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Designing of Tourism Experiences, bookability and potential funding

We’ve all heard that the trends in regional tourism offerings are all about experiences. Though do we really know how to design a successful, bookable experience, with the visitor in mind? And also how to design experiences that may attract funding?

“A bookable experience is a visitor experience that has a set price and time and is able to be booked in advance of a customer’s travel.” (Destination NSW)

By creating a bookable experience, a tourism business can have the following return on their time & investment:

• Tap into new promotional and sales channels.

• The potential for new visitor bookings

• Grow revenue and spend per head

• Offering and guaranteeing a consistent customer experience

Destination NSW in their NSW First Guide, gives some great tips for creating a bookable experience in regards to logistics:

• Add value to the visitor experience

• Understand your customer and make a connection

• Attract advance bookings

• Keep it simple and build on your strengths

• Connect your customers with your expert staff

• Look for opportunities to share stories

• Find ways to add sensory experiences, such as smell, sound, feel, touch & taste

Operations-wise, take into account the pricing structure, as well as considering a length of time that would best suit your customers, regular availability, the effect of your opening hours and days of operation, varying weather conditions & alternate planning around this, seasonability factors etc.

The Experience Economy model of tourism product design

A couple of guys called Pine & Gilmore (sounds like a great microbrewery name to me!) came up with the Experience Economy model, and the ‘Staging of Experiences’. I’ll go into these experience economy models at a later time.

Though here’s some simple steps for success when designing a tourism experience …

Know the journey of potential customer in each stage of them engaging with the experience:

  1. increase customer satisfaction
  2. eliminate customer sacrifice
  3. create customer surprise
  4. once one surprise is expected then you must stage a new surprise
  5. create CUSTOMER SUSPENSE … waiting for the next surprise
  6. Create & stage surprise as part of the experience

What are visitors searching for when looking to purchase an experience?

  • something more than just memories
  • to have experienced Authenticity
  • looking after the their own wellbeing

On top of these, they’re looking for more than just a product or service

  • value adding experiences – turning them into ‘transformation experiences’
  • making the visitor a ‘better person’
  • the experience guides the customer on a path of change from their normal daily life

Examples of bookable experiences in a regional tourism setting

Let’s apply this into a regional tourism setting, what are the most important concepts to remember?

  • authentic local experiences
  • storytelling – such as ‘meet the maker’, go behind the scenes and immerse themselves into local culture
  • a ‘VIP or behind the scenes‘ sentiment for the visitor
  • interacting with and feeling part of the local culture
  • sustainability initiatives to give the visitor the feeling of giving back to the destination

(image: Destination NSW, NSW First Guide)

Designing for best chance of receiving Funding

If the above concepts are applied, you’re well on your way to designing a bookable experience, for increased visitor spend at your business, as well as one which will have the best chance of attracting future funding opportunities …

A recent package by Destination NSW for funding existing or new experiences included certain eligibility, so it’s always a good idea to have your sights set on being eligible for these opportunities by designing & promoting your experience around the following criteria (check your own state DMO for similar funding opportunities):

  • have a current GetConnected (ATDW) listing [1]
  • make the tourism offering bookable onlinebe bookable online [2]
  • be registered for GST
  • the new attraction or experience must be available to visitors for at least 50 weeks per calendar year [3].

[1] More information on Get Connected is available on the Destination NSW website

[2] An applicant from an area with no or limited internet connectivity, which results in online bookings not being viable for their business, may apply.

[3] Excluding any natural disasters or emergency orders which force the closure of the business to visitors.

What’s in the news, and in store for funding of bookable experiences?

The Australian Financial Review reported last week that wine, spirit and craft beer makers will get a $20 million boost under a tourism promotion program to be announced soon by the government, with the money helping get tourists back into breweries and cellar doors.

$15 million will be allocated to the cellar door & brewery tourism sector, providing up to $100,000 in matched funding for small- to medium-sized wineries, distilleries and brewers for upgraded cellar door or tourism facilities. This would include construction of venues such as restaurants, tour facilities and viewing platforms, but not accommodation.

And a similar amount is being promised by the NSW government .. $20 million in electric vehicle charging grants to drive regional tourism as co-funded grants, ranging from $2000 to $40,000 per site for EV chargers across regional NSW, would boost regional tourism as part of a $171 million investment in EV charging over the next four years.

I add this funding opportunity in, as EV-driving tourists are definitely the type of visitor demographic who would book an experience in your destination, as they seek authentic, sustainable, transformational experiences.

Now … over to You

This guide on how design a bookable experience should help to add a new product into your tourism business offerings. And to align with potential funding grants in your state would be a great thing to keep an eye out for … as experiences are the way forward in tourism. Good luck!

Author of Article

Katrina Denoux is one of the Ambassadors for Australian Regional Tourism. A tourism practitioner with her own business based both in Europe and Australia, she is also a registered health practitioner with postgraduate qualifications. She specialises in the experience economy: wellness tourism, gastronomy & sustainability; and is a lecturer and speaker on the international academic insights circuit. She feels lucky to be able to combine her two loves, travel & education.

References

Australian Financial Review article, Ronald Mizen (May 6th, 2022): Morrison commits 20m to get tourists back on the beers https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/morrison-commits-20m-to-get-tourists-back-on-the-beers-20220506-p5aj68

Destination NSW. NSW First Guide: Develop your Tourism Business https://www.destinationnsw.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/nsw-first-guide-develop-your-tourism-business.pdf

Destination NSW. Get Connected: Tourism Marketing Opportunties https://www.destinationnsw.com.au/tourism/marketing-opportunities/connect-your-tourism-product/get-connected

Destination NSW. Tourism Product Development Fund (2021-2022). Experience Development Fund – Guidelines https://www.destinationnsw.com.au/tourism/business-development-resources/funding-and-grants/tourism-product-development-fund/experience-development-guidelines

NSW Government: $20 million in electric vehicle charging grants to drive regional tourism. Published: 9 May 2022. Released by: Treasurer, Minister for Energy, Minister for Regional Transport and Road https://www.nsw.gov.au/media-releases/ev-destination-charging-grants?fbclid=IwAR3MAUCVmJFoSH7Srnz5YJR4ffZofEm3jcDYlkvT_wORRGn9HDmslhJOXR0