Marketing and Distribution

A well-researched marketing plan, a competitive marketing mix and appropriate distribution channels will ensure you stand out from your competitors.

Likewise, the distribution channels you choose can influence the success and image of your product or service. The following section will help you find the information you need to effectively distribute and market your product or service.

Marketing Assistance and Guides to Writing Marketing Plans

Tourism Tasmania’s Marketing Unit

Tourism Tasmania is responsible for the promotion of Tasmania nationally and internationally as a first-choice, world-class holiday destination. The Marketing Unit’s key objectives are to increase visitors and visitor expenditure. This is achieved by developing knowledge and understanding about the State’s different holiday customer segments and then using this knowledge to produce tailored destination messages that stimulate interest in Tasmania.

Tourism Tasmania’s marketing team can help you to develop a clearer understanding of each market segment and provide you with ideas regarding how best to reach those travellers with a preference for visiting Tasmania.

Phone: 03 6230 8235

Networking and Cooperative Marketing

Tourism Tasmania, Regional Tourism Authorities, industry associations and other networks can help you make the most of marketing opportunities. Promoting attractions, tours and accommodation as a group is much more cost effective than doing it on your own. Tourism Tasmania has a new cooperative marketing program called Marketing Together, more information is available below.

Join associations and mix with other operators within your region, touring route or association to share resources, organise cooperative marketing activities, organise familiarisations for trade, cross-sell each other’s products and advise and learn from each other.

Marketing Together - Tourism Tasmania

The Marketing Together program is designed to offer industry members the chance to get regular updates on Tourism Tasmania's up and coming domestic campaign, and ways you can leverage on Tourism Tasmania’s advertising campaigns to market Tasmania, its regions and individual products together.

As a member you will have a personalised free log in to the Marketing Together website, which has information on Tourism Tasmania’s up and coming marketing activities. This gives you the chance to take advantage of Tourism Tasmania’s buying power to market your business using the Island of Inspiration branding.

Visiting Journalists Program - Tourism Tasmania

Tourism Tasmania operates a Visiting Journalist Program (VJP), which sponsors visits to the State by domestic and international print, television and radio media. The aim of each media visit is to produce a magazine or newspaper article, a radio show or television program that positively profiles Tasmania as a visitor destination. This in turn encourages more people to explore the State for themselves. Industry support is essential to the program and can increase awareness and market your product to a wide audience.

Tasmanian Department of Economic Development, Tourism and the Arts

The Department of Economic Development, Tourism and the Arts produce a useful guides to marketing your business. They outline the key elements of a marketing plan, provide an overview of what is involved in marketing and offer helpful tips for marketing effectively.

Commonwealth Government Resources

The Commonwealth Government provides a variety of guides to writing a marketing plan.

How to Get Started in the International Market

An increasing number of Tasmanian tourism operators are interested in marketing internationally. If the international market is for you, please contact Tourism Tasmania's International Marketing
Phone: 03 6230 8235

Distribution

Trade Marketing - Tourism Tasmania

Tourism Tasmania Trade Marketing works with all wholesalers of Tasmanian product including Free Independent Travellers (FIT) and Coach Operators, through the coordination of industry at consumer and trade road shows.

Phone: 03 6336 3233

Discover Tasmania Website and Product Databases - Tourism Tasmania

Tourism Tasmania plays an important role in displaying and distributing online information about your product to national and international markets. By listing your product with TigerTOUR, you can ensure people around the world can find it through Tasmania’s premier holiday website www.discovertasmania.com

If your product is accredited with the Tourism Industry Council Tasmania (TICT), listing in TigerTOUR will ensure it is also included in the Australian Tourism Data Warehouse, where it will be distributed to travel websites such as Yahoo, Sensis and Zuji. (Find more information about TigerTOUR below.)

As a Tasmanian tourism operator, you can place your product on the discovertasmania.com website free of charge, to do this all you need is quality information and the best images of your product. You do this by listing your product with TigerTOUR (see following section). Tourism Tasmania’s website provides potential visitors with a wide range of destinational information and links to tourism experiences including accommodation, attractions, tours, activities and events. For many potential visitors and organisations, discovertasmania.com is the first choice for information to help them in their decision-making.

TigerTOUR – Tourism Tasmania’s Industry Database

The TigerTOUR Database is an excellent and free way of keeping your business advertised. Those on the database receive free listing on the discovertasmania.com website and inclusion in guides such as Travelways, a free bimonthly Tasmanian travel guide. TigerTOUR is also used by Tasmanian Visitor Information Network centres for their advertising and brochure rack mail outs.

Phone: 03 6230 8229

Australian Tourism Data Warehouse

The Australian Tourism Data Warehouse (ATDW) is the national platform for digital information on Australian tourism and provides a central distribution and storage facility for tourism product. The information is electronically accessible to operators, wholesalers, retailers and distributors for use on their websites and booking systems, including Tourism Australia. All accredited Tasmanian tourism product will be uploaded to the ATDW, which is used by major travel distributors such as Yahoo, Google and About Australia.

Hosting your own web site

In today’s electronic age, it is vital for any successful tourism business to have an online presence. Consumers have become very computer savvy when it comes to searching and booking holidays electronically. To succeed in market you will need an effective web site detailing your business, booking capabilities (if applicable) and your contact details (including an email address). Once you have your business listed in Tourism Tasmania TigerTOUR database (described above), your product will then be listed free of charge on the discovertasmania.com website, from which you can have a link direct to your own web site.

A Simple Guide to Tourism Distibution Systems - Fish Where the Fish Are

Fish Where the Fish Are is a guide designed to assist tourism and hospitality operators understand the customer operating environment. It is specifically targeted to Tasmanian small to medium sized businesses. A Tasmanian tourism operator developed the guide, drawing on his own knowledge and experiences in building successful tourism businesses. This guide includes a useful section on electronic distribution.

Fish Where the Fish Are [PDF 220KB]

Tasmanian Visitor Information Network

The Tasmanian Visitor Information Network (TVIN) is one of the best places to promote your product and facilities on the ground. The TVIN can help you market your product and make bookings for a variety of customers. Tasmania currently has 20 centres strategically located around the state.

Regional Tourism Authorities

The Regional Tourism Authorities can assist you further in distributing your product, below are their contact details.

• Cradle Coast Authority
• Northern Tasmania Development

Industry Associations

Industry associations can provide a number of resources and opportunities to assist tourism industry operators with their day-to-day business activities including cooperative marketing opportunities.

Australian Hotels Association (AHA)

The Australian Hotels Association is the peak national employer organisation representing the interests of hotels and resorts across Australia. The Accommodation division can advise members on a range of issues affecting their business, including tourism funding and tourism marketing and promotion.

Bed & Breakfast and Boutique Accommodation of Tasmania

This organisation represents small accommodation businesses in Tasmania and promotes itself as the first point of reference for people who are thinking of B&B style accommodation while travelling in Tasmania.

Caravan Industry Association Tasmania

The peak body for the Caravan and Camping Industry raises the awareness and image of the caravanning and camping within Tasmania and provides leadership and coordination to the industry.

Ecotourism Association of Australia

This is the peak national body for ecotourism accommodation, tour and attraction operators, tourism planners, protected area managers, academics and students, tourism, environmental, interpretation and training consultants; and local and regional tourism associations. Ecotourism and nature tourism certification provide industry, protected area managers, local communities and travellers with an assurance that a certified product is backed by a commitment to best practice ecological sustainability, natural area management and the provision of quality ecotourism experiences.

Wildlife Tourism Australia

This organisation represents wildlife tourism operators throughout Tasmania.

Gay and Lesbian Tourism Australia

This national network of tourism professionals dedicated to the welfare and satisfaction of all gay and lesbian travellers within and to Australia helps members establish themselves in this niche market and provides wide distribution and exposure to gay and lesbian travellers around Australia.

Hotel Motel and Accommodation Association

Recognised as Australia’s leading authority in the accommodation sector, this association represents accommodation establishments ranging from five-star hotels and motels to Bed & Breakfasts in metropolitan and regional Australia. It offers a range of services and opportunities for accommodation operators.

Winemakers' Federation of Australia

The Winemakers' Federation of Australia is the national peak body with voluntary membership representing more than 95 per cent of the wine produced in Australia. It has released a Wine Tourism Strategic Business Plan 2000–2005, maintains a central database of wine tourism publications and research, and publishes a series of fact sheets providing practical information for winery operators.

Aboriginal Tourism Australia (ATA)

This is the peak body representing the interests of the indigenous tourism sector at a national level and is committed to industry development and education of both industry and consumers. A number of projects and resources have been developed to assist in industry development which members have access to.

Tourism Industry Council Tasmani

Tourism Industry Council Tasmania is the peak body that represents and acts for the Tasmanian tourism industry. Its mission is to provide a strategic direction and united voice for the sustainable development and growth of the Tasmanian tourism industry.

iTOT College

The iTOT is a not for profit membership organisation formed to provide small independent tourism operators with an association that will unite, inform, assist and support them. The iTOT College is committed to its members and to the health and prosperity of the Tasmanian tourism industry. It can help facilitate an effective resolution to the problems that independent tourism operators encounter on a day-to-day basis.

Trout Guides and Lodges Tasmania Inc

Trout Guides and Lodges Tasmania Incorporated is an industry body for angling guides who provide a safe, appropriate and professional service to customers.

Sea Charter Boat Operators of Tasmania (SCBOOT)

This is the peak representative organisation for those involved in providing salt water, marine charter boat tourism orientated activities.

Phone/Fax: 03 6376 3083
Email: sportfish@vision.net.au

Dive Tasmania

Dive Tasmania is an industry organisation with an aim to promote Tasmania as a world-class diving destination. From Bass Strait to Port Arthur the temperate waters offer a unique bio-diversity unlike anywhere else in the world.p
Phone 03 6234 5658
Email info@aqua-scuba.com.au

Blooming Tasmania Assocation Inc (BTA)

The Blooming Tasmania Association Inc (BTA) was founded in 2004 by the garden tourism industry to promote their market sector with the objective that "Tasmania will offer a world class horticultural and botanical experience for visitors." It currently has some forty members and enjoys the support of Tourism Tasmania.

Brand Information

Brand Tasmania

The independent Brand Tasmania Council was established in July 1999 to formulate and promote a place-of-origin branding initiative for Tasmania. Its members include leaders of the private sector and representatives of Tourism Tasmania and the Department of Economic Development, and it works in cooperation with industry councils, such as the Food Industry Council of Tasmania.

Tasmania Tourism Brand

To learn more about Tasmania’s tourism brand contact Tourism Tasmania at email frontdesk@tourism.tas.gov.au

Other Useful Resources

Tourism Australia

Tourism Australia is the Federal Government statutory authority responsible for international and domestic tourism marketing as well as the delivery of research and forecasts for the sector.

How can I stay in touch with the latest tourism news and events?

Tourism Talk

Tourism Talk is Tourism Tasmania’s fortnightly newsletter. It contains all the latest issues related to tourism in Tasmania. Tourism Talk is distributed free online via an automated email. To join the mailing list you need to subscribe on the Tourism Tasmania corporate web site.

Natural State News

Natural State News is a free regular update on the latest news and events in Tasmanian tourism. Tourism Tasmania welcomes new subscribers to Natural State News and encourages the use of its content in editorials.