red Centre for 30 agents who attended the events.

• Inbound NT saw 45 inbound tour operators visit Darwin to meet with NT tourism operators on 19 September 2016. Following the event, we hosted three post-famils around the Top End.

• Corroboree Asia brought 26 buyers from Greater China to the NT to gain firsthand experience and knowledge of NT tourism products across two famils focusing on the Top End and Centre.

• As part of Virtuoso’s Travel Week Australia, we supported a famil for agents from the USA and Canada to experience the Red Centre.

• After attending the Australian Tourism Exchange event in Sydney, we invited six agents from Italy to participate in a famil in the Top End, visiting attractions in Katherine, Litchfield and Kakadu National Parks.

• Five buyers from Japan participated in a famil of the Top End, visiting Darwin and Kakadu to meet industry and experience the diverse tourism products on offer.

BRAND SPONSORSHIPS We revised our sponsorships approach this year to elicit the best value for both the corporate business events sector and the leisure market. All our sponsorships are guided by the objectives to:

• Increase awareness of the NT as a holiday and/ or business events destination.

• Capitalise on the sponsor networks through direct engagement to drive bookings and visitation to the NT.

• Identify business event opportunities and leads through third party communities.

• Leverage the sponsor’s visibility to create advocacy and ‘talkability’ for the NT in the form of traditional press activity, social media campaigns, or through sponsors own trusted events, activations and related activity.

We have a continued sponsorship agreement with the Melbourne Football Club to promote the Territory through branding on the club’s website, media backdrops and logo exposure (see case study on page 23).

Additionally, this year we partnered with Flow Mountain Bike to produce a multi-part video and editorial series, ‘Ride the Red Centre’. The marketing activity supported the wider strategy to position and market the NT as Australia’s adventure riding mecca as outlined in the Master Plan for Mountain Biking in the Northern Territory.

Case Study Melbourne Football Club

The Melbourne Football Club MFC provides a platform to promote holidays and business events in the NT to their high end membership of nearly 40,000 people. Through this sponsorship we received:

• Brand exposure, association and recognition such as Territory branding on the MFC website, media backdrop and logo exposure

• Activation of MFC’s premiere match day events (Chairman’s Club), with NT branded content, attended by nearly 200 VIP members

• Digital promotion of Territory travel packages to encourage fans to travel to the NT around Melbourne Demons matches in Darwin and Alice Springs, providing a strong economic boost to key regions

• Dual branded digital vignettes using MFC players as hero talent and content focussing on the quirkiness of the NT with the tagline ‘Come and play in Australia’s Midfield’. These were pushed out from our social media account MFC connections through Facebook, with a direct ‘Book Now’ call-to-action to relevant destination content and Intrepid packages

• Databases generated through ‘win a trip to the NT’ promotions, to promote additional Territory travel content to interested consumers

• Digital advertising on the MFC official website

• Opportunities to communicate with the MFC business communities and fan network to promote various business events and consumer campaigns

• Social media takeover in the lead-up and during games to integrate NT messaging, reaching the MFC’s more than 130,000 Facebook fans.

Now in its fourth year of partnership activity, MFC fans are comfortable with the association between the NT and the club. The key messaging in this year’s campaign was for Melbourne Football fans to ‘Come and Play in Australia’s Midfield’. Creative material highlighted the multitude of activities that are available in the NT through vibrant, active images and video featuring the target market.

The ‘Come and Play in Australia’s Midfield’ campaign included AFL travel packages to Alice Springs and Darwin with the objective of selling MFC hosted trips to the game and giving their members a tangible idea of price and product. This year, the sponsorship generated a total of 105 tracked travel packages sold around MFC games played in both Alice Springs and Darwin. Based on average expenditure patterns this would have generated an estimated $147, 000 in visitor spend in the Territory.

An example of the image post used during the ‘Come and Play in Australia’s Midfield’ campaign.


24

Our Performance03

Grow Value

GETTING NT MESSAGES OUT Public relations activity included media familiarisations, campaign amplification and an ongoing media press office. These activities increased awareness of the NT and heightened advocacy for the destination among media and consumers alike. Highlights included:

• A robust military heritage campaign, that showcased the best of the Territory’s history-related experiences, leveraging a new product launch and the 75th anniversary of the Bombing of Darwin. This included engaging historical writer Peter FitzSimons as an ambassador, which led to five national interviews with the likes of the Today Show and The Huffington Post; achieving a reach of 6.7 million. It also saw us mark the opening of the Royal Flying Doctor Service Darwin Tourism Facility via seven national weather crosses with leading breakfast news program, Sunrise.

• Supporting activity for our Million Dollar Fish competition included an ongoing media press office, broadcast and print media familiarisations, and ambassadorships with cricket legend Matthew Hayden and famous fisho and TV personality, Al McGlashan.

• Complementary activity for the inaugural Parrtjima – A Festival in Light event in Alice Springs. This included securing Today Show co-host Lisa Wilkinson, a former Tourism NT ambassador, as host, and assisting with a group media famil.

• Working with HelloWorld, we negotiated a broadcast opportunity for the Red Centre with Weekend Today, where the crew visited Uluru and Kings Canyon, encouraging regional dispersal.

• Highlighting the NT’s growing foodie offering, famils with TV show My Market Kitchen and Delicious magazine covered both the Top End and Red Centre products and experiences.

• In partnership with InStyle China, Darwin starred as the backdrop on a major fashion shoot that included a double cover featuring Taiwanese actor, Chang Chen. The special Northern-Territory addition also included a Top End fashion spread with Australian Victoria’s Secret Model, Shanina Sheik.

• In collaboration with Tourism Australia, the NT’s Top End featured in two episodes of UK television series ’48 Hours in Wild Australia with Ray Mears’. Ray Mears is recognised throughout the world as an authority on bushcraft and survival. The first series aired in May 2016 with an average of 3 million viewers per week.

My Market Kitchen InStyle magazine cover


25

S T R AT E G Y

Work with Tourism Australia and gateway destinations to maximise our investment in identified priority international markets, with a focus on growing the NT’s share of high growth Eastern markets.

MARKET: CENTRAL EUROPE NT OPERATOR ROADSHOW To maximise the NT Government’s continued investment to attract European visitors we incentivised operator participation in an NT European Mission 2017 ensuring they could promote their products to travel trade first hand.

Twelve NT product representatives attended the world’s largest travel trade fair, Internationale Tourismus-Börse Berlin (ITB) 2017 — Intrepid, Wayoutback, Outback Ballooning, SEIT, Outback Tour Services, Kakadu Tourism, Kakadu Cultural Tours, Kakadu and Uluru (Parks Australia), Voyages Indigenous Tourism Australia, the Royal Flying Doctor Service, Uluru Camel Tours and Venture North. This was further supplemented by the presence of other major NT tourism suppliers, including AAT

Kings, THL and Sealink, also being present within the Australian stand. Our CEO, Alastair Shields, also attended ITB 2017 and conducted a range of strategic meetings with key trade and airline partners.

Following ITB 2017, we conducted a three day roadshow with workshops held in Zürich, Stuttgart and Munich in conjunction with nine industry partners. Attendees of the workshops consisted of product managers

and travel agents of key wholesalers, direct sellers and Aussie Specialist retail travel agencies, as well as travel trade media representatives.

The attendance and quality of the participants was excellent. Subsequently, the majority of participating operators said that the 2017 Central Europe Mission was the most successful NT operator mission yet.

Alastair Shields - CEO Department of Tourism and Culture, Tourism NT representatives and NT operators and the Outback Pub/ Australia Stand, ITB, Berlin

MARKET: GLOBAL WORKING HOLIDAY MAKER VIDEOS AND WEB PAGES We undertook a search for backpackers on their first or second year working holiday visa (and who had fallen in love with the Northern Territory) to feature in promotional videos designed to encourage more international visitors to take a working holiday in the NT.

Candidates sent a short introduction video stating their name, country of residence, type of working holiday visa (first or second year), place of work and why they love the Territory. Entries were assessed, film shot in Alice Springs, Darwin and Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park and the finalists featured in a series of video vignettes in one-on-one interview style.

The videos depict social interactions between backpackers, nightlife hotspots, activities such as swimming in waterholes, enjoying open fires, camping, touring, and self-drive adventures. The videos are promoted through programmatic media, key distribution partner channels and are also featured on a dedicated webpage targeting prospective working holiday makers in the UK, Canada, Germany, Italy, France and Asia (Taiwan/ South Korea/ Hong Kong).

northernterritory.com/plan/working-holidays


26

Our Performance03

Grow Value

German version of the new NT Australia Airpass - Flugpass Optionen

MARKET: GLOBAL NT AUSTRALIA GLOBAL AIRPASSES A special airfare product was launched in 2016, that allows international visitors to book multiple flights within Australia at discounted rates not available to Australian residents. NT Australia Airpasses offer international travellers

more value for money and make adding the NT to an Australian itinerary affordable, convenient and flexible -provided they purchase their Airpass before they depart from their country of origin. Since launching the Airpass option we have seen our second and third consecutive quarters of international visitor growth.

TripAdvisor marketing

MARKET: GLOBAL TRIPADVISOR PARTNERSHIP – ADD ON THE NT Working with key global distribution partner TripAdvisor, we reinforced the message that the Northern Territory is an easily accessible international destination. We focused on the message that flying direct to Darwin offers the shortest flying time to Australia from Europe, barrier busting the negative perceptions about time and distance. We promoted flights to the Red Centre via another east coast gateway with the ‘Add on the NT’ message. The partnership ran from September 2016 until June 2017.

We used iconic NT imagery in campaign creative to inspire people to ‘add on the NT’ to an Australian or South East Asian holiday aimed at customers researching or actively booking elements of their overseas holiday.

The partnership included a mix of digital media throughout TripAdvisor sites globally; this included static banner ads, hero landing page sponsorship, dynamic ads, sponsorship of the Northern Territory destination pages and education workshops for industry. We also utilised our own digital and social channels.

Due to the ongoing success of the TripAdvisor partnership, this approach will remain a cornerstone of our global activity in 2017-18. We will continue to leverage the global positioning, ‘Your Australian story is not complete until you’ve done the NT’, and promote NT Australia Airpasses to encourage more international visitors to ‘Add On The NT’ to their Australian or South East Asian holiday.


27

Case Study China Market

We continued our focus on the emerging market, Greater China (China, Taiwan and Hong Kong), with efforts delivering very strong results. Visitation by this important market was up 49 percent year on year, to 18,000.

Our most successful Chinese trade campaign to date ran from November 2016 to April 2017 with partners Tourism Australia and China’s leading online travel agent, Ctrip. The digital ‘always on’ activity targeted self-drive travellers via: popular radio DJs, private car owners’ clubs, Sina Weibo and WeChat social media, information content aggregation platform Toutiao, online video platform iQiyi and Zhejiang radio station FM107. Over 1300 bookings were made following the campaign activity.

The Northern Territory was awarded ‘The Best International Potential Destination 2016’ in the ‘Top Spots’ category of the China Travellers’ Forum, held annually in conjunction with Ctrip. Votes for the ‘Top Spots’ category were cast by over seven million consumers via Ctrip, Qunar and eLong platforms over three months and is testament to the progress made in growing awareness of the Northern Territory in the Greater China market.

Ctrip website landing page

Jumping croc installation and floor decal at Dhoby Ghaut MRT Station

MARKET: SINGAPORE #JETSTAR2DARWIN In June-July 2016 a collaborative digital, social media and out-of-home campaign with Jetstar Asia was launched. The #Jetstar2Darwin Jumping Crocodile Campaign encouraged Singaporeans to ‘Discover Darwin’ through sale airfares. A competition was run at Dhoby Ghaut MRT Station where people could engage with the jumping croc installation and floor decal and then upload photos to social media platform Instagram to win flights to Darwin.

Over the four week campaign 875 seats to Darwin were booked, representing 181 percent growth when compared to the same period in 2015. Further, these 875 seats grew holiday visitation to the NT from the Singapore Market by approximately 42 percent year on year.

MARKET: NORTH AMERICA YOU HAVEN’T BEEN DOWNUNDER TILL YOU’VE BEEN OUTBACK We launched a campaign with the tagline ‘You Haven’t Been Downunder Till You’ve Been Outback’ to attract more visitors from the US market. Research indicated that while numbers of North American travellers to Australia were increasing, they were not considering visiting the Northern Territory. The campaign was targeted potential visitors in the consideration and planning phase of their holiday and increase bookings to the NT. The central message was that no trip to Australia is complete without a visit to the Northern Territory.

Media was selected based on ability to achieve visibility and conversion, and included video and programmatic targeting techniques. Tactical partnerships were developed with travel wholesalers, airline partners and online travel agents to capture

leads. The campaign delivered 42 million media impressions across content articles, brand videos and banner displays and contributed to a 10 percent growth in visitor numbers from the US. Downunder Outback marketing


28

Our Performance03

Grow Value

MARKET: UNITED KINGDOM OCEANS TO OUTBACK We continued to work with the South Australian Tourism Commission (SATC) on a number of key marketing initiatives in European markets. Joint campaign and media initiatives included the ‘Oceans to Outback’ campaign in partnership with Singapore Airlines and Trailfinders, which aimed to position the Northern Territory’s experiences as complementary to those in South Australia and highlight our domestic connectivity via air, rail and self-drive options.

National Geographic Traveller explored the culture, wildlife, heritage, landscapes and food that render both South Australia and the Northern Territory unique among Australian destinations. The print and digital campaign included a 36-page, full colour print supplement with digital and iPad versions, and online content hub featuring bespoke editorial. An external digital media buy drove online traffic to the National Geographic hub.

The ‘Oceans to Outback’ campaign resulted in an increase in bookings and a good uptake of packages from our trade partners for travel to the NT.

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS EVENTS Our focus on growing international business events is to target key markets in our region and leverage key partnerships, including Business Events Australia, to provide information on our competitive business events offering.

We participated in the Business Events Australia Greater China Showcase in Chengdu in April where we connected with over 70 corporate planners and incentive agents to encourage consideration of the Northern Territory for their business events. We continued the momentum with this target audience by welcoming eight corporate planners from China to Darwin in May. Over three days, we delivered a unique incentive program that could be replicated by the planners when bringing their incentives back to Darwin and included key infrastructure appropriate for the quality and calibre of the intended audience. We also partnered with Business Events Australia to exhibit at the Pacific Area Incentives and Conferences Expo in New Zealand in November 2016 and connected with over 25 planners to highlight the benefits of hosting business events in the Northern Territory.

Successful business tourism bids

100 84

0

20

40

60

80

2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17

52 51

62 65 70 69

77

S T R AT E G Y

Grow the visitor economy by focusing on niche market and product segments with the greatest propensity to travel.

BUSINESS EVENTS During 2016-17 the NT Convention Bureau generated 182 business event leads. The NT business events industry hosted 842 events and welcomed over 12,743 delegates who contributed a delegate spend of $35.18 million.

MARKET PRIORITISATION In late 2016 a strategic research piece was commissioned to develop and identify market prioritisation and distribution opportunities for business events in the Northern Territory. The research resulted in a strategic realignment of focus industries and highlighted potential new vertical partnerships from which new audiences could be attracted. As a consequence the following key areas are now being focussed on:

• Resources and energies such as renewable and solar

• Defence including supply services • International education • Agribusiness comprising agriculture,

aquaculture and horticulture

• Health encompassing rural and remote, trauma, emergency, disaster response and critical care, indigenous and tropical disease

• Land management covering bio-security, water and desert knowledge.

2 Number of events listed in NTCB customer relationship management system, ; not an exhaustive list of business events

hosted in the Territory.


29

MARKET PLACEMENT - THINK UNCONVENTIONALLY The relatively new NT business events brand ‘Think Unconventionally’ participated at the annual Asia-Pacific Incentives and Meetings Expo (AIME) in 2017 via a partnership with key stakeholders – Darwin Convention Centre, Alice Springs Convention Centre and Voyages Uluru Meeting Place. Three additional stakeholders also participated to test the demand for products and services beyond the key business event infrastructure in the NT. Based on this trial and in consultation with industry, a decision has been made to present at AIME 2018 as the key in-market activity for the NT business events sector.

Additionally, the coming year will see a reallocation of budget from the costly Walkabout roadshow, towards a new, in-destination familiarisation program designed to increase awareness and interest about the NT, and position it as a destination of choice to host business events. This shift aims to deliver a higher return on investment for participating industry partners and for the Territory.

To continue to deliver meaningful and easily accessible information for business events, this year we:

• Refreshed the ntconventions.com website to make it more simple for event planners to contact us and connect with industry partners

• Launched a dedicated extranet, linked to the NT Convention Bureau CRM, for industry, which incorporates an online bidding platform, requests for familiarisation programs, site inspections and public relations activity.

CRUISE CONTINUES TO DELIVER The 2016-17 cruise ship season was the busiest ever for the NT, with a total of 47 cruise ship visits and 62,159 passengers.

In February, Darwin welcomed the largest cruise ship to ever sail Australian waters – the ‘Ovation of the Seas’. This created a major boom for the local tourism and retail community, with 3,996 passengers and 1,500 crew members recorded. We worked with a number of stakeholders to maximise the returns from the visit, including coordinating public relations activity, and capturing footage and images from the day to be used globally to promote Darwin as Australia’s northern gateway port to attract future cruise ship visitation. The ‘Ovation of the Seas’ is scheduled to return to Darwin in 2018 and 2019.

MOUNTAIN BIKING (MTB) We continued to work across the Department of Tourism and Culture to further develop the high priority mountain biking experiences identified in the Master Plan for Mountain Biking in the NT utilising a $1.13 million budget appropriation. This has included the commencement of an investigation for a full day/ multi-day epic ride in the West MacDonnell Ranges sites of interest such as Standley Chasm, Ellery Creek Big Hole, Ormiston Gorge and Glen Helen Resort, and include overnight cabin type accommodation.

Progress was made on upgrades to the Telegraph Station MTB network and development of Eastside trails in Alice Springs. Other areas under consideration include the development of trails to and within Litchfield and Nitmiluk National Parks, within the Darwin urban area, and surrounding Tennant Creek.

TEACHING THE TEACHERS (EDUCATION) We continued to implement our Australian School Education Tourism Activation Plan, targeting domestic secondary schools to take excursions in the Territory that deliver educational outcomes aligned to the Australian national curriculum. In addition to hosting a targeted education famil to the Top End, we partnered with key education tour distribution partners to promote the NT and continued to offer travel grants of up to $1000 per school to attract more schools to stay longer and experience more products. $50,904 was awarded to 47 schools through this program. For a full list of schools support see Appendix 1 on page 59. From these grants we were able to collect information about the cost of each school excursion, where they travel to and for how long, which showed there was a 9 percent increase in the numbers of school students visiting the Northern Territory. Furthermore, an estimated $12.6 million was spent with dedicated educational tour operators visiting the NT, of which 48 percent is considered ‘on tour spend’.

We wrapped another interstate bus with a banner ad promoting NT Learning Adventures, with the bus sighted in and around the NT, and throughout the Victorian high country.

We continued to work with Study NT to promote the Territory to the international education sector. We participated in the International Consultants for Education and Fairs (ICEF) conference in Cairns in April, where agents from all over the globe come to look at what study options and study tour destinations are on offer in Australia. Study NT hosted a small group of international education agents in the Top End prior to ICEF. Darwin was well received as a leisure and potential study destination by a small group of international education agents that Study NT hosted in the Top End prior to ICEF. We provided information packs for the agents with itineraries showcasing some of the culture, outdoor activities, history and education providers that Darwin has to offer. We also participated in a networking event at which one-on-one operator meetings with the agents were facilitated.

NT Convention Bureau team in action at AIME 2017.


http:ntconventions.com

30

Our Performance03

Grow Value

Birdwatchers at Fogg Dam Conservation Reserve

Darwin Birding brochure

BIRDING We attended the largest bird fair in the world, UK Bird Fair, in August 2016, taking three local birding specialist tour operators to promote NT birding experiences to this key international market.

Bird Week events were held in the shoulder season in the Red Centre and Kakadu National Park to coincide with the best birding season. We arranged a six-page editorial in the Australian Geographic magazine along with a full page ad for the 2017 Kakadu Bird Week event.

We released a first ever birding trails brochure for the Darwin region, for distribution through Tourism Top End, NT Parks and Wildlife and a variety of consumer trade shows. We also delivered a new birding website: northernterritory.com/birding

FISHING Million Dollar Fish campaign saw some fantastic results from season 2 with over 45,000 people registering and an earned media reach of over 100 million. It was featured at Tourism Australia’s launch of their ‘Best of Fishing’ experience initiative at the Australian Tourism Exchange in May, where the NT was positioned as Australia’s barramundi mecca. The NT has five operators included in the Best of Fishing initiative which has been well received, particularly in the United States, with Tourism Australia hosting two US fishing agents to the NT earlier in the year. This initiative will grow new international markets through specialist fishing tourism partners that had not previously sold Australia.

HIGH END TRAVELLERS We participated in Luxperience, an international luxury trade show in Sydney, where we represented wilderness lodges and small group tourism operators to luxury specialist travel providers from key international markets. The event saw more than 1,100 visitors through the doors, giving more than 450 buyers from Australia and global markets the opportunity to build new connections with our NT providers. Thirteen international agents were hosted on pre and post-event famils to the Top End and Red Centre.


31

S T R AT E G Y

Increase NT brand and product presence across digital channels, creating desire for the destination and connecting consumers with experiences they want to purchase in real time.

IMPROVING OUR CONSUMER WEBSITE Following the launch of the redesigned northernterritory.com in August 2016 we saw a 45 percent increase of unique page views and a 26 percent increase in time spend on page in the first half of 2017 year-on-year. We are now shifting our focus to the redevelopment of the website backend, content and information structure of the site.

Leveraging the user research performed earlier in the year, we will adress a series of user experience issues through improvements to the site such as: improved dropdown navigation menu, improved content page navigation, website load speed, ability for non-technical people to edit website content and search engine optimisation. Ultimately the redevelopment of the site will help users navigate the site and drive more leads to local operators. The launch of the redeveloped site is scheduled for October 2017.

CONNECTING WITH OUR AUDIENCE We reached more people and attracted more fans across our markets on Facebook, and continued to see exponential growth on Instagram and Twitter.

Our Mega Meet activity held in May saw 19 social media influencers travel throughout the Northern Territory posting images and content on Instagram; the reach from these high profile influencers saw our Instagram channel increase in followers and engagement throughout the rest of the year.

These channels continue to be relevant for us to communicate with our fans, to integrate brand messaging to our fans and advocates, and to provoke word of mouth through the reach of fan posts, like and shares.

3 The considerable change recorded in our Australian fans

between 2013-14 and 2014-15 was due to changes Facebook

made across all business accounts in April/ May 2015.

northernterritory.com version 2

Total number of Facebook fans year ending June

Market 2016-17

Australia3

Americas

China (Weibo)

France

Germany

Italy

Japan

UK

2015-16 2014-15

239,038 224,687 189,663

20,658 19,437 17,729

82,128 41,301 39,908

33,297 33,608 30,540

43,554 35,694 30,910

23,876 22,872 21,079

6,660 6,730 5,989

52,891 52,355 25,115

Twitter Instagram

Number of Twitter followers Number of Instagram followers

Social media following growth

10,000 200,000

1,000

2,000

3,000

4,000

5,000

6,000

7,000

8,000

9,000

20,000

40,000

60,000

80,000

100,000

120,000

140,000

160,000

180,000

0 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 0


http:northernterritory.comhttp:northernterritory.com

32

Our Performance03

’’

’

’

-

Grow Value

Jetstar and Gourmet Traveller advertising

S T R AT E G Y

Develop a long-term comprehensive strategic approach to major events, festivals and regional events that leverages the NT Brand, activates infrastructure, energises local communities and drives visitation and yield.

This year we implemented a highly targeted digital media campaign that promoted 32 Northern Territory events from March to June 2017. The campaign consisted of digital and search engine advertising, social media advertising, print advertising and a content partnership with Fairfax media. It led to over 800,000 views of the new video content and 215,000 people clicking through to northernterritory.com where they were provided with information about events selected specifically to suit them.

EVENTS MARKETING SPONSORSHIP PROGRAM Each year, we provide sponsorship funding to assist events held in the Territory with marketing interstate and/ or overseas. Events are evaluated on their ability to satisfy our strategic objectives against a set of benchmarks. In the 2016-17 intake we received 24 applications, exceeding the target of 20 applications, and we supported 17 events. For a full list of event marketing support see Appendix 1 (page 53).

FUTURE FOCUS

• We will continue to build on the ‘Do the NT brand with various campaigns, capturing the NT s sense of humour and irreverence, to let consumers know ‘It s About Time’ they booked a holiday to the Territory. We will continue the NT Convention Bureau’s ‘Think Unconventionally campaign, which targets the business events markets and drives awareness, intent and conversion of travel to the NT.

TToouurriissmm NNTT AAnnnnuuaal Rl Reeppoorrt 2t 2001166--1177

• We will continue sponsorships with select key sporting and consumer brands to leverage the awareness of the ‘Do the NT’ brand. This stimulates the sale of travel to the NT and create greater exposure of NT products and regions through advocacy and third party endorsement, digital campaigns direct to consumers, and through the identification of new Business Event leads. The 2017 18 sponsorship

portfolio includes Melbourne Football Club, MusicNT Awards 2018 and a partnership with Australian cricket legend, Matthew Hayden, for the Million Dollar Fish Season 3.

• We will grow awareness of the destination by coinciding public relations opportunities with NT events; for example hosting broadcast media and familiarisations during events.

Back to Contents page

http:northernterritory.com

33

-Uluru base walk, Uluru Kata Tjuta National Park


34

Our Performance03

Address Supply Constraints

H I G H L I G H T S

Opened the new Catalina premium passenger lounge at Darwin International Airport, which will also assist to attract new international airline carriers that require business class and higher yielding passengers.

S T R AT E G Y

Encourage a supply of commercial accommodation to both support and induce the growth in visitor demand.

ACCOMMODATION SUPPLY TOWARD 2020 TARGETDeveloped a range of business cases and

proposals to airlines that have contributed An estimated 9089 short-term to a growth in aviation capacity into the NT. accommodation rooms (in commercial

Significantly advanced a new, potential direct aviation link between Darwin and China through stronger engagement direct with airlines, in cooperation with partners.

establishments of 10 or more rooms) were available in the NT as at 30 June 2017, an additional 36 rooms compared to the previous year. Darwin provides more than half (59 percent) of the Territory’s room supply while Alice Springs makes up 13 percent.

Since 2015 room supply has increased significantly in Darwin, impacting on the average room rates and revenue per available room (RevPAR). For year ending June 2017 these were estimated at $144 and $104 respectively. With room rates now at more competitive prices, demand has grown 6.1 percent over the year, compared to 2015-16. For Alice Springs, the average room rate remained relatively stable at around $117.

Northern Territory accommodation supply toward Tourism Vision 2020 target

Total NT rooms available (supply)

12,000

10,672

10,000

8,000

6,000

4,000

2,000

8,448

7,3357,469

8,859 9,089

Towards 2020

2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 2020 target

S T R AT E G Y

Support the growth of sustainable aviation services to the Territory.

AVIATION DEVELOPMENT We continued working on business cases and proposals for route development and to expand services to the Territory, partnering with NT Airports where appropriate. Cooperative marketing activities with Silk Air/ Singapore Airlines, Philippine Airlines, Jetstar Asia, Indonesia Air Asia, Malaysia Airlines and Jetstar Airways supported this work. Some highlights include:

• Meetings with airlines internationally and in Sydney, with a priority being to secure a new direct aviation link between Darwin and China. Three trips to China and/ or Hong Kong were undertaken in 2016-17 to progress this link.

• Working with airline partners to increase air traffic to the NT; such as improving access from Central Australia to the east coast of Australia (responding to low capacity), improving access from Darwin to Melbourne (responding to high airfares and demand) and improving aviation links from Perth into the Territory (responding to imminent changes in the operating environment due to arrival of 787-9 aircraft and new route to London from March 2018).

• Opened the new Catalina premium passenger lounge at Darwin International Airport, which created ten new, ongoing jobs, supports existing international carriers servicing the Territory and will help attract new international airline carriers that require business class and higher yielding passengers to have use of a lounge on departure.

We continued to support Virgin Australia’s services in the Territory through cooperative marketing campaigns (see case study on page 21) and have worked with the Virgin Group on options to improve its network and scheduling.

Disappointingly Malaysia Airlines made a decision to cease its services to Darwin during the year; the final flight departed Darwin in July 2017. It was a commercial decision, heavily influenced by the weakness of the Malaysian Ringgit to the American Dollar in recent years, which increased the cost of aviation fuel for the company and made the Darwin service less profitable. While the number of seats sold on the service had seen growth, especially over 2016-17, the service was no longer covering variable costs internally. We worked with NT Airports and Tourism Australia to avoid the withdrawal, including offering a support package in early June linked to cooperative marketing opportunities.


35

-

-

-

-- -

-

S T R AT E G Y

Ensure visitor needs for access are considered in transport planning, including for roads, public transport and cruise ship facilities.

ROADS We continued to advocate road priorities as effective access is critically important for regional dispersal of tourists. We submitted bids to improve access to key sites within Kakadu National Park including year-round access to Gunlom Falls and upgrades to the Jim Jim Falls Road, in addition to sealing the road to Ellery Creek Big Hole in the West MacDonnell Ranges.

We continued to work on projects already underway such as sealing the northern access into Litchfield National Park, providing 2WD access via the Litchfield Loop and the Alice Springs Flood Mitigation project including Sadadeen Connector Road. In May, the project to seal 43km of dirt road in the West MacDonnell Ranges was complete, with two and four wheel drive vehicles now having access to the Inner (Mereenie) Loop throughout the year. The opportunity for tourism in the region, including self-drive and guided tours, is now significantly increased as the area was previously inaccessible in wet season conditions.

Additionally, we consulted with local government across the Territory to improve visitor signage along the Explorers Way, in line with new technological advances in wayfinding.

FUTURE FOCUS

CRUISE We continued implementing the NT Cruise Sector Activation Plan 2015-2020, which was developed in consultation with stakeholders and focuses on attracting cruise ships, improving infrastructure and facilities, and experience development. The cruise sector has a current estimated value of $30.7 million annually, with major beneficiaries of passenger spending at the Darwin CBD and waterfront precincts as well as local tour operators. The sector is strategically important as it provides a boost to retailers at an otherwise quiet time of the year.

Establishment of the $1.2 million covered walkway, from the cruise ship terminal to the waterfront precinct, has created a positive sense of arrival and walkable option into the waterfront precinct and connectivity to the CBD.

We supported the collaboration between Darwin Waterfront and the City Traders Association, which saw a combination of activities the visitor experience for cruise ship passengers, such as welcome entertainment and pop up markets.

S T R AT E G Y

Deliver a viable and efficient workforce that meets industry demand and supports a globally competitive and sustainable tourism sector.

We partnered with Tourism Australia on a $2.5 million global working holiday maker campaign and, on behalf of NT employers, businesses and industry associations, we continued to influence Australian Government immigration policy as it relates to the tourism and hospitality through numerous written and verbal submissions, and participation in summits and roundtables.

A key focus for the year was the Territory’s opposition to the introduction of the ‘backpacker tax’, where we partnered with industry to support tourism policy which supports growth in the NT. NT tourism operators regularly engage working holiday makers as a key labour source and the proposed tax increases were deemed detrimental. We worked to address declines seen in the backpacker market through a range of marketing initiatives domestically and globally. Anecdotal reports from our offices indicated that negative media around the issue had already impacted on backpacker perceptions of Australia and therefore visitation from working holiday makers. A compromised ‘backpacker tax’ of 15 percent on the first $37,000 of income was reached and implemented from 1 January 2017, and saw relief amongst the tourism industry as well as Territory farmers.

We will continue to encourage investment in new and existing tourism product and experiences with a focus on:

• Assisting proponents to invest in tourism infrastructure that will increase the attractiveness of the Northern Territory as a destination for tourism; for example the Darwin luxury hotel project, Darwin water park project and a new hotel development in Alice Springs

• Working with Northern Territory government stakeholders to identify government owned land and assets with the potential for tourism development, and supporting their assessment and release to market

• Collaborating with existing landowners and tourism business operators to identify opportunities for new investment, refurbishment and expansion

• Attracting high yielding visitors by encouraging development of experience driven accommodation, such as resort style accommodation in or adjacent to national parks, which can assist in driving demand and aiding dispersal of visitors throughout the NT.

We will continue to work on aviation route development, particularly attracting a direct service from China, which will be revolutionary for the tourism industry in the NT as it will drive sustained economic development across a diverse range of industries.

We will support the delivery of the NT Aviation Industry and Services Strategy including aviation route development, growing interline agreements, codeshare arrangements, negotiating open jaw airfares on routes to the

Territory and promoting air passes. We will also promote point to point travel from Asia to Darwin and continue to link marketing, promotions and trade relationships, and support air access domestically.

We will continue to work closely with Darwin Port to support cruise ship attraction, and will also continue to advocate tourism focussed road and infrastructure priorities across government.

We will continue to work across government and with partners to influence Commonwealth immigration and other policy as it relates to the tourism and hospitality sector.


36

Our Performance03

Improve the VisitorExperience

H I G H L I G H T S

Delivered 26 free WiFi hotspots across the Territory, with over 230,000 consumers accessing the current WiFi services.

Funded 103 tourism infrastructure projects through the Tourism Infrastructure Development Fund Accelerator program and the Tourism Demand-Driver Infrastructure program.

Facilitated a new Bombing of Darwin Harbour experience at Stokes Hill Wharf leveraging consumer interest in the Territory’s military heritage.

Map showing free WiFi hotspot locations across the Territory


37

The Northern Territory currently offers 26 free WiFi hotspots from remote locations such as Kulgera, Kings Canyon, Mataranka and Tiwi Island, to key regions such as Alice Springs and Darwin.

S T R AT E G Y

Ensure visitor services across the Territory are provided in a coordinated manner reflective of current and emerging consumer behaviour.

FREE WIFI HOTSPOTS FOR VISITORS As the social media landscape continues to grow, so does consumers’ desire to access free WiFi throughout their journey. The Northern Territory currently offers 26 free WiFi hotspots from remote locations such as Kulgera, Kings Canyon, Mataranka and Tiwi Island, to key regions such as Alice Springs and Darwin. In 2016-17 we had over 230,000 consumers access the free WiFi spending on average 26 minutes per login. The Northern Territory Government has continued to support the ongoing costs of the free WiFi, contributing $300,000 this year to the initiative.

DRIVE TOURISM RESEARCH A two phase research project was conducted wherein road users were invited to participate in an online forum about the role of road signage on their trip and were surveyed about signage that was important and that we should focus on. Participants in this research were all visitors to the Northern Territory who had used the free NT WiFi. The data that was collected from their initial login was used to email road users and invite them to apply to be involved in the survey.

GATEWAY INFRASTRUCTURE We continued to improve and develop infrastructure at gateways across the Territory. Some examples include an immersive slideshow display installed in the international arrivals tunnel at Darwin International Airport, and a new wall mural highlighting Tennant Creek and the Barkly region at Tennant Creek Airport to encourage regional dispersal.

We continued the Kinect Project, with the ‘Jumping Croc’ at Darwin Airport delivering nearly 250,000 interactions and shareable photos. Two additional jumping animals are currently being scoped including a ‘Jumping Barra’ in the theme of Million Dollar Fish, and a ‘Jumping Roo’ to be installed at the Alice Springs Airport.

Tennant Creek Airport Signage


38

Our Performance03

Improve the Visitor Experience

The Outback Cycling team in front of their new shop in Alice Springs, with bikes purchased from a tourism grant

S T R AT E G Y

Build the experience base of our destination to meet visitor expectations and drive growth.

INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT Ninety-four projects were supported through the Tourism Infrastructure Development Fund Accelerator program, with a total project value of over $15 million. All projects are outlined in Appendix 1 (page 54), some of which included:

• $100,000 to Katherine Outback Experience to build a new outdoor amenities block and kitchen.

• $100,000 to Big 4 MacDonnell Range for a new cultural, entertainment and activities centre.

• $71,990 to Earth Sanctuary to support delivery of the ‘Outback to the Future’ tour and Space Discovery centre.

• $13,363 to Outback Cycling in Alice Springs to purchase 14 new mountain bikes.

$2.29 million in funding was provided for 45 Aboriginal business projects through the Tourism Infrastructure Development Fund. Projects included:

• Development of a cultural meeting place in Nitmiluk National Park.

• Staff accommodation at Melville Lodge on the Tiwi Islands.

• Upgrades to the Glen Helen Homestead Lodge in Central Australia.

We secured $675,000 under the Australian Government’s Tourism Demand-Driver Infrastructure Program in 2016-17 for projects that provide broad supply-side benefits in the NT. Nine projects were supported this year and included:

• Building two large exotic cat pens at Crocodylus Park in Darwin.

• Designing and constructing an open air shelter at Mercure Alice Springs Resort.

• Establishing a permanent base for Flash Camp’s operations in the Territory.

WATERPARK FOR DARWIN We undertook an initial feasibility project into a new major waterpark development in Darwin of sufficient size and scale to attract visitors to the destination. Key findings of the report produced in early 2017 by AEC Group, were that a park could be financially viable, it would need wet and dry elements, a mix of local resident and visitors, and that a successful park will require somewhere between 4 and 24 hectares of land. Based on this project, the NT Government committed $500,000 in Budget 2017 to further advance the waterpark project.

S T R AT E G Y

Grow the visitor economy by building on the NT’s reputation for the delivery of quality authentic Indigenous cultural experiences.

ABORIGINAL TOURISM ADVISORY COUNCIL (ATAC) Established in 2015 the ATAC advise on sustainable and prosperous Aboriginal tourism development opportunities across the Territory. The Council met four times throughout the year, including on-site meetings with Aboriginal tourism operators at Kakadu, Katherine, Yulara and Tiwi Islands. The Council also welcomed three new members who were appointed following an extensive expression of interest process across the NT.

ATAC commenced the development of case studies within the NT Aboriginal tourism industry to assist with future Aboriginal tourism development. The Council has taken particular note of key issues affecting the further development of Aboriginal tourism businesses in the NT including skills development for the industry and governance training and performance.


39

Case Study Bombing of Darwin Harbour Experience

By partnering with private sector and government entities, we triggered significant new investment in the Darwin tourism industry, adding a fresh and innovative tourist attraction to complement the existing suite of WWII tourism experiences.

Given the trending growth of consumer interest in military heritage tourism, we conducted an expression of interest (EOI) process offering the under-utilised function centre on Stokes Hill Wharf to house a new tourist att

Documents

Tourism NT Annual Report 2016-17...Tourism NT Annual Report 2016-17 Tourism is an incredibly important economic driver for the Territory and through dedication and collaboration we