VisitCanberra
Facilitated Listening & Strategy Insights Workshop
Project Scope
VisitCanberra are the peak body representing the visitor economy in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT).
To guide the future direction of the visitor economy for the region, the senior leaders of VisitCanberra were tasked by the ACT Chief Minister to develop a long-term Tourism Plan.
The VisitCanberra team approached us to partner with their leadership team to gather insights from industry and community to better understand the challenges, opportunities and priorities for the ACT's visitor economy, which would then underpin the strategic direction for their 2030 Tourism Plan.
Through two connected projects, we facilitated a process of deep and wide engagement and consultation with visitor economy stakeholders, to help craft the vision and direction of the new Plan.
The Process
We supported VisitCanberra with the development of the 2030 ACT Tourism Strategy through two projects:
- Stakeholder Listening Project – In-depth interviews with 31 leaders across the Canberra Region visitor economy, to inform the key challenges, opportunities and priorities for the new Plan.
- Stakeholder Visioning Workshop + Planning – an in-person workshop with visitor economy stakeholders to test and refine opportunities, with the outcome a set of co-created values and mission-led pillars that underpin the Plan.
Stakeholder Listening
To ensure future investment in the visitor economy reflected the diverse needs of community and industry, we facilitated a stakeholder listening project to captured the thoughts and opinions of key stakeholders of the ACT region.
A discussion guide was developed from VisitCanberra's ACT Discussion Paper, which streamlined insights to be captured into a cohesive format ready for easy interpretation.
Over July and August 2022, we scheduled and conducted 31 one hour one-on-one interviews with senior leaders from a diverse range of ACT organisations, including ACT Government Ministers, First Nations leaders, National Capital Attractions, Arts and Cultural Institutions, Private Sector Tourism Operators, Universities and Major Events.
The outcome of the Project was a comprehensive Stakeholder Engagement Report, which outlined key areas of opportunity and consideration around the 2030 Vision, Brand and Positioning, Experience Development, Collaboration and Partnerships and Key Markets.
This was an internal document, which guided the next project (outlined below).
Strategy Insights Workshop + Planning
The purpose of this project was to extend the outcomes of Stakeholder Engagement Report to articulate a co-created vision, and further understand the priorities for the Tourism Plan.
To achieve the outcomes for this project, we facilitated a half day workshop with over 60 participants, from a cross-section of the ACT visitor economy.
Through the workshop, insights were shared regarding the potential for the region's visitor economy, followed by active and collaborative brainstorming activities to further unpack insights from the Stakeholder Engagement Report. Participants also contributed to the co-creation of a shared vision for the industry.
Brainstorming activities included:
- Co-creation of a shared vision for the Canberra Region Visitor Economy, that reflected the quadruple bottom line of Economy, Visitor, Environment and Community
- Testing of Vision Goals
- Prioritisation of Key Challenges and Opportunities from the Engagement Report
- Opportunity Statement Testing
- Co-creation of Values
At the completion of the Industry Workshop, we facilitated an internal workshop with VisitCanberra's leadership team to distil the insights gathered through the workshop, further refine and prioritise insights from workshop, and to provide feedback on their draft Plan.
^ ACT 2030 Tourism Strategy Industry Workshop, October 2022
The Final Strategy
The VisitCanberra team infused the insights gathered from the two projects into a relevant, thoughtful and progressive roadmap that the whole ATC community could be proud of and excited to activate.
Based on our guidance, we were also delighted to see the elevation of the quadruple bottom line as a key measure of success, making it Australia’s first State and Territory Visitor Economy strategy to focus equal weighting on the four tenets when it comes to measuring the success of the Visitor Economy.
We believe this Plan is a genuine lighthouse strategy for Australia, for which other destinations can use for inspiration as they undertake their future planning frameworks.
The Tourism Collective is a safe pair of hands, because of their professionalism and experience across a range of visitor destinations.
Paige, Rebecca and Jaclyn were integral to the development of T2030, the ACT Tourism Strategy, entrusted with managing consultations with the tourism industry and critical stakeholders, including Ministers. They also facilitated a successful visioning workshop with 60+ industry representatives. Aside from the consultations and workshop, we engaged in very productive and thought-provoking discussions with the team, which helped clarify our thinking and shaped the direction of our strategy.