Bendigo Region
Destination Management Plan 2030 & Local Area Action Plans
From October 2023-March 2024, we worked in partnership with Bendigo Regional Tourism and its constituent Councils to develop a Destination Management Plan (DMP) and five Local Area Action Plans (LAAPs).
The ambition for this project was to inspire and unite the region's stakeholders through a shared vision and identify sustainable opportunities across supply, demand, industry and experience development, advocacy, and workforce planning with clear measures of success.
To achieve this, we prioritised deep and considered listening with over 350 community and industry sector stakeholders through a multi-modal approach, including individual in-depth interviews, group workshops (online and in person), a tourism visioning survey. This approach ensured that the DMP and LAAPs reflect accurate regional and local aspirations for tourism and highlight relevant and realistic opportunities to activate a sustainable sector for the region.
The final DMP will be used by Bendigo Regional Tourism (and the newly established Visitor Economy Partnership for Central Victoria) to guide their annual workplan and act as an advocacy tool to attract investment for identified priority projects across the region.
The LAAPs are a localised and aligned strategic plan, that highlights the local area opportunities for tourism, and link seamlessly into the DMP. This will help support a more effective and collaborative approach to tourism and create efficiencies in local investment into the sector to accelerate outcomes. Councils can also use it to create efficiencies in their work plan, and advocate for funding for strategic tourism priority projects.
The DMP & LAAPs are still being endorsed by regional stakeholders as Bendigo Regional Tourism transitions to a Visitor Economy Partnership throughout 2024
