DISCOVER VICTORIA S SECRETS THROUGH FOOD AND CULTURE TRAILS

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1 Page 1 of 4 DISCOVER VICTORIA S SECRETS THROUGH FOOD AND CULTURE TRAILS Topic 2 - Leisure tourism China represents the biggest tourism market for Victoria, in terms of visitors and expenditure, and is bigger than the next 6 tourist markets combined. However, Chinese tourists have the lowest visitation into regional areas outside Melbourne CBD. VISIT VICTORIA CASE COMPETITION 2017 Students IDs: * Infographic and additional data obtained from Tourism Victoria China market profile December 2015 and Tourism Australia 2017 China Market Profile

2 Page 1 of 4 OPPORTUNITY Current Inbound Tourism from China Due to the scale and potential growth of the inbound Chinese tourism market, there is a significant opportunity to position regional Victoria as a prime destination. Targeting the Chinese visitor will also provide the following opportunities to regional Victoria: Improve the local economy by increasing jobs Improve China and Australia relationship Reinforce Victoria as one of the top food and cultural destinations in the world Roughly each person spends $4,500 per visit. Increasing visitors numbers by 10% to regional Victoria will generate $260M of extra revenue for the economy. This is approximately a 50% increase from the current levels of tourism revenue generated in regional Victoria. Visit Victoria can position regional Victoria as a compelling tourist attraction for Chinese visitors coming to Melbourne. RESEARCH Focus To explore Chinese tourists opinions on travelling to regional Victoria. Primary Research Sample Profile Sample: 2,079 respondents Demographic: Chinese middle-class between 15 to 45 years old who are currently living in China. Primary Research Key Findings Most popular travel duration is between 1 2 weeks 38% would definitely visit regional Victoria but 52% are ambivalent unless there is a compelling attraction The three top attractions include fresh produce, food and wine, natural scenery and history/ culture. These three categories comprise 71% of the total survey result. Their main concerns revolve around poor transportation options, personal safety and English language barrier. 45% of the respondents would like to spend on local delicacies, while 18% would like to go on cultural tours specific to that region. Another 15% would spend on Made in Australia souvenirs. TARGET MARKET Based on our research, the profile of the typical Chinese tourist persona interested in visiting regional Victoria is as follows: Who am I? I m an independent traveller, 45 years old or younger, well-educated and middle-class How long can I stay? 1 to 2 weeks maximum What do I appreciate while travelling? Seafood, wine and unique experiences What are my concerns? Poor transportation options, safety and understanding English What would I like from regional areas? Fresh produce, natural scenery and history/culture attractions What will I spend money on? Food and wine at restaurants, fresh produce and historical/cultural souvenirs How can I be best reached? Social media

3 Page 2 of 4 REGIONAL VICTORIA S FOOD AND CULTURE TRAILS Rationale for the Routes Based on our research findings and the resulting profile of the typical Chinese tourist interested in visiting regional Victoria, we selected five destinations as Victoria s food and culture trails given they fulfil the following conditions: Proximity: Within 2 hours drive due to short length of stay in Australia Offerings: Unique experiences, good food and wine and historical/cultural attractions Budget: From budget to luxury Seasonal: To cover all seasons Current Chinese market penetration: Low to medium Potential for growth: High Ballarat Budget (excl. travel): $100 or less per person Sovereign Hill (strong Chinese history here) Bridge Hall Farmers Market Craig s Royal Hotel Geelong and The Bellarine Season: Summer Budget (excl. travel): $100 or less per person Current Chinese visitation: Very Low Scully Seafood Bar and Grill, seafood farms Little Creatures and White Rabbit Brewery Golf Clubs Daylesford Trip style: Overnight Demographic: Couples, friends Season: Winter Current Chinese visitation: Low Hepburn Bathhouse & Spa Lake House Daylesford Macedon Produce Harvest Festival Yarra Valley / Overnight Target Demographic: Foodies and couples Ezard at Levantine Hill, local wineries The Big Bouquet Yarra Valley Chocolaterie & Ice Creamery Mornington Peninsula Royal Botanic Gardens Cranbourne Peninsula Hot Springs Ashcombe Maze & Lavender Garden

4 Page 3 of 4 PROPOSAL: DEVELOP TOURIST TRAILS TAILORED FOR THE CHINESE MARKET USING OUR MOST RENOWNED REGIONAL DESTINATIONS Ballarat History and Culture Sovereign Hill Victorian Era Heritage 116km from Melbourne 1.5 hour drive Daylesford Health and Relaxation Hot Springs Natural Beauty Restaurants 112km from Melbourne 1.5 hour drive Yarra Valley Food and Wine Local produce Outdoor experiences Wildlife 58km from Melbourne 1 hour drive Geelong and The Bellarine Beaches and Seafood Mornington Peninsula Great outdoors Surfing Golf Breweries 104km from Melbourne 1.5 hour drive Walking tracks Wineries Beaches 75km from Melbourne 1.25 hour drive

5 Page 4 of 4 asdasd RECOMMENDATIONS SOCIAL MEDIA COMPETITION TOUR OPERATORS PARTNERSHIP TOURISM-READY PROGRAM Promote regional Victoria s gastronomical and cultural experiences through a social media competition based on the following three steps: Step 1: Send a basket of unique products from regional Victoria to the top 100 social media influencers (100k+ followers) across China s five largest cities. Step 2: Request influencer to post a photo of themselves using one (or more) of the products, and outline why they would want to visit regional Victoria Step 3: Top 5 with the most liked and shared posts receive an all-expenses paid trip to one of the 5 regional Victoria trails. Prize winners will be required to regularly publish posts about their travels to regional Victoria With this social media competition, we aim to: Increase visibility to a highly profitable and engaged market with limited upfront investment Enter into Chinese social media and establish a presence for future campaigns The perceived challenges to overcome are: Selection of social media influencers who will move the target market Product selection must be of high quality and tailored to the Chinese market to avoid adverse social media backlash Current market for Chinese tour operators into regional Victoria is fragmented and characterised by generic tours that are geared more towards sight-seeing. This leads to a quantity-over-quality type of experience with rushed tours, multiple short stops and minimal spending. To turn this around, we recommend the following initiatives: Communicate Visit Victoria s objective and Social Media Competition strategy to Chinese-speaking tour operators in Victoria Partner with them to ensure that the top attractions and popular products gathered from the social media competition are included in their operations Incentivise them to make the details of these trails easily accessible in their Chinese social media channels Encourage the improvement of transportation options to allow for greater flexibility and connectivity in line with the target market Obtaining early acceptance and engagement from the local regional communities that surround these proposed routes is key for success. This is not only to provide the best experience for the large influx of Chinese tourists that will be visiting, but also to ensure the growth and long-term sustainability of the tourism industry in regional Victoria. We recommend the following initiatives: Work with local councils to promote economic benefits that an increase in Chinese tourism will have on their regions Lobby local councils to ensure alignment of their strategic growth plans with that of Visit Victoria, particularly those that are proposed in this plan Provide regional businesses and tourism operators in this program with crosscultural communication training to ensure they are ready to serve the potential high influx of inbound Chinese tourists Rally regional community groups to establish regular farmer s markets to offer their local produce and goods to visiting tourists Partner with universities and language schools to offer Chinese speaking students interested in tourism and hospitality parttime work opportunities to enhance the overall trails experience