Visitability – A benchmark that Melbourne can own
Much has been made of Melbourne’s success as a destination in recent times. There are a number of reasons: strong marketing, a sensational events calendar and a sustained commitment to attracting business events and conferences. Tourism is a team game – a champion team will always beat a team of champions. That is why Melbourne is the most popular domestic holiday destination in Australia.
This does not mean we can be complacent. Our competitors to the North are re-organising themselves, our international source markets are changing rapidly and our community is still adjusting to the idea that Melbourne is a place that people want to visit in large numbers.
The Economist conducts a global liveability survey on an annual basis. In 2011, Melbourne was judged to be the most liveable city in the world. We knocked off Vancouver and while there were gentle celebrations in the world’s southernmost major city. There was serious consternation in Canada…
Rick Antonsen, the CEO of Tourism Vancouver came to Melbourne last October. In an outstanding presentation to the visitor industry he spoke about what makes Vancouver a great place to visit and clearly articulated the connection with ‘liveability’.
He helped identify five key things that were equally important to residents and visitors:
- safety
- access and transport
- a sense of community – no matter where you are from
- confidence
- good infrastructure that serves the people
This prompted discussion around how Melbourne might rate if there was such a thing as a global visitability index.
It also set us thinking at Destination Melbourne. We have a clearly articulated role to advocate on behalf of the visitor experience. Our new vision clearly spells it out: ‘Melbourne is a compelling global destination of outstanding visitor experiences.’
Melbournians are reconciled to the idea that we have no icons – no Rock, Reef, Opera House, Dreamworld, Seaworld, Disneyland or Giant Pineapple. Without consciously thinking it through, we have displaced the need for an icon with a keen sense of how important visitors are to the fabric of our cities.
How do we encourage business community and government to work together strategically to support the visitor experience?
Melbourne may not have an iconic attraction, but we have ‘visitability’ – the sum of the parts that makes for an outstanding and memorable visitor experience.
Much has been made of the collective efforts of the visitor industry in Melbourne working together to elevate Melbourne’s brand and provide compelling reasons for people to visit. It is time we engaged the broader community in conversations about the visitor experience. We believe that by demonstrating an unqualified commitment to looking after the people who think enough of us to visit our wonderful city, we can enrich the lives of Melbournians. By investing in infrastructure, services and culture that supports visitors we can also support community life – our liveability.
Destination Melbourne has an identified role as champion of the Melbourne Visitor Experience. This is articulated in our new strategic plan in a number of ways. Over the next 3 -5 years we want:
|
By encouraging Melburnians to think more deeply about the quality of the visitor experience, we are also able to help them inform what makes a city more liveable.
As an industry we have a responsibility to lead the delivery of outstanding experiences in this wonderful city. We can also inspire Melburnians to support Melbourne’s development as a welcoming and safe city that can be enjoyed by residents and visitors alike.
It is time for more conversations with our community about how we can all take responsibility for being good hosts – by doing so we will almost certainly make our city a better place to live.
“We believe that by demonstrating an unqualified commitment to looking after the people who think enough of us to visit our wonderful city, we can enrich the lives of Melbournians.” I think it is all about a sense of appreciation. Appreciating that visitors want to know the depths of Melbourne, yet they don’t have a lot of time to do so. We are real. We don’t need a touristy icon to live happily. We attract educated people that enjoy the arts, good coffee, sport and fashion to name a few. We should have a campaign to get Melbournians to smile more. This is welcoming and makes everyone feel good.
Posted by Michelle on February 13, 2012 at 11:26 am
Well done DML for releasing this plan today. VTIC looks forward to working closely with you, ensuring its smooth implementation and positive outcomes for the whole industry.
Posted by Dianne Smith VTIC on February 13, 2012 at 12:09 pm
Congratulations to Chris and the team on the release of your strategic plan. The goals and strategies are sound – I’m particularly enthused about DM’s intent to develop visibility criteria and maybe an index, under strategy 2.1. I would have preferred the indicators of success to have been expressed as ‘actions’. Surely the indicators of success are sustained growth in visitation and visitor spend?
Engaging all Melbournians to take responsibility for providing a welcoming experience, by linking visitability to liveability is a clever idea. My Italian-speaking wife was very disappointed to eavesdrop on a conversation by some young Italian visitors on the train this week. The conversation went something like this:-
“I can’t believe how the Australians drink so much. I was in the city last weekend and there were people lying in the streets. One guy was even covered in blood.”
“Yeah, a few drinks are OK but the Aussies don’t seem to know when to stop! I would hate to live here.”
Responsible drinking could be one place to start the conversations, coupled with some more positive aspects of what makes our community great and attractive to visitors.
Posted by Darren McClelland on February 17, 2012 at 8:23 am
Hello Darren
Thank you for the comment – it is most welcome.
We decided to put actions and measures around around vistation and yield in our action plan (which is not published). We will certainly be reporting on progress against our goals and strategies on a regular basis – subscribing to our eNewsletter is probably the best way of keeping an eye on progress:).
Safety (and perceptions of safety) are clearly issues that impact on liveability and visitability. We we will be advocating for positive measures that support responsible consumption of alcohol, rather than some ot the draconian regulation introduced a couple of years back.
Have a great weekend and remember to get out and about in your own back yard
Cheers
Chris
Posted by Chris on February 17, 2012 at 5:14 pm