I was chuffed to be invited to speak at this year’s VTIC Visitor Servicing Summit. In true CF style – instead of us talking – we brought in our customer to share their journey + the real-life challenges we’ve helped them overcome. Enter stage-right Karen Oliver from Murray Regional Tourism.
In a somewhat world-first, Peter actually kept his mouth shut (for some of it anyway!) + shared the stage as Karen walked industry leaders through the Murray Region journey to date. Her key messages were: to be clear on your vision, that being customer-led removes any hidden agendas, + the importance of engagement up, down + across the value chain.
When I invite my friends to stay, I want to make them feel welcome + show them a good time – so they want to come back to visit me. It should be the same when we invite visitors to our destinations.
– Karen Oliver, Murray Regional Tourism
Visitor Servicing was a hot topic across the Summit this year, so our collaborative message was bang on.
We see the fragmentation of approach that has occurred in the past from ‘Information’ centres + have helped the industry reframe thinking towards ‘Inspiration’ centres. What was once a ‘cost-to-serve’ suddenly becomes a revenue generating + yield generating asset.
The opportunity – visitor servicing can become the ‘match.com‘ of the tourism industry. That is, the place where customers come together to be married up with the experiences that serve their needs best. It is at that exact moment that tourism economics actually happens.
We’re now about half way through the journey with Karen + the Murray crew, + it was great to hear her story about her journey with us too.
Murray Regional Tourism has embraced Customer Frame’s customer-led way of thinking + is excited to be developing a region-wide strategy to improve visitor servicing in the Murray region. The high level of professionalism + service we have received throughout the project reflects Customer Frame’s commitment to delivering for their own customers.”
