Talking Tourism

You might recognise TICT’s Luke Martin and West by North West’s Tom Wootton as regular hosts of Talking Tourism, but today’s episode sees these two set up shop in the studio together to shoot the breeze just as they might in one of their regular phone calls.  First up, Luke and Tom discuss the findings of the recent Tourism Industry Business Sentiment Survey, which – while realistic about the ongo...

Toni Kibbey is a business and marketing coach who helps business owners create clarity and direction, and take smarter steps towards growth. In today's episode, Toni chats to TICT's Emma Azon-Jacometti about the important role that collaboration and co-opetition play in business growth, particularly in Tasmania.  Toni defines co-opetition, and explains the difference between a mindset of...

Liz Ward is the Founder and CEO of Tourism Tribe, an online learning community that delivers advice and support for tourism operators to grow their confidence and digital business skills. In today's episode, she chats with TICT's Luke Martin about the everchanging world of technology, and how important it is that tourism operators adapt with those changes. Liz goes into detail about how...

Like most tourism operators, Nick Wright has ridden the many highs and lows of the COVID wave over the past two years. Newly appointed to Hobart's iconic Islington Hotel in late 2019, he watched the double whammy of interstate bushfires and a global pandemic all but wipe out the property's forward bookings overnight. By March 2020, the hotel had closed for the state's lockdown, befo...

Today is International Women's Day, a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women.  In this episode of Talking Tourism, TICT's Emma Azon-Jacometti is joined by Tara Howell and Emily Hopwood to talk about this year's IWD theme, #breakthebias, and to celebrate the role of women in our great Tasmanian tourism industry.  Tara and Emily discu...

We thought it was time to get to know Grant O'Brien, the new Chair of Tourism Tasmania, better. Having grown up in the state's north-west, Grant began employment with Woolworths in the mid-80s as an Assistant Accountant. By 2011, he'd risen through the ranks to become CEO and Managing Director at Woolworths Limited, a position he held until 2016.  Not one to rest on his laurels, Gra...

Thomasine Burnap is a Group Planning Director at BMF, one of Australia’s most awarded advertising agencies. For the last two and a half years, she has worked with Tourism Tasmania, including helping to plan their winter comms strategy. Thom’s insights around how Australians perceive winter led to the development of The Off Season – a campaign that encourages visitors to embrace rather than to esca...

As Chief Marketing Officer for Tourism Tasmania, Emma Terry is responsible for the delivery of Tourism Tasmania’s marketing program to increase demand and grow visitor numbers to Tasmania. In today's episode of Talking Tourism, Emma sits down with West by North West's Tom Wootton to talk all things brand Tasmania, and how it competes with other tourism destinations around the country and...

In the stuff of Tasmanian tourism legend, Greg Price famously chucked in a very promising and lucrative career in merchant banking in Sydney to return to Tasmania and establish a tourism business with one van and a vision of creating an affordable way for backpackers and budget travelers to see his home state. As Jump Tours Managing Director, Greg has since been awarded the Tasmanian Tourism Minis...

Melinda Anderson has spent more than two decades working in the sales and marketing world, and is currently the Marketing Manager at Pennicott Wilderness Journeys. At this year's Tasmanian Tourism Conference, she brought a strong voice to a panel discussion asking, "Is Traditional Tourism Marketing & Sales Dead?" Her answer: emphatically no. There's no doubt that sales and...

As founder and director of Kiikstart, Ali Uren specialises in business planning and learning, and has a passion for helping Tassie's visitor economy creatively design and redesign itself in response to challenges, gaps and threats. There's no better time than now to be talking about just that!  In today's episode of Talking Tourism, Rachel Williams chats with Ali about how businesse...

Michele Levine knows a thing or two about human behaviour and consumer trends. As CEO of Roy Morgan Research, Michele's bread and butter is asking questions of Australians to understand their values, what drives them, and what they want in life.  In this episode of Talking Tourism, TICT's Emma Azon-Jacometti asks Michele what Roy Morgan's research is saying about peoples' inten...

Federal Group and the University of Tasmania have embarked on a groundbreaking research project that looks set to make precedent for further cooperative partnerships between the university and the Tasmanian tourism industry at large.  In this episode, Tom Wootton lines up Dr Daniel Hanna (Executive GM Corporate Affairs, Federal Group), Dr Kim Lehman (Adjunct Senior Researcher, UTAS) and Monika Bel...

Amanda Vallis is founder and director of Vallis & Co., a Tasmanian-based communications agency specialising in public relations. So, what IS PR, and how can Tassie tourism operators use it to their best advantage? In this episode of Talking Tourism, Tom Wootton gets the low-down from Amanda on how some savvy public relations moves can get your tourism product or experience in the hands, ears a...

As Managing Director of Intrepid Group APAC, Sarah Clark knows all too well the impacts of a pandemic on the national and global tourism industry. Intrepid is the world's largest adventure travel company operating in 130 countries but, in March 2020, it went into crisis mode to get about 4,000 of its customers home from around the globe. The good news? Sarah's outlook on a return to dome...

Chris Davis is the General Manager and co-founder of The Van Diemen Project, who provide small to medium businesses and entrepreneurs with advice, mentoring and support to help them build and develop sustainable businesses. Jessi Mostogl is the Director of Schools & Curriculum at Illuminate Education Australia, a sister company to the Van Diemen Project. She is passionate about empowering peop...

Katy Cooper has over 20 years' experience in a broad range of industries, including Tasmanian tourism and hospitality. As Head of Product at Neu21, she delivers leadership and futures thinking programs, focusing on finding new opportunities for innovation and growth.  In this episode, Katy chats to Rachel Williams about whole systems innovation, and how it applies to the Tasmanian tourism ind...

"If I had known what it was going to be like before I started, I never would have done it."  It's a sentiment that a lot of us probably feel keenly right now (perhaps always!) and, for Joseph Burton, it sums up both his foray into owning his own business and the many twists and turns of a COVID-19 world over the past 18 months.  As the first certified Sommelier in Tasmania and with...

Madi Seeber-Peattie had been working in the events industry for more than 15 years when COVID-19 restrictions hit the industry hard. As owner/manager of Hobart's Farm Gate Market, Street Eats @ Franko and the Food and Beverage Collective, Madi lives and breathes mass gatherings. Her various ventures typically saw up to 10,000 people through the gates every week, and one of them depended entir...

Robbie and Emma Gilligan were all set to launch their new whisky brand, Derwent Distillery, right around the time COVID-19 shut down all notions of mass gatherings and traditional cellar door promotions.  So they got creative. Rather than launching face-to-face, they sent tasting packs around the world, and launched the brand to 1500 new digital friends, thus becoming the first distillery in the w...

Straight out of the 2021 Tasmanian Tourism Conference held this week in Launceston, two of Tasmanian tourism's sharpest marketing minds, Tom Wootton and David Inches, talk through what tourism businesses should be doing right now to take-stock of their marketing plan and investments.  Evolve Tourism' s David Inches has over 20 years experience working with tourism businesses of all types...

You've been appointed to your first GM role of a brand new hotel being developed by a local investment group in a regional City. You're recruiting and appointing staff, and putting the finishing touches  on the property getting ready to welcome your first guests..... .when a global pandemic hits, closing borders and bringing your entire customer market to a sudden halt.  This is Kate Buc...

The Tasmanian Government has announced $7.5 million for a further round of ' Make Yourself at Home' Travel  Vouchers to encourage Tasmanians to travel the State and support tourism businesses and visitor destinations through the latest COVID border disruptions. TICT CEO Luke Martin sat down with Green Hat Tourism's Sam Denmead to workshop practical strategies small tourism businesse...

It's been another disruptive week for everyone in tourism, with the borders shutting to Victoria and New South Wales, and our hopes again turning to the Tasmanian community to get around the State and support our operators and destinations through the latest challenges. In this context, TICT CEO Luke Martin sat down with Tourism Tasmania's CEO, John Fitzgerald to unpack the roller coaste...

Winter and the quieter months are the perfect time for all tourism operators to spend some time reviewing and updating their digital assets. What are your customers saying about your product? How's  your online reputation? Are you using Google Adwords effectively, is it time to refresh your website?  Taihlaura Denman-Francis, from award winning Tasmanian marketing consultancy, Kingthing Marke...