Specialty areas

Visitor servicing and engagement is a key component to increasing the time and dollars spent in Melbourne and Regional Victoria. I chaired a Visitor Servicing working group at Visit Victoria with industry, Regional Tourism Boards, Local government and State government representation. The future is clear.

A blended approach of face to face and digital servicing is key to reaching the widest possible market and providing the best possible engagement. I developed a visitor servicing strategy for East Gippsland Shire Council in 2022 and in 2024 I'm developing a visitor servicing strategy for the region of Daylesford Macedon Ranges in addition to project managing others in the Grampians region.

Today fewer visitors want to be identified as tourists - they want to seek out experiences that immerse them in a destination. They want to live like a local enjoying the best a destination has to offer so local knowledge and insight is more valuable than ever before.

The primary role of digital channels in marketing and visitor engagement needs to evolve and adapt. Right now, we have the perfect opportunity to capitalise on a visitor driven approach by using digital channels to complement physical ones more than ever before. 

Visitors are involved and inspired at all stages of the decision making and planning cycle – through advertising, publicity, online content, review sites, social media and word-of-mouth stories and recommendations from friends and family. 

COVID-19 has deeply impacted the industry and has changed the way many organisations operate, accelerating changes that were already occurring in the way visitors access visitor information.

If you would like help on how to improve your visitor engagement through a more collaborative visitor servicing approach including a review of existing Visitor Information Centres,  don’t hesitate to contact me. The goal of effective visitor engagement is getting the visitor to stay in region longer, spend more and return so much they want to live there!

Mentoring is all about developing a business and its people to ensure it is relevant in the visitor economy space with connections to surrounding product and tourism organisations.  Over the years I’ve mentored many businesses both in my role as Victorian Tourism Awards mentor and privately as a consultant.  

These businesses include:

The Australian Grand Prix, The Australian Open, Sea Life Melbourne Aquarium, Cave Hill Creek accommodation, Crown Metropol, Space Hotel. Greenhouse backpackers, Frankston Visitor Information Centre, Ovens Valley Motor Inn, Crown College, Old Melbourne Gaol, Eerie Tours and RACV Inverloch Resort. 

The Tourism Awards process is a great way for a business to work on the business as opposed to working in the business. The rigour involved in submitting a successful awards entry is a great way to examine business planning and strategy, marketing, customer service, innovation and sustainability. 

I’ve also mentored individuals through a unique personal brand and development module I developed back in 2012. While I haven’t written a book on it yet, it’s not too far off. If you are keen to discuss one on one mentoring, I’m happy to have a no obligation chat to see if this is something you would like to do.

The future belongs to those people who see possibilities before they become obvious. I approach project management with a people led process that has successfully worked for me when leading project teams and working with a variety of stakeholders. Communication and collaboration is key.

Recent projects include the Destination Managment Plan for the Daylesford Macedon Ranges (2023), Feasibility Study - Daylesford to Hanging Rock Rail Trail and train line extension (2023), Visitor Servicing Strategy Grampians Tourism (2024) and Visitor Inspiration Passport project including off grid information kiosks and app for Grampians Tourism (2024). 

There is a leadership saying that I truly believe helps the successful delivery of any project. “Our performance is driven by our behaviours; our behaviours are driven by our emotions and our emotions are driven by our thinking.” Thinking is at the core of our performance. We are often our own biggest critics. So, helping people think more positively can really help create successful teams and rewarding projects. 

Over the years I’ve project managed and led some great teams with some big stuff. Developing tramTRACKER a real time tram arrival system when I was at Yarra Trams has stood the test of time with millions of users now having the app on their phone. 

Other projects include a major website, intranet and digital overhaul at VicRoads, Silo climb feasibility study for the Llew Shillings Silo in Rainbow (now funded), Visitor Servicing Information to Inspiration project (Visit Victoria), Development and management of Quiet Carriages (V/Line), City Cat Ferry Brisbane Ferry tender in 2003 (Transdev), Review of the Victorian Tourism Awards 2010 (Tourism Victoria) and a review of integrated transport in Melbourne (Destination Melbourne). 

It would be remiss of me not to mention the numerous marketing, communications and engagement teams I have led over the journey, including some memorable and award-winning campaigns in both the transport and tourism space. 

If you have a project that you would like some assistance with, don’t hesitate to drop me a line or shout it out loud. There’s a good chance someone will hear you. 

A Destination Management Plan (DMP) or tourism strategy is usually focused on two main areas. Marketing the destination and developing the destination. It’s about taking control, rather than seeing what the market serves up based on what the destination currently has. My experience with Destination Planning covers all regions in Victoria with recent work in the Daylesford Macedon Ranges, Wimmera Mallee and Grampians regions. I've also managed Local Area Action Plans for local government which supports the framework for a DMP.

What is a good DMP?

A good DMP is about identifying what you have that is unique and getting people to know about it, visit and spend money. It’s about discovering what is missing and then working out a plan to prioritise development and investment that will sustain long term growth in the visitor economy. 

In my time at Visit Victoria, I was involved directly in the development of the Destination Gippsland DMP and the Wimmera Mallee DMP. I’ve also been involved in the latest Great Ocean Road Masterplan which takes DMPs to another level using an interactive platform. Good destination planning at a regional or local level through Local Tourism Action Plans is a great way to get on the Governments radar about current and future investment opportunities. 

Good destination planning should reduce duplication of activities, have measurable deliverables and provide a blueprint for economic growth. Overall, a destination needs to cut through the sea of sameness to offer something that visitors find instagramable, memorable and above all, enjoyable. In my time in tourism, I’ve seen some great examples of destination planning and some not so great. A key to the success of any destination plan is the input and ownership of stakeholders including the community. Yes, a secret of any success DMP is engagement, engagement and a bit more engagement.

If you would like to talk about destination planning, drop me a line or just draw a line in the sand and ask me to cross it. 

Dark tourism has been defined as tourism involving travel to places historically associated with death and tragedy. But the main attraction to dark locations is their historical value rather than their associations with death and suffering. Well that is unless you are a paranormal investigator or a curious punter on a ghost tour. 

I got into visiting haunted locations back in 2017 as I was simply curious. I didn’t believe, but I didn’t not believe either. I had this idea of trying to write songs in graveyards and haunted locations with a close mate.

Now before you get all spooky Mulder or sceptical Scully on me, it’s not such a weird thing. Really. It’s about history, travel, new experiences and discovery. Okay so maybe it was a little supernatural here and there but planning our numerous trips and writing songs has now become a thing we do. 

My travelling companion on my paranormal trips is also curious. He’s a paramedic. While he does an amazing job saving people’s lives he’s also seen his fair share of people die, mostly the old, sometimes the young, most by natural causes, some by accident. He simply wanted to know if the end was the end. Fair enough.

We’ve now done about a dozen trips in Victoria, NSW and a little of QLD. Sometimes short overnighters, other times weeks at a time. Curiosity should never be underestimated. When you travel with plans for adventure and discovery, the trip becomes so much more memorable. 

I’ve connected to many dark tourism operators along the way. While still a niche market, it’s a growing market. Some people want to be scared, tackle their fears or just simply do something different. You can check out the interview I did with a friend that runs Eerie Tours at Aradale Lunatic Asylum in Ararat by clicking here.

So why I am I saying all this? I believe that this niche will continue to grow, and businesses need support to tap into this emerging market. It all needs to be done respectfully of course but if you have a resident ghost or idea about Dark Tourism, I’II be pleased to not only investigate, but offer business advice and even write a song. So rattle your chains and drop me a line. This I do at no charge. 

I was going to tell a time travelling joke, but you didn’t like it. 

My jokes come free of charge. I don’t tend to script them, they just come out. I find laugher and humour one of the best enablers for building relationships and creating lasting memories. 

I’ve got funny stories about myself. I’m an easy target. Dad jokes are more than funny jokes that happen to be told by dads. Dad jokes intersect with all different kinds of  dumb humour, but they share a mysterious but unmistakable quality: being equal parts cheesy and sometimes hilarious.

Plus, whether the laughs arrive or not, a good clean joke never fails to lighten the mood, bring down everyone’s defences, and encourage the audience not to take themselves so seriously. 

If you have a special function where you need that balance of experience and humour, maybe even a bit of a song on guitar, I'm happy to oblige. I've done plenty of MC gigs and for some reason, I keep getting asked back. Probably not because of the dad jokes but I tend to keep people nodding off!