Grampians Tourism Visitor Servicing Review Report

APPENDIX 9.
7B
Grampians Visitor
Servicing Review
THE FUTURE OF VISITOR SERVICING
APPENDIX 9.7B
Project background & purpose

The Grampians Tourism Board, on behalf its local government partners, managed a review of
Visitor Information Centres across the Grampians region.
The project was delivered to LGA partners at the end of August 2019.
The aim of the project was to:
▪ develop a Future Visitor Servicing Action Plan to improve visitor servicing and the visitor
economy in the region that is aligned with the recommendations in the statewide Visitor
Servicing project, “Rethink! Reimagining Visitor Servicing” developed by Komosion, in
partnership with Visit Victoria.
▪ Komosion were appointed by GT to deliver the review.

APPENDIX 9.7B
Project background & purpose cont.
LG partner Council identified a need to review the appropriate role and function of a
Visitor Information Centre to ensure, efficient use of resources, relevance to
visitors, the tourism industry and local community in light of:
▪ growing technological demands

▪ increasing expenses
▪ decreasing revenue
▪ ageing infrastructure
APPENDIX 9.7B
Project background & purpose cont.

The review considered:
● The growing ease of access to online information and booking services and
advances in technology
● Role and relevance of the Visitor Information Centre in the context of the
broader tourism industry and engagement to increase visitor length of stay,
spend and activities
● Review of the operating model with a view to improving cost efficiencies,
exploring partnership and co-location opportunities
APPENDIX 9.7B
Review conclusions
5
APPENDIX 9.7B
The review found…
Following extensive industry and local government stakeholder consultations,
a number of conclusions have been reached:
• The roles of marketing to potential visitors and in-destination visitor services are
part of a continuum of activity but are, in the main, managed separately and
therefore disjointed, inconsistent and at times overlap;
• The resources, systems, processes and expertise to join the two up do not
currently reside in any one entity.
• Some Visitor Information Centres (in evolved forms) should be part of a regional
marketing and visitor servicing network – but they are currently not networked or
fully fit for that purpose.
3 key recommendations emerged

6
APPENDIX 9.7B
Key recommendations
7
APPENDIX 9.7B
1. Omnichannel Strategy….what is it?
• The review by Komosion found that an Omnichannel Strategy should be commissioned

and the role and future of Visitor Information Centres be determined in the context of that
strategy
• An omni-channel retail strategy is an approach to sales and marketing that
provides customers with a fully-integrated shopping experience by uniting user
experiences from brick-and-mortar to mobile-browsing and everything in
between
• The Regional Omnichannel Strategy should aligned to an agreed Vision and Mission, a
common brand and common digital channel for the region, and
collaborative/consolidated approach – which identifies required systems, processes,
expertise and assets - should be commissioned
8
APPENDIX 9.7B
1. Omnichannel Strategy cont.
• It needs to be executed to an agreed Governance and Business Model and be adequately

resourced
• This could be by way of what’s described as the Collective Impact model whereby an
organisation is established and/or resourced to play a co-ordination role of committed
resources from participants
• An enabling organisation would need to in-source expertise in Service Design, Customer
Relationship Management practice and software and various other digital tools and
systems for a period of time to build capability and culture
• Based on the experience of others, various test-and-learn initiatives should be undertaken
on the journey to implementing a full Omnichannel Strategy
9
APPENDIX 9.7B
2. Further research
Further research may be required to more comprehensively understand the journeys of primary
segments of the targeted visitor audience, recognising the diversity of the region’s tourism offerings
means one size does not fit all.
• This includes formalising experiments with mobile visitor servicing, a more focused
and co-ordinated effort on creating/consolidating and serving entertaining content
as well as “utility” content.
• Such content should feature local stories, experiences and activities and be made
available via digital and physical channels.
• This should be done to a clear plan which also identifies Content by type - eg audio-
visual, images, infographics, text etc - and Channel - eg, Printed brochures,
website, in-VIC screens, social platforms etc.)
10
APPENDIX 9.7B
3. Inspiration Hubs
1. A number of existing VICs could be converted into Hubs of Inspiration. Horsham Town Hall
was identifed as being a potential ‘evolved Visitor Information Centre’
2. Ways of maintaining, reinvigorating and reinventing the Volunteer networks should be trialed.
3. A Visitor Information Centre Best Practice Checklist including the following criteria that could be
used to assess VIC’s as part of the Omnichannel Strategy:
• Visitor Servicing not Visitor Information is the Focus

• Location Reality is Faced (there is high level of “footfall”)
• Oﬀers a “Wow” Experience
• Is a Custodian of Regional Stories
• Includes a Tourism Industry Engagement Focus
• Embraces Digital Visitor Servicing
• Engages Residents, Retail + other Service Providers
• Has an innovation mindset - Never Accepts the Status Quo
• Has Strong Leadership + Management
APPENDIX 9.7C

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APPENDIX 9.

Project background & purpose

The aim of the project was to:

▪ Komosion were appointed by GT to deliver the review.

Project background & purpose cont.

▪ growing technological demands

Project background & purpose cont.

3 key recommendations emerged

1. Omnichannel Strategy….what is it?

• The review by Komosion found that an Omnichannel Strategy should be commissioned

1. Omnichannel Strategy cont.

• It needs to be executed to an agreed Governance and Business Model and be adequately

• Visitor Servicing not Visitor Information is the Focus

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