Product and Experience Audit

The Tourism Tasmania 2030 workshops identified the need for an audit of products, experiences, destinations, digital content and events, to identify gaps and opportunities for experience and product development to grow visitor connectivity expenditure, with particular focus outside of peak season.

Since the beginning of this project, a global pandemic has been declared due to COVID-19. Tasmania’s East Coast has been identified as the sixth most tourism-dependent region in Australia and the impact on the region’s businesses and community has been immense. It was noted throughout the audit that accommodation listings found in the initial searches were disappearing as the pandemic progressed. Businesses both directly and indirectly related to tourism are experiencing an unprecedented amount of uncertainty. While this report was initially undertaken in relation to achieving goals relevant to T21, it is evident now that it will also be a key tool to aid in supporting the industry during what is likely to be a long period of recovery.

East Coast Tasmania Tourism (ECTT) is one of four Regional Tourism Organisations. The RTO’s are responsible for supporting the growth of the visitor economy in each respective region to help achieve the Tasmanian Government’s overnight visitor  expenditure goal for 2030.

The RTOs facilitate growth in the visitor economy at a local level by representing and coordinating the region’s tourism and hospitality industry. The operations of ECTT are funded by Tourism Tasmania, Break O’Day Council, and Glamorgan Spring Bay Council with additional funding through marketing opportunities, partnerships and grants.

Project Overview

• Desktop Product Audit gathering data from multiple sources; including, but not limited to the Australian Tourism Data Warehouse (ATDW), East Coast Tourism Tasmania (ECTT) website, key online travel agents (OTA) and aggregators, Google searches and social media channels.
• Independent ratings and social media review; evaluating current visitor satisfaction. This review provides a better understanding of the perceived quality of the products and accommodation across the region and the capability of operators to meet the expectations of the market.
• Evaluation of the current presentation and communication with regard to the products currently listed online.
• Ground truth; identifying inconsistencies between the information that can be found online and the information available on arrival at the destination, identifying gaps, out of date information and / or omissions.
• Analysis of the product audit and customer ratings; identifying gaps and opportunities, strengths and weaknesses in the ECTT product and experience offering as well as highlighting key areas for capability development.