We thought it was time to get to know Grant O'Brien, the new Chair of Tourism Tasmania, better. Having grown up in the state's north-west, Grant began employment with Woolworths in the mid-80s as an Assistant Accountant. By 2011, he'd risen through the ranks to become CEO and Managing Director at Woolworths Limited, a position he held until 2016. 

Not one to rest on his laurels, Grant's "retirement" saw him go on to be appointed Chair of the Port Arthur Historic Site Management Authority in 2019, a role that fitted the mould of his desire to give back to the local community. It was here that Grant's appreciation for Tassie's sweet spot as a visitor destination was cemented, and it's with these insights that he brought his enthusiasm and passion for the state to his role with Tourism Tasmania in October last year. 

In today's episode, TICT's Luke Martin chats with Grant about what he sees as priorities for the Tasmanian tourism industry, and you might be surprised to find that he doesn't think attracting visitation is up there. He also unpacks the most surprising parts of coming into the industry from a non-tourism background, and even offers his opinion on whether Tassie will get its own AFL team!

Today’s episode is brought to you by our partner, Steadfast Taswide. Steadfast Taswide is part of the largest insurance broker network in Australasia. With close to 50 staff located across offices in Hobart, Launceston, Devonport and Burnie, they offer a full suite of business insurance advice, and all Tourism Accredited businesses who engage Steadfast Taswide Insurance Brokers receive a 25% discount on their annual Tourism Accreditation fees. No catch, it’s just a small incentive to encourage you to support a Tasmanian business. Thanks to Steadfast Taswide for their generous support of TICT and for helping to make this episode of Talking Tourism possible.Tourism Industry Council Tasmania
TICT is the peak industry body for the Tasmanian tourism industry. 

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Talking Tourism Episode 97 - Why Tassie's In A Sweet Spot with Grant O'Brien

Welcome to Talking Tourism, your go-to resource to learn the ins and outs of running a tourism business in today’s changing world.

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Former physiotherapist, 2012 Masterchef Australia finalist, and most recently CEO of Sydney's Lotus Dining Group, Mindy Woods is currently studying sustainable horticulture and bush food with the goal of protecting native foods, the environment and re-igniting Indigenous culture.

 You must taste a culture to truly understand it. That’s why Mindy, a proud First Nations woman, opened her very own native inspired restaurant Karkalla on Ancestral country, creating opportunities for indigenous and non-indigenous people to connect with Aboriginal culture, art, and stories through food.

 Visit Northern Tasmania CEO, Tracey Mallett, sat down with Mindy at the 2023 Tasmanian Tourism Conference where they discussed all things native Tasmanian food and the many ways in which this can be incorporated into tourism and hospitality businesses. If you are into your food – and let’s be honest, who isn’t? – then you must give this episode a listen. 

 Food is a natural connector – you already have people’s buy-in before they take their first bite. But there’s so many opportunities to tell the story behind the food. Mindy explains how we, as Australians, come from the land of the original storytellers. We come from such a rich and abundant culture, and we often forget this and what’s in our own backyards. Australians travel elsewhere for food experiences, but we have the world’s oldest surviving civilisation and ingredients right here.

 Behind every producer and their land is a great story to tell, and it’s by collaborating and connecting with others – especially the Tasmanian Aboriginal community – that you discover what this story is and how you can share it with visitors and locals alike. It is within these conversations and learnings that positive impact is maximised. 

 Today’s episode is brought to you by our partner, VXT. VXT is a purpose-built organization with the sole purpose to train a hospitality and tourism workforce to deliver the Tasmanian workforce. VXT offers an array of industry-led, outcome-focused training courses both online and around Tasmania. Thanks to VXT for their generous support of TICT and for helping to make this episode of Talking Tourism possible.

Talking Tourism Episode 145 - Positive impact through food with Mindy Woods

Talking Tourism Episode 144 – Tourism strategy…without the BS with Tom Wootton & Anne Greentree.

 Both Tom and Anne have had (and continue to have) an incredible influence on tourism in Tasmania. Among many things, Tom was the inaugural CEO of the regional tourism organisation, West by North West. Whereas, Anne has spent the past four years as the Director Visitor Economy Strategy at Tourism Tasmania. While in this role, Anne has worked alongside the state government and industry to develop the 2030 Visitor Economy Strategy – which is now live (and can be read here). 

 In today’s episode, TICT CEO Amy Hills sits down with Tom and Anne to chat all about tourism strategy – a topic which they delivered a Day 1 workshop at the 2023 Tasmanian Tourism Conference.

 Whether you are starting out fresh in the industry, or thinking it’s time to review , having a strategy in place for your business doesn’t have to be a daunting task. Tom and Anne say to simplify it into 3 steps: your current state, your future state, and the steps in between. Ask yourself: What am I doing now? Where do I want to be? What are the steps to get there? 

 However, it is important that you also take into consideration the future vision of the tourism industry as a whole and the future vision for Tasmania as a destination. This is where the 2030 Visitor Economy Strategy comes in. Not only does it detail the vision, values and themes, but it shares the forecasting work which has been undertaken to understand the global and domestic factors of what future demand could look like for Tasmania. 

 Strategy is different from operator to operator, but every business needs a purpose and vision. All it takes is to think about how you are different from your competitors and how you complement the Tasmanian brand. It is important that the steps you take to achieve this vision are SMART: Specific; Measurable; Achievable; Relevant; and Time-bound. 

 Today’s episode is brought to you by our partner, Cumulus Studio. Cumulus Studio is an award-winning architecture and interior design practice with offices in Hobart, Launceston, Melbourne and Adelaide Among its most notable Tasmanian tourism designs are the award-winning Cradle Mountain Visitor Centre and the iconic Pumphouse Point. Thanks to Cumulus Studio for their generous support of TICT and for helping to make this episode of Talking Tourism possible.

Talking Tourism Episode 144 - Tourism Strategy...without the BS with Tom Wootton & Anne Greentree

Recognised as one of Australia’s nine most influential female entrepreneurs, Hailey Brown has become a catalyst for change within the tourism industry. Upon recognising that blind and low-vision tourists were precluded from travelling as tourism marketing is visual, she created the world’s first sensory audio tourism app, Vacayit. She is highly experienced in the field of accessible tourism, universal design, inclusion, and diversity and aims to drive positive societal change around how destinations and operators market their experiences.

 Visit Northern Tasmania’s Chief Executive Officer, Tracey Mallett, sits down with Hailey at the 2023 Tasmanian Tourism Conference where she presented on how tourism operators can market their inclusive tourism experience.

 Hailey gets straight to the point and says it all comes down to operators making a start and simply considering people with disability. Ask yourself the question, are you thinking of every single customer? 1 in 5 people live with disability in Australia – and this includes a vast array of physical and mental disabilities. Start off by targeting one, and the continue to build off that.

 Further to this, Hailey says it’s about both infrastructure and experience. It’s more than just widening a doorway or putting a ramp in – it’s about every touchpoint of the visitor journey. Resources such as Tourism Australia as well as peak bodies and service providers have lots of information that will point you in the right direction to get started. But it all starts by asking and listening to people with disability – asking the question, what can make your experience better?

 Disability awareness training for your staff is a very good starting point as it will teach your staff to be welcoming of everyone. There is also a lot of opportunity within technology. Hailey’s organisation, Vacayit, creates immersive sensory audio guides for people who are blind and vision impaired off the back of recognising an obvious gap in how tourism operators were marketing their products and experiences purely off of sight alone.

 Hailey is hopeful that Tasmania’s tourism industry – one that thrives off of working collaboratively – can lead the way in accessible tourism experiences.  

 If you want to take that first step and to look at your business through an accessible lens, please contact Hannah Lang, our Quality Tourism Advisor, who can provide you free access to complete the Accessibility Accreditation Module. Email us at info@tict.com.au. 

 Today’s episode is brought to you by our partner, Tasmania Parks & Wildlife Service. PWS presents, protects and manages Tasmania’s extraordinary landscapes in partnership with the community. They work to conserve the state’s natural and cultural heritage while providing for sustainable use and economic opportunities for the Tasmanian community. Thanks to Tasmania Parks & Wildlife for their generous support of TICT and for helping to make this episode of Talking Tourism possible.

Talking Tourism Episode 143 - How to market your inclusive tourism experience with Hailey Brown

Taihlaura Denman-Francis is a Managing Marketing Consultant at Kingthing. In this role, Taihlaura enjoys the thrill of dreaming up big ideas for her clients. She has an undeniable passion for all things in the digital space, and her favourite things are strategic planning, marketing tactics, social media management and digital advertising. Taihlaura is also a Launceston Tamar Valley Tourism Association (LTVTA) committee member, where she’s been able to use her marketing prowess to provide more avenues for tourism operators in the area to discuss, share and learn.

 Taihlaura delivered an insightful workshop at this year’s Tourism Conference, titled ‘Designing effectively on Canva’ and in today’s episode, she sits down with Tom Wootton to chat all about it. 

 For those who are not aware of Canva, it is a simple to use, cloud-based design platform which can assist you to design anything you can possibly think of – social media tiles, letters, invites, logos, business cards, email signatures etc. Instead of using an app such as Microsoft PowerPoint, Canva is an online tool which you can access via the internet. There is a free version or a pro version for the cheap price of $164.99 per year (which is cheaper than Netflix!).

 Taihlaura explains some simple yet important design techniques and things to avoid doing, such as ‘font frenzy’, the use of negative space in your design, not over-crowding content and keeping the use of colour to a minimum.

 We’ve all heard, ‘less is more’ but Taihlaura explains how important this truly is when designing effective marketing material. Tourism products and experiences are often communicated visually, which means investing time and energy into a platform like Canva can go a long way to creating high-quality material that makes you stand out from the crowd. Digital marketing doesn’t have to be daunting – just jump onto Canva and give it a go!

 Today’s episode is brought to you by our partner, the Department of State Growth. The Department of State Growth brings together four interrelated divisions developing a strategic approach that drives economic growth, and supports the community, industry, and business in the creation of jobs and opportunities for Tasmanians. Thanks to the Department of State Growth for their generous support of TICT and for helping to make this episode of Talking Tourism possible.

Talking Tourism Episode 142 - Design effectively on Canva with Taihlaura Denman-Francis

Nic Cooper is a Regenerative Tourism Specialist at The Tourism Collective but is also a small business owner on the Mornington Peninsula. He has extensive experience spanning destination marketing, product development, and customer engagement with a particular passion and expertise for sustainable and regenerative tourism.

 Visit Northern Tasmania CEO, Tracey Mallet, sits down with Nic at the 2023 Tasmanian Tourism Conference where he delivered a Day 1 workshop about regenerative tourism. 

 For those not aware of regenerative tourism, Nic says it can mean different things to different people, however he essentially boils it down to ‘doing tourism for good’. It’s all about going beyond sustainability and instead having a long-term positive impact on the community and environment. The benefits of regenerative tourism are all-encompassing, but for tourism businesses particularly, it can help attract more customers as well as making you more marketable. This is especially important for Tasmania as it manages the balance between protecting the things that make it different and growing the visitor economy. 

 Tracey and Nic delve into the tips and tricks on how tourism businesses can enter the regenerative tourism space, and the key piece of advice is to simply make a start. Nic says it’s about progress, not perfection. It’s not a tick-box exercise, but continuous work. Ask yourself the question, ‘what are the negative impacts of our business and how can we change them into a positive?’ Start with the short-term, immediate changes you can make and then map out the middle to long-term goals. 

 Today’s episode is brought to you by our partner, Hype TV. As a complete production house, Hype has the capability to facilitate the entire production process from concept creation through to media delivery. Hype’s core production team consists of industry professionals with decades of experience, and they also have an extensive network of production crews across Tasmania to tailor to your needs. Thanks to Hype TV for their generous support of TICT and for helping to make this episode of Talking Tourism possible.

Talking Tourism Episode 97 - Why Tassie's In A Sweet Spot with Grant O'Brien

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