Experience Development Strategies
Guidelines for Australia’s National
Landscape Steering Committees
Second edition
May 2012
CONTENTS
Purpose of the document
Key terms
About Australia’s National Landscapes Program
Introducing the Experience Seeker
Destination Positioning and National Landscapes
Introducing the Experience Development Strategy
Essential partners in EDS development
Essential requirements of an EDS
A checklist for reviewing your EDS
EDS success factors – suggested prompts and checks
Where to from here?
Annual implementation plan and review
Appendix 1: Stages in the Experience Development process
Attachment A: Template for statement of requirements
Attachment B: Template for an EDS implementation plan
Purpose of the document
This document aims to provide guidance to the National Landscapes Steering Committees as you prepare your Experience Development Strategies (EDS). The Guidelines draw on lessons learnt from the EDS produced by the Australian Alps, Australia’s Coastal Wilderness, the Flinders Ranges, Great Ocean Road and Cairns-Townsville region.
Each National Landscape is at a different stage in its tourism development cycle and faces varying challenges, issues and opportunities in a quest to deliver a strong destination and globally competitive visitor experiences to the target market. Program Managers, Parks Australia and Tourism Australia are available to assist with specific queries as they arise.
Key terms
Experience Development Strategy (EDS) – A planning tool to facilitate focused destination development and marketing, based on the National Landscapes Destination Positioning. The EDS aims to improve the stock of world class visitor experiences to the Experience Seeker market, providing pathways to increase tourism’s contribution to conservation within the National Landscape.
Tourism experience – The emotions, feelings and sensations generated by the people met, places visited, activities participated in and memories created by travel, through watching, tasting, smelling, touching, listening and being part of a culture or lifestyle that is distinctly different from everyday life and that reaches an individual’s deep needs and desires.
Tourism product – The commodities, goods or services (a tour, museum, attraction, hotel room or restaurant) that are made available for sale to visitors by tourism destinations and businesses.
Tourism activity – Recreational activities, pastimes, exercise or pursuits (snorkelling, walking, riding) affording relaxation and enjoyment that are commonly offered to visitors, yet may be undertaken in a wide variety locations (ie: snorkelling may be done in your local pool or anywhere in the world).
Signature experience – An experience that is authentic and unique to a National Landscape. It can be a combination of activities, personal encounters or interactions within the Landscapes that connects the visitor to the environment,
culture and heritage. Also referred to as a ‘hero’, ‘iconic’ or ‘distinctive’ experience.
Signature product – An authentic and unique tourism product (or service) that enables the visitor to access the signature experience.
Positioning – The Destination Positioning identifies the National Landscape’s unique point of difference and competitive edge in the market place. It is ‘experience’ driven and drawn from the Landscape’s distinctive natural and cultural environment. It includes a positioning statement which sets out the ‘emotional essence’ or connection to the signature experiences offered.
The Positioning is not about an advertising campaign, logo or
a tag line.
The Experience Seeker – A global target market, existing in both the domestic and international markets that is identified by Tourism Australia as being the most responsive to Australia’s tourism offering.
About Australia’s National Landscapes Program
Australia’s spectacular landscapes, encompassing unique ecological and cultural features, are our greatest tourism asset. Combined with one of the world’s oldest living cultures and our enviable Australian lifestyle, our natural landscapes make Australia one of the world’s most desirable visitor destinations.
Australia’s National Landscapes Program is a partnership between tourism and conservation. The program aims to:
•Promote Australia’s world class, high quality visitor experiences;
•Increase the value of tourism to regional economies;
•Enhance the role of protected areas in those economies; and
•Build support for protecting our natural and cultural assets
The Program was inspired by the need to make Australia’s wealth of over 9,000 national parks, protected areas, and reserves “accessible” to our domestic and international visitors. It seeks to differentiate Australia’s iconic natural and cultural destinations, and improve the delivery of quality visitor experiences throughout these areas and their surrounding regions. By highlighting our natural tourism assets, the Program aims to promote and support the conservation of some of Australia’s most distinct and rich environments.
Ultimately, this Program will provide customers with new and engaging tourism experiences within Australia’s most remarkable natural landscapes in a way that not only encourages increased length of stay and dispersal, but also actively contributes to their sustainability and protection for the long term.
Defined by the world class visitor experience on offer, each National Landscape extends beyond protected area boundaries and jurisdictional borders. This focus on Australia’s natural and cultural assets and world class experiences encourages collaboration across wide stakeholder interests.
Figure: Map of Australia’s National Landscapes
How does the National Landscapes Program work?
Australia’s National Landscapes program is not a funding program, nor is it an advertising campaign. It is not about being all things to all people. The program encourages FOCUS.
Success of Australia’s National Landscapes Program is based on the Landscapes actively pursuing ‘the
five Ps’:
Figure: ‘The five Ps’ of Australia’s National Landscapes
Partnerships
Essential to the success of the Program is stakeholder collaboration: tourism organisations and operators working with protected area agencies, local councils, conservation groups, government agencies, and Indigenous communities.
Australia’s National Landscapes Program advocates partnerships at all levels and challenges participants to work together and ‘think big’.
Point of Difference
Each Landscape, through a series of workshops and research, uncovers their unique ‘point of difference’ and the experiences that make them world class. This piece of work, known as Destination Positioning, is then used to form a strategic framework for planning, regional tourism development, and marketing.
Planning
Each Landscape must prepare an Experience Development Strategy (EDS), the Landscape’s key to focused destination management planning.
As each National Landscape implements the actions from its EDS,
it creates ‘new news’ for Tourism Australia to promote to the world.
Protection
Protecting the natural and cultural values of the National Landscapes (the basis for the Positioning) is central to ensuring the Landscapes’ economic sustainability. Protection of the natural environment is a key aim of the Program, through increasing visitor appreciation of the environmental and cultural values and encouraging contributions from the tourism industry to conservation initiatives.
Promotion
Opportunities associated with being a National Landscape are significant, and include a dedicated marketing program led by Tourism Australia.
For more information on the National Landscapes Program visit Tourism Australia’s website here or Parks Australia’s website here.
What does success look like?
Program participants have identified their vision for how the National Landscapes might look in
10 years time. This can be used as a guide to check if your EDS maps out suitable priority projects and directions for the Landscape to achieve the vision. Click here for further information.
Introducing the Experience Seeker
The global Experience Seeker market has been identified as the most responsive to Australia’s tourism assets by Tourism Australia. Searching for unique and touching personal experiences, Experience Seekers are more likely to disperse to regional areas, stay longer and spend more. The focus of the National Landscapes Program and the EDS is attracting and meeting the needs of the Experience Seeker market.
Constituting around 30 to 50 percent of all long haul travellers, Experience Seekers are well educated, worldly, media and marketing savvy. Experience Seekers are a ‘global market’, and include Australians who shop globally for their travel experiences. Experience Seekers are not found in a particular demographic – they share a mindset and motivations.
The National Landscapes Program recognises that both the domestic market, and international visitors will be attracted to ‘world’s best’ experiences within the National Landscapes. Visitation to Tourism Australia’s National Landscapes consumer website highlights the appeal of this content to a global audience, with Australians representing the second largest group of visitors to the site.
Experience Seekers are a particularly desirable market as they are opinion leaders and therefore likely to influence other tourists to follow their lead in visiting the National Landscapes regions.
For more comprehensive information on the Experience Seeker market click here.
What is an Experience?
An experience is different to a product or location. An experience is formed by the combination of activity, setting, social interaction and the personal connection that arises. An experience engages the senses; it is physical, emotional or spiritual (or all three). An experience offers discovery and learning, and creates strong memories.
A deeply touching and personal experience will lead your visitors to talk about the unique elements of your destination, and grab the attention and imagination of future visitors. Experiences enhance the basic products and services to add value and create higher yield opportunities. Experiences go beyond nice places and good views, instead they connect visitors to the place – the environment and culture.
For more information and a guide to developing experience based tourism, click here
Experiences spectrum
The following diagram show the process for moving from offering just individual commodities, products and services to offering compelling experiences:
Australia’s National Landscapes Program “Hierarchy of Experiences” concept
The supporting visitor experiences (guided walks, 4WD tours etc) provide a variety of alternative ways for the visitors to access elements of the signature experiences, at various price points. While a signature product may offer exclusivity and be pitched at upper ends of the market, its marketing profile helps build potential visitor aspirations and interest. The supporting visitor experiences and product are then positioned to leverage off the interest created.
Case Study – Flinders Ranges signature experiences
Destination Positioning and National Landscapes
‘Experience’ driven, National Landscapes Destination Positioning identifies your competitive advantage in the market, capturing a sense of what makes your region’s natural and cultural environment unique and meaningful in the eyes of your target audience.
Your National Landscape Positioning, developed in partnership with Tourism Australia and local stakeholders, includes a Positioning Statement which sets out the “emotional essence” of your world class offering. Your Positioning identifies an offering that is either unique in the world, or able to be benchmarked against world competitors, and illustrates your competitive edge. The Positioning Statement offers a point of connection for your whole region to hook into – consumers, tourism operators, conservation organisations, media and government.
National Landscape Positioning acts as a framework for all actions and communications. It is the foundation of your EDS. Your positioning is the template for the delivery of your unique visitor experiences.
For more information on your National Landscape Destination Positioning and how to use it as a strategic tool for your region contact Tourism Australia here.
Introducing the Experience Development Strategy
An Experience Development Strategy (EDS) is a tool to facilitate focused destination planning, development and marketing. It is based on the National Landscape’s Destination Positioning (your competitive edge), and aims to improve the stock of world class experiences - the region’s offer to the global Experience Seeker market - and provide pathways to increase tourism’s contribution to conservation within the National Landscape.
The EDS is a core part of participating in the National Landscapes Program, and follows on from the Destination Positioning work. It is the key to delivering the ‘core promise’ identified in the positioning process.
Progression to an EDS
The EDS requires a collaborative process – the importance of developing the EDS through wide consultation is fundamental as it will ensure you capture stakeholder ideas, priorities and foster ownership of the Strategy. The EDS will use the destination’s positioning to define distinct visitor experiences and then determine essential requirements for delivery. This may include: new or improved products, partnerships, facilities, services, access, communication, interpretation, marketing visitor management and infrastructure, and ways to better protect the environment or engage visitors.
The EDS does not work in isolation
The EDS will draw on existing plans and strategies, and influences all future planning.
Linkages between existing and future priorities, plans and strategies and the EDS
The EDS focuses solely on what is required to deliver and sustain internationally competitive natural and cultural visitor experiences, based on the Landscape’s positioning. These experiences will appeal to Experience Seekers from Australia and international markets.
The Experiences Development Strategy should answer the following questions:
•What are the current and potential signature visitor experiences within your National Landscape?
•How can delivery be improved to make experiences truly world class?
•Where are the experiences best delivered? How can the experiences be linked and promoted around
clusters / activity centres or journeys?
•What facilities, services and infrastructure are needed to support the visitor experience?
•What information should be developed to enhance delivery and connect with the target market?
The EDS does not aim to address all tourism or recreation activities; nor is it a comprehensive approach to regional tourism or national park visitation. It is important that the EDS draws on existing plans and strategies and that it is used to influence future planning processes.
The EDS needs to identify initiatives that will take National Landscapes ‘to the next level,’ towards a clear vision for iconic and world class experiences. It should clearly set out what distinctive world class experiences (existing or potential) can be offered to the target market to set the destination apart, globally.
Identifying very clear and strategic priorities will result in National Landscapes being well positioned to:
•provide opportunities for visitors to experience, and contribute to the conservation of the best of our environment and culture;
•increase community appreciation and understanding of natural and cultural assets and how they can be conserved;
•Identify partnership opportunities between tourism, conservation and the public and private sectors;
•identify product development and infrastructure opportunities that stimulate investment;
•increase length of stay and regional expenditure through increased quality and distinctiveness of Australia’s tourism product offering
An EDS - developed on a foundation of regional partnerships and stakeholder consultation, resulting in clearly defined, agreed priorities - is a useful tool for agencies and investors to prioritise their investments. A succinct list of priority projects, highlighting the Landscape’s positioning and vision for the region’s future as a ‘World’s Best’ destination, can be a powerful way of charting the future.
National Landscapes that have already developed their EDS can use their priority projects as a 'prospectus.'
The main purpose of the EDS, once developed, is to guide joint implementation of priorities. Government agencies and private investors have increased confidence that their investments are aligned with long term priorities, and can see the benefits of linking in with the marketing and partnership opportunities provided by National Landscapes.
Not all priority projects will have funding allocated or be resourced within current budgets and programs. However, by including a combination of ‘blue sky’ projects and projects that can be achieved in the shorter term or within current resourcing, the Landscape will be able to make steady progress while working towards a bigger picture.
Case Study – Australia’s Coastal Wilderness
Australia’s Coastal Wilderness (ACW) completed its EDS in November 2010. The EDS identified 21 Priority One projects, and a series of 25 Priority Two and Three projects. The region has found that the process of bringing together a diverse range of stakeholders, and establishing firm cross border partnerships, has focused stakeholder effort and greatly increased confidence in experience development.
ACW regularly reviews its progress on implementation of the EDS and, as at early 2012, reports significant progress in implementation of almost 25% of the Priority Projects. This includes significant progress on projects that were included in the EDS as ‘blue sky’, unfunded projects.
Establishing and communicating consistent messages about the region’s priorities has led to success in attracting investment in large initiatives such as: the Light to Light Walk; a Sapphire Coast Heritage Study which has been used to identify key ‘stories’ and themes for the region, and; developing experiences associated with The Bundian Way.
Essential partners in EDS development
An EDS is a blueprint for your region’s future as a world class destination. It is the planning tool that, once implemented, will elevate your region’s status as ‘the best in the world’ for delivering the experience outlined in your National Landscape Positioning.
Given the role your EDS will play in taking the National Landscape forward, it needs to be based on a wide level of stakeholder support and commitment. Priority projects need to be agreed to and endorsed by stakeholders responsible for funding and delivery of projects.