Dear Colleagues,
January is always a month that bursts with vibrancy and energy and makes us happy to be in Melbourne!
January 2024 will go down in the record books however, as the year that the Australian Open broke all previous attendance records – cracking 1.02 million people through its gates to witness the magic that is Melbourne’s version of a Grand Slam event. And that’s before we consider the eye-wateringly impressive broadcast audiences from across the globe.
Tennis Australia put on an unforgettable show, and enormous congratulations to Craig Tiley and all of the Tennis Australia team for creating an event that every year just makes us so proud to be Victorians.
Speaking of records, we broke a little record of our own this week, with 630 participants registered to attend the very special Insight Series webinar we conducted with our partners at Visit Victoria.
The first webinar for 2024 was a real show-stopper, as Visit Victoria’s CEO, Brendan McClements, was joined by Chief Marketing Officer, Shae Kennan, and Group Manager of Programs and Marketing, Charles Deuchrass as they outlined the thinking behind the launch of Victoria’s new destination campaign, Every Bit Different.
Shae stepped the industry through a detailed analysis of the campaign’s genesis, the media plans, and the incredible promotional activity to support the launch, while Chuck shared how the industry can get involved and the opportunities to leverage the new brand in their own marketing activities.
Importantly, Brendan dissected Victoria’s tourism performance based on recent data and outlined the enormous potential for the destination to excel on the global stage and continue our aggressive growth trajectory over the next five years.
These Insight Series events that we bring to our industry are intended to share with you information that isn’t readily available elsewhere, and the Visit Victoria team did not disappoint. I want to sincerely thank Brendan, Shae, and Chuck, not just for their generosity of time, but for their openness and candour in sharing so much intel with the viewers of our broadcast.
And speaking of broadcast, this was no ordinary webinar! Thanks to our friends at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Center, we were able to present a professional broadcast of the webinar content courtesy of support from their amazing AV team.
We often say these events are not to be missed, but this was one session that was truly invaluable for the participants joining the broadcast.
Finally, I want to remind you of an important survey that was distributed to our members earlier this week.
Later this month, the Board of VTIC will be meeting to shape our priorities and strategic direction for the next three years. Ahead of this important undertaking, we are keen to understand the views and insights of our members on what you value as part of our current service delivery, the areas where we could improve our offerings to better support your business needs, and what do you see as the most critical issues for VTIC to have on its advocacy radar in the year ahead.
With this as a backdrop, we have designed a short survey that will allow us to bring your views to the Board’s explorations of our strategic imperatives out to 2027.
I would ask that you please take 10 minutes of your time to complete this survey, so we ensure that our focus is aligned with the priorities of operators that comprise our vibrant visitor economy in Victoria. The Survey will close on Thursday 8 February 2024.
By participating in this survey, you also have a chance to win one ticket to the 2024 VTIC Vision Summit on 16 April (more information on this event to be announced soon), along with one night's accommodation at the Brady Apartment Hotel on Hardware Lane in the city.
I really do hope you will make the time to support this important process. VTIC is YOUR industry association and your views matter deeply to us.
Regards,
Felicia
