Free tourism workshops to hone skills of Goondiwindi region businesses

Tourism operators and related businesses in the Goondiwindi region are invited to attend one of two free workshops available in Goondiwindi and Inglewood about the ‘Business of Tourism’.

Southern Queensland Country Tourism is organising the workshops in Goondiwindi and Inglewood as part of Goondiwindi Regional Council’s membership with them as a tourism body. The sessions will be targeted to the region’s existing and prospective tourism operators along with associated businesses such as accommodation and hospitality.

The sessions will focus on building experiences for visitors, in addition to key skills such as business planning, marketing, product evaluation, packaging, pricing and distribution opportunities. It will also hone operators’ sales skills and communication abilities with consumers.

The workshops will be presented by Kim Skilton, an expert with over 15 years of experience in leading travel and tourism brands such as Tourism Sunshine Coast, Accor, Air New Zealand, and Ignite Travel Group. Kim has been responsible for brand strategy, product development, and the execution of effective take-to-market campaigns and has spent the past five years working with small- to medium-sized businesses to accelerate their growth through successful and sustainable marketing strategies.

Mayor of the Goondiwindi region the Honourable Cr Lawrence Springborg AM said the workshops were an ideal opportunity for Goondiwindi region businesses to learn from an industry expert about distributing their tourism product.

“The direct value of tourism and hospitality sales in the Goondiwindi region was more than $38 million in 2018-19,” Cr Springborg said. “Our region welcomes large numbers of visitors to eat, drink and meet throughout the year – even during drought.

“These workshops will help local businesses to capture the attention of their customer base, and perfect essential skills that will help them to promote their business and generate sales.”

In conjunction with the workshop sessions, a limited number of interested business will also be able to participate in an upcoming mentoring program, also delivered by SQCT.

The mentees will receive free individual support, ensuring an in-depth understanding of the individual business and advice tailored to businesses individual goals.

Cr Springborg said working with tourism industry operators was critical to achieving growth.

“Council has invested significantly in the region’s growing visitor economy in recent years,” he said. “We want to attract more visitors to the region and encourage them to stay longer and spend more, however, Council can’t do this alone.

“Helping our tourism operators and related businesses to develop their individual skills, as well as working together, will go a long way to improving the Goondiwindi region’s tourism market - and marketability - as a whole.”

Each workshop will run for around two hours. The sessions are free and open to all - those who wish to attend should RSVP to Megan Boyd by Monday 30 November on 07 4671 7401 or mboyd@grc.qld.gov.au.

• Goondiwindi: 10 December 2020, 10am, at the Town House
• Inglewood: 11 December 2020, 10am, at the Olympic Motel