GIPPSLAND REGION

Executive summary

The project aims towards the upliftment of the tourist areas in the Gippsland region. Different types of initiatives and collaborations with different stakeholders have been made to enhance the infrastructure and optimise the natural resources of the area so that the tourists feel the place to be unique and authentic. Since the area has a wide range of natural resources necessary efforts, have been taken to make the place a better area of tourist attraction and at the same time provide ample jobs to the residents of the Gippsland region. The proposal will be mainly conducted for promoting tourism in Gippsland. In this respect, the sanctuary of that region and famous Buchan Caves will be advertised under the event. Along with this, attractive trailing around Gippsland Lakes through cycling and paddling will be promoted.

1. Introduction

Gippsland region, which is located in South-East Victoria is one of the favourite tourist spots of the Aussies. Recently because of variation in tourist choice, it has been found that these tourists prefer experiences which will be unique and authentic. This demand has let the authorities to collaborate with the Destination Gippsland and the TRC Tourism so that the place can be developed in order to attract more tourists in the area. In order to expedite the process plans have been framed to increase the economy of the Gippsland area by enhancing the available resources found there to make the place unique and meet the tourists' expectation and also provide more employment opportunities for the people living there by the end of 203 (TRC Tourism 2020). The plan also includes the development of the entire area within 2030 and to implement the plan, various stakeholders have been included so that the objectives are met. The purpose of the report is to focus on the Gippsland region with its stakeholder’s involvement, destination management plan and many more such activities. Further, it proposed an event plan in order to increase the attraction of the visitors.  

2. Destination Background

2.1 Overview of the region

Gippsland region is an attractive rural area which is located in South-East Victoria is the Gippsland region. The place is located around 156.2 km. from the city of Melbourne. In order to connect and reach the place, there are three possible ways, by train ways which take around 2 hours and 34 minutes, travelling by bus that takes 2 hours and 39 minutes and also by self-drive to the place which takes around 2 hours and 6 minutes (Rome2rio, 2020).  

The place is filled with different types of attractions, and the speciality of the place is that it possesses a wide range of attractions related to nature and its beauty. If someone visits the place, they will feel that there are no other places found like this in Victoria. The natural attractions include the beaches which are clean and unspoilt, its pristine rainforests, the snowfields, trails of hiking and riding along with wineries and food producers. The place is also a point of attraction because of different types of festivals with art and culture for the tourists and the residents around the year (Rdv, 2020).

It has been noticed that most of the tourists in the area are the Australians. Due to the popularity of the place and because of its natural beauty that has been seen a growth of 27 per cent in Gippsland which is much higher than the growth of tourism nationally, which is 5 per cent (Darrenchester, 2020). However, it has been noticed about the place, and the nature of visitors is that the visitors are spending on an average of 3 nights at this place compared to an average of 4 nights nationally (Darrenchester, 2020).  

2.2 Key tourism stakeholders in the region

Industry parties Agribusiness Gippsland (AGI):

The Agribusiness Gippsland (AGI) who has been focusing on the building strong networks between the key stakeholders.

East Gippsland Food Cluster (EGFC):

This body contributes to delivering project portfolios.

Gippsland Regional Partnership Food & Fibre Working Group:

This body provides all types of communication channels to the government about all kinds of problems in the area of Gippsland (assets, 2020). The initiative of the National Farmer’s Federation (NFF) 2030 was also formed in order to frame a complete Roadmap about how Gippsland will be able to achieve future growth which also states the requirements for the growth.

Food & Fibre Gippsland Inc:

The formation of Food & Fibre Gippsland Inc. happened with the collaboration of AGI and EGFC. This body was formed for the development of the area and to create a strong voice by working on behalf of a few of the sectors like the fibre and the seafood (Assets, 2020).

Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning’s (DELWP)

The Australian government has planned to implement the Environmental-Economic Accounting (SEEA) that also includes the Experimental Ecosystem Accounting with a strategic action plan which is endorsed by the Commonwealth, state and territory environment ministers. This study will be done at the state level by the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning’s (DELWP) in order to improve the process of reporting, all kinds of decision making and evaluation process. The Commissioner for Environmental Sustainability will take care of the concept of accounting of environmental-economic factors and its sustainability. 

The Australian National University’s Fenner School of Environment and Society

The Australian National University’s Fenner School of Environment and Society will also undertake the accounting of the Environmental-economic within the academic institutions (environment, 2020).

2.3 Overview of the destination management plan and its objectives

Overview

The plan of the Gippsland region is to enhance the locality by easy means of connectivity with other places so that the tourists can reach the destination easily. This will be cone by investing more and to enhance the infrastructure of the area and increase the job opportunity at the Gippsland region.

The new plan is to increase the tourism and the economy of Gippsland a destination plan has been framed. The main aim of the plan is to increase the economy of the visitors visiting Gippsland. The plan aims to increase the economy of the industry into $1.5b and increase employment strength by providing 16,000 jobs to the people by the end of 2030. In order to achieve the goal, the main objective of the mission is to attract more visitors who will be spending more at this location. The key reason in terms of economy is to generate an extra $400m per year and create 3,000 new jobs in order to contribute to the economy of Gippsland. This project is aimed till the year 2030 strategies will be developed within these 10 years of time with the support of Gippsland Regional Partnership in consultation with the local as well as the state government, and at the same time, the community groups and the related industries are also included (TRC Tourism 2020). 

(Refer to appendix)

Objective 

The objective served by the plan are:

• To increase the tourism and the economy of the Gippsland area so that visitors can stay a longer period of time and spend more money on the place so that the place will generate more revenue
• Increase the strength of employment of the local people by providing more jobs to them by the end of 2030 and decrease the unemployment at the Gippsland area
• Generate extra money per year with a target of $400m and create 3,000 new jobs every year (TRC Tourism 2020) 

2.4. Visitors and their motivations

The motivational factors of the visitors at Gippsland see wildlife and wilderness, which is located at Wilsons Promontory, which consists and area of 50,000-hectare (124,000-acre) reserve (Australia, 2020). The entire Park is filled with white sand beaches, walking trails, the forest of eucalyptus and native wildlife’s are also found in abundance. The most area of the national park is accessible by hiking with the experience of most beautiful beaches (Exploreshaw, 2020).  Beautiful boat trips at the Gippsland Lakes which consists of a network of lakes, marshes and lagoons that is spread across an area of 600 square kilometres (230 square miles). The entrance of the lake also has a great experience for the tourists. The tourists can also enjoy the Ninety Mile Beach with the long stroll. The tourists can also enjoy the freshest seafood, which is available all along the coastal part located from Mallacoota to Port Albert (Australia, 2020).

Philip Island is also one of the favourite places for visitors. This is a place which is considered to be the home of the world's most popular fairy penguins. This Island is also famous for its wonderful experiences of nature and its landscapes. A good and delicious chocolate factory is also available at this place along with Wine Trail available at Southern Gippsland, which is another reason for attraction of the tourists (Exploreshaw, 2020). 

2.5 Gap in the current experiential offering

The experiential offerings were done, but it has been found later that there are few gaps present in the offerings that have been set and facilitated. The present gap that this place has is the facility of high-quality accommodation in terms of the facilities of built function and is incapable of accommodating any kind of this doesn't events, weddings and also any other types of private functions that may be conducted by the tourists. There is also a lack of experiential products noticed like the inclusion of any kind of facilities of arts and cultures, heritage and was also lacking any kind of activities that are related to nature that will create tourist's attraction. Nature please tourist offers as the treetop walks, gnome villages and trails and also there is a lack of Bendigo Bushland Track. The other gap that this place has the facility of proper retail and Hospitality system (Bendigoregion, 2020). 

There is also a gap in the infrastructure of the digital connectivity at this region which is creating an entrance in the business at this locality. The gap includes proper access to Digital Services, the ability to use these services effectively. The technological gap in the place also lacks the supply and demand to meet the market's need (Rdv, 2020). In terms of Aquatic Macroinvertebrates, it has been found that there is no proper knowledge of it at the Gippsland RFA Region. This fact is creating a hindrance for the development of this area as this fact is not allowing the authorities to improve on a priority basis (Agriculture, 2020).

3. Proposed event

3.1 Description of the event

Table 1: Basic information about the event

Outline of the schedule: The following table has shed light on the probable schedule to conduct the event.

Table 1: Proposed schedule of the event

(Source: Developed by author)

Overview of the event: The event will be mainly conducted for promoting tourism in Gippsland. In this respect, the sanctuary of that region and famous Buchan Caves will be advertised to the willing visitors. Along with this, attractive trailing around Gippsland Lakes through cycling and paddling will be promoted, so that it can be the centre of attraction for athletes (TRC Tourism, 2020). Thus, the Gippsland outdoor adventure event will be focused to encourage tourism in Gippsland by exposing its natural attractions. Not only this but also the economic feasibility of the tourists will also be described by the organiser, so that "Towards 2030 Gippsland Destination Management Plan: a Blueprint for Growth’ can be managed easily. Apart from this, the event will also explore the unique features of Gippsland tourism which can be effective to attract visitors during off peak periods. The entire team of the event will be focused to enhance the brand image of Gippsland tourism through the help of digital promoting methods. 

Types of services it will offer in proposed location: The main attraction of the event will be based on making the tourism facilities in Gippsland clear to a range of willing tourists. The attraction will include different digital tools through which the willing customers can get better experience of travelling in natural beauties of Gippsland in a prior manner. On the other hand, the services will focus to make the customers understand that the Gippsland tourism will be helpful for them to manage the cost of travelling within a bearable range. As mentioned by Camilleri (2018), the tourism industry can be developed by providing beneficial services to the tourists based on travel experience and economic sustainability. Therefore, this attraction will provide different vouchers and coupons to the willing tourists to make Gippsland a constant place of travelling within 2030. 

3.2 Target market and suitability of the event

• Specific target market 

The target market for this event will be based on attracting tourists based on their demographic and behavioral segmentation. As described by Font and McCabe (2017), in order to select customers it is necessary to focus on their key areas of interests, so that the barriers of ill market reputation can be managed easily. In this respect, the event organisers will target people with acute urge of travelling in adventurous areas throughout the world.  In this regard, mainly regional and national individuals in Australia will be selected. 

• Key customers 

Both males and females will be targeted and people from middle economic to upper economic level will be targeted by the event manager. Millennial and Adventure lovers from Gen Z will be pointed out through an online survey, after that customer group segregation will be conducted. 

• Ways to select them 

The targeted group of customers will be selected based on an online survey prior to conduct the event. Through this session, their personal tastes and values will be understood by the manager. Thereafter, they will be sorted based on their level of interests for adventurous travelling in Gippsland. This function will be performed during the process of conducting the event. 

• Reasons for making them attracted to the event 

The targeted customers will be interested in the event as it will ensure them about the financial viability of Gippsland tourism and plenty of scopes to explore natural beauties of the location. Besides, soothing weather of the location will be helpful for the tourists to get rid of humid weather in Australia during the summer. In the words of Sharpley (2018), bringing digital innovation is the appropriate source for attracting new aged consumers. Thus, using innovative tools such as 3D visualisations of the natural beauties of Gippsland will attract the targeted customers to this event. 

3.3 Infrastructure requirements

• Infrastructure

In order to conduct the event, establishment of stable infrastructure is required. As per the thoughts of Guidottiet al., (2019), with establishment of a stable infrastructure, an event can never be conducted in an effective way. In case of the Gippsland outdoor adventure event, infrastructure can be based on adequate amount of investment, maintaining security of information transmission, involving efficient individuals to handle customers and taking legal grant from Government or local authority. 

• Services 

In order to support this new event, additional services will be based on the process through which the event manages can maintain proper interactions with the willing customers. In this regard, the application of digital communication tool will help them to approach more numbers of willing tourists. Along with this, proper power supply, emergency services and proper transport system need to be maintained by the event stakeholders. 

• Expert knowledge 

Expert advices from different sources will be effective to maintain a linking between all types of event functions. Adequate knowledge regarding marketing and advertisement functions will be helpful for the event organisers to impact on the perception of the public in a positive manner.

Sources of help based on infrastructure 

These kinds of help may be attained by making collaboration with Government agencies. It can be mentioned that event management can take legal permission from local tourism authority in Victoria. Along with this, they can follow marketing guidelines of Tourism Corporation in Australia which will be helpful to maintain consistency in conducting the event in a barrier free environment (Tourism Australia, 2020). 

3.4 Key stakeholder and Partnership

It is a fact that any type of stakeholders’ relationship is necessary for a combined approach to be successful. Similarly, effective stakeholders’ partnerships are necessary to manage success of this event. The following table sheds light on different key stakeholders and their impacts of on this event to be successful.

Table 3: Key stakeholders and partnerships

(Source: Self developed)

Thus, it can be mentioned that making collaborations with the above-mentioned stakeholders will be helpful for the event managers to sustain growth and stability of the Gippsland tourism within 2030.

3.5 Proposed performance indicator

In terms of analysing the viability and success of the event, it will be effective to set proper performance indicators. Thus, the objectives of the destination management plan can be met and long-term sustainability of Gippsland tourism can be maintained. 

Table 4: KPIs of the event

(Source: Self developed)

4. Conclusion

Thus, it can be concluded that Gippsland is a well reputed tourist spot with immense scopes of future development. Healthy natural weather, beautiful visiting spots with natural beauties attract huge numbers of tourists in this location every year. Therefore, the Gippsland outdoor adventure event will be beneficial for promoting the plan of “Towards 2030 Gippsland Destination Management Plan: A Blueprint for Growth’. It will be effective to promote attractive tourist spots such as Buchan caves to a large number of tourists. As a result of this, Gippsland tourism will be effective to fulfill criteria of a number of investors into this tourism. In order to support the tourism system, it is necessary to meet the criteria of stakeholders and maintain an effective infrastructure as well. Therefore, the organisers of the event are focused to maintain stable relationship with stakeholders, so that attracting good numbers of tourists in Gippsland tourism will be managed easily.