New professional development program to help regional tourism professionals navigate post-lockdown visitor economy

March 4, 2022

Attractions / Education / Marketing / Tourism /

Australian Regional Tourism (ART) has unveiled a comprehensive online professional development training program for local government and tourism professionals.

Launched this week at a meeting of regional tourism organisations in Melbourne, the program has been tailored specifically for regional destinations, aiming to help tourism providers restimulate visitation to regional areas impacted by two years of COVID-related travel restrictions.

The program, sponsored by Tourism Australia, will be delivered online via the Tourism Hub, providing a universally accessible tool for regional tourism industry professionals to better understand the role of the visitor economy in regional communities and best practice industry planning and development.

Coralie Bell, Chair at Australian Regional Tourism, commented "destination managers and tourism managers in the regions don't always have access to professional development and tourism capability building programs. This program has been developed by the regional tourism community, and for the regional tourism community, and sets the minimum level of knowledge required to work effectively within destination development.

"The program is delivered online to enable self-paced learning and accessed via The Tourism Hub. The Tourism Hub is a critical tool for anyone working in the tourism industry and provides a single platform to access everything tourism, from the latest data, research, news, and grant funding programs to digital networking across regions.

ART’s training program will cover 12 modules across a broad spectrum of insightful topics including:

Introduction to tourism and the Australian Tourism Data Warehouse (ATDW)
The importance of social license
Destination management planning
Destination management planning - the implementation phase
Crisis planning
Local Government and the visitor economy
Visitor information centres
Marketing segmentation
Destination marketing
Destination storytelling
Grant writing
Leadership
Regional events

Modules will be delivered by leading tourism professionals including Bell, Rob Dougan of Tourism Australia, Alysia Brandenburg of Ecotourism Australia, Mark Greaves of The Tourism Group, Paul Matthews of the Visitor Economy Tourism Consultancy, Hamish Fell of Fell Consulting, Steve Thompson and Cinnamon Dunsford from Locale Consulting, Linda Tilman at the rEvents Academy, Cara George of Hipscotch, Ali Uren from Kiikstart, Hannah Stratham of Media Mortar, Peter Freeman of Woof Media, Carolyn Childs of My Travel Research and Paige Rowett and Rebecca White from Tourism eSchool.

Costs: $375 ART members and $645 non-ART members while discounted rates are offered for multiple participants.

Click here to participate or become an ART member.

Click here to learn more about The Tourism Hub.

Image: Paddleboarding beneath outback Queensland's Cobbold Gorge Glass Bridge.

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25th October 2021 - Australian Regional Tourism receives funding for National Agritourism Development Program

22nd September 2021 - Australian Regional Tourism adds voice to fears over skills and workforce shortages

20th September 2021 - Australian Regional Tourism critical of governments’ piecemeal response to COVID

2nd August 2021 - National body highlights more funding still needed to rebuild Australia’s regional tourism sector

21st May 2021 - Ballarat to stage 2021 Australian Regional Tourism Convention

20th May 2021 - Queensland campaign aims to fill vacant regional tourism jobs

15th April 2021 - New regional tourism projects approved in South Australia

3rd April 2021 - Program released for 2021 WA Regional Tourism Conference

24th August 2020 - Registrations open for the online 2020 Australian Regional Tourism Convention

10th August 2020 - Geraldton selected to host 2021 WA Regional Tourism Conference

23rd June 2020 - Outback tourism attractions to share in $3 million of funding

1st June 2020 - Specialist support and open borders vital for survival of regional tourism

17th February 2020 - Research shows art experiences can revitalise regional tourism

6th June 2019 - Queensland Government encourages outback tourism through winter

22nd April 2019 - Labor releases election plans to back regional tourism

20th November 2018 - Australian Regional Tourism announces new Chair

21st September 2018 - Australian Regional Tourism Convention to push boundaries

27th July 2018 - Lake Mulwala attraction wins in Adventure Tourism category at Riverina Murray Regional Tourism Awards

26th July 2018 - Australian Regional Tourism launches new Emerging Tourism Professional program

10th May 2018 - ATEC welcomes budget boost for regional tourism

6th March 2017 - NSW Government encourages regional tourism growth

29th August 2016 - Australian Regional Tourism Network calls for Government to ‘get serious’ about tourism

26th August 2016 - Tasmanian Government backs rail trail projects to boost regional tourism

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