Local Government Award for Tourism

This category is open to all local government authorities and recognises excellence in tourism planning, the provision of tourism facilities and services, marketing, event development and management, and the overall contribution made both locally and overall to the NSW tourism industry.

1A. Provide an overview of your organisation and describe the tourism products, experiences and services that are available to visitors. (10 marks)

Provide an overview of your organisation’s history and structure; how your commitment to tourism began, how the tourism offering has developed over time, how your tourism department is structured, etc. (e.g., staff, percentage of shire budget, estimated dollar contribution to economy)

Remember the focus here is on tourism.

Describe the organisation’s vision, mission and core values.

What tourism products/experiences/services are on offer to visitors?

Highlight your points of difference and why your organisation should be considered as an award-winning organisation for tourism.

Demonstrate your commitment to tourism excellence by explaining the values and philosophy of your organisation. These should be reflected in your policies and procedures, on how staff is inducted or trained – so include details of these to show the organisation’s commitment to excellence.

This is where the judges (and auditors) will gain an understanding of how you fit into the category; therefore, it is important to clearly demonstrate your eligibility by aligning with the category criteria to ensure that there is no misunderstanding as to why you have entered this category.

1B. How does your organisation work with the wider tourism industry in the provision of tourism services, infrastructure and marketing? (10 marks)

How has the organisation been actively involved with and contributed to the tourism industry locally, regionally and nationally?

Consider your relationship with the local tourism industry, visitor centres, tourism associations, the State Tourism Organisation and neighbouring councils, and:

Detail your involvement in and/or support of tourism industry associations and businesses.

Do you work with neighbouring councils in tourism development and marketing?

What contribution does the organisation make towards the provision of visitor information services?

Ensure that your response is relevant to the qualifying period.

2A. Outline your tourism strategy and Council’s tourism development plan. (10 marks)

Provide information on Council’s approach to tourism, e.g., is it pro-active or reactive?

Give an overview of your tourism strategy, e.g., what are the main focus and investment areas? If your region has seasonal challenges, how do you address these?

What processes do you have in place to identify and meet the needs of tourists visiting or passing through your region?

In this answer, you are allowed to use links – so, consider adding links to other strategy formulation if relevant, e.g., an economic development plan.

2B. During the qualifying period, what have you implemented to improve your tourism offering and to support tourism businesses in the wake of national and world events? 

(10 marks) 

This question seeks to understand how you have improved the tourism offering within the qualifying period. Additionally, it seeks to understand what strategies and initiatives were implemented to support the tourism industry through another year of challenging events. If many, include the most significant ones.

To respond, address the following using two separate tables:

What strategies and initiatives the Council has introduced to enhance the tourism offering of the region? An enhancement could include for example, a new experience or facility.

What strategies and initiatives the Council has introduced to support the recovery of the industry and tourism businesses? This could include, for example, diversification of product, professional development, grants for tourism businesses, etc.

Each table should detail: 1. the strategies (your main goals) and 2. the initiatives (activities undertaken to reach these goals).

Ensure your goals are specific so you can link it to the outcomes in Q2D.

2C. Why were these initiatives implemented and how does this align to the organisation’s overall goals and strategies? (10 marks)

Explain the decision-making process and what drove the organisation to implement the initiatives mentioned in the previous answer. Consider how these enhanced the visitor experience in your region and supported the tourism industry and businesses during the qualifying period.

Judges will be looking for an understanding of what prompted the strategies/initiatives, so your response should include the research and planning undertaken by the organisation to reach the decisions taken. For example: external research that was considered, past visitors surveyed, etc.

Include how these align with your organisation’s main goals and strategies for tourism development.

2D. What was the outcome/s of these initiatives? (5 marks)

Outline what measures you have in place to track the success of these initiatives.

Judges are looking for qualitative and quantifiable data that demonstrates what the expected  outcomes of the strategies/initiatives were, and whether these were achieved.

If the anticipated outcomes were not reached, acknowledge this, and provide the judge with insight as to why. How did the organisation respond?

If the outcomes are still pending, provide what data is available and what the forecasted results may be.

3A. What marketing strategies did your organisation implement in the qualifying year to attract or maintain visitation to the region, and/or to support the tourism recovery. (8 marks)

This question is looking for a clear understanding of how you are marketing to your target market/s.

Begin by outlining who you have aimed your marketing towards and demonstrate a clear understanding of this market. Consider, for example, who they are, where they are from, how old they are, how they purchase travel, what motivates and inspires them and how your product meets their expectations.

Identify how the target market/s are right for the region. E.g. what research have you conducted or used to determine your target markets?

You should then provide a clear overview of the innovative approaches you have taken to marketing and what you have done differently to attract or maintain visitation to the region within the qualifying period. Consider, for example, social media, digital or interactive advertising, apps, tactical or paid advertising campaigns, relationship marketing, etc.

3B. Why were these strategies chosen and what were the results? (7 marks) 

It is important that the judge understands whether the strategies were developed to support tourism recovery, or whether the strategies were adopted to keep connected to your target market/s during travel restrictions.

Outline why these marketing strategies were selected by aligning them with your target markets attributes as well as, where able, local, regional, or state marketing plans.

Detail how these marketing activities have been successful.

Use metrics to measure the outcomes and consider media coverage, social media engagement, increased web traffic, increased visitation, etc.

4A. How does your organisation provide quality visitor experiences? (8 marks)

This question seeks to understand how your organisation delivers a quality visitor experience throughout the entire visitor experience journey.

Outline the practices the Council have put in place to ensure the delivery of high-quality visitor service during the qualifying year, e.g., how do you make an effort to understand visitor needs, welcome them, and do business with them?

Due to the disruptions of recent events, consider how you provided quality visitor experience in the alternative ways in which you operated, e.g., communicated changing restrictions to visitors, kept visitors informed during closers, how you stayed connected with visitors, etc.

Consider all points of visitor engagement, e.g., email, phone, visitor centres, and interaction during and after the visit.

Outline how you are committed to quality customer service throughout all areas of the organisation. This could include staff training, service principles and policies, etc.

Once you have provided an overview of how customer service is delivered, describe how your organisation monitors and assesses customer service to ensure continued quality delivery and that you are meeting the needs of the visitors. For example, feedback forms, monitoring social media, blogs, etc. Provide a case study/example where you have implemented a change based on customer feedback.

4B. Describe the inclusive practices you integrate across the organisation. (7 marks) 

As a part of your delivery of quality customer experiences you need to demonstrate how you consider visitors’ special and specific needs and recognise the needs of a diverse community. This can include, but is not limited to, cultural, language, physical, intellectual, and other specific needs, e.g., special interest, LGBTQ, etc.

Provide examples of how you catered for visitors with specific needs and explain the outcome or successes. Include a case study to support your answer.

Your response should be focus on the qualifying period.

 5A. How have you considered and progressed your environmental responsibilities during the qualifying period? (5 marks)

This question requires you to outline how the organisation has considered and acted on reducing or improving (whichever applied) your overall impact on the environment during the qualifying period. Consider

the following: o How have you considered your environmental impact? o What have you done to be environmentally responsible?

Some examples of how you demonstrate environmental responsibility are: o Water conservation, waste management/reduction/recycling, fuel and energy reduction, carbon reduction/offset, reuse initiatives in place.

The inclusion of actual measurement data including the amounts saved/reduced in comparison to the previous year (or multiple years if you have good records) will enhance the response.

5B. How have you considered and progressed your social and economic responsibilities during the qualifying period? (7 marks)

This question requires you to outline how the organisation has considered and acted on supporting the local community and businesses during the qualifying period.

For social responsibilities, your response should consider non-monetary examples. Some examples of how you demonstrate social responsibility are:

· Supporting local businesses, sponsorship, engagement with community groups

· Employing locals, mentoring businesses, speaking at events

· Work experience opportunities that are offered

For economic responsibilities, detail how you support the local economy. Some examples of how you can demonstrate economic responsibility are; local purchasing, % of employment of local people, etc.

Your response should include metric examples. Determine the percentage of total contribution. E.g., ‘75% of all our expenses were spent in X region.”.

5C. How have you considered and progressed your ethical responsibilities during the qualifying period? (3 marks)

This question requires you to outline how you have considered and acted on your organisation’s ethical responsibilities during the qualifying period. Some examples of how you demonstrate ethical responsibility are: .

· The engagement and representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people

· Cultural or historical representation, animal welfare etc.