Give and you’ll receive
Learn from gospel of FNQ tourism experts
TOURISM businesses are being challenged to provide items such as bottles of water and umbrellas and give away freebies in the interest of growing.
The Tropical North Queensland Tourism Marketing Conference at the Cairns Convention Centre will host six speakers from tourism, marketing and government to help local business owners get the most out of their marketing strategy.
Tourism Queensland Tropical North boss Pip Close said the 2019 conference would focus on evolving the tourism narrative in a digital-first world.
“Marketers with extensive tourism backgrounds will present stories and ideas to take businesses into the future,” she said.
“The TNQ Marketing Conference is also an opportunity to connect with tourism peers, local suppliers, the TTNQ team and some inspiring speakers.”
Paronella Park owner Mark Evans operates three tourism properties and employs 80 people and is set to share his journey to success.
He said business owners could always learn something new and urged those attending to take an idea home and implement it.
“The thing we did which had the biggest impact was after Cyclone Larry, we gave every visitor a ticket that lasted two years, and for visitors who had a tent, a motorhome or a caravan, we allowed them to stay the night,” Mr Evans said.
“That feeds into people doing the night tour and the pub we own does well out of that. Plus it’s a more memorable experience for the guests. They were two things we did then we don’t think anyone else did.
“We’ve found that in giving, we’ve received back much, much more. This year we’ve implemented live music and in turn, we’re seeing numbers grow quite considerably.”
Offering visitors some water when it was hot or umbrellas when it rained were also small gestures which went a long way for Mr Evans.
“Everybody who is in business relies on word of mouth – that is still 90 per cent of our business, even though a lot of it comes from social media,” he said.
“You remember that shop you visited where someone has offered you a cup of coffee or a glass of water – that relationship development is key.”
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