COLLABORATION will be key for Heathcote tourism operators in 2017.
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After working closely with Heathcote Tourism and Development, the City of Greater Bendigo will launch a new, mobile friendly website early next year.
The new website – www.heathcote.org.au – will aim to boost visitor numbers to the town.
City of Greater Bendigo tourism manager Kathryn Mackenzie said council met with more than 40 tourism operators at an industry briefing session in Heathcote recently.
“The aim of the meeting was to discuss how the city and Heathcote Tourism and Development can work together to increase the digital footprint for tourism and encourage more visitors to the Heathcote region,” Ms MacKenzie said.
“There are many wonderful attractions in Heathcote and we want to encourage visitors to not only visit, but also stay and explore the wider region. It’s essential to meet the standards required by today’s visitors.”
Strong imagery will be a feature of the new website, alongside more visitor experiences in Heathcote.
Sanguine Estate chief executive Jodi Marsh said it was exciting to see the council supporting areas outside of Bendigo.
“One of the great things about the new website is that they are using quite emotive imagery,” she said.
“It is a fabulous way of giving people a look at the region. We want them to feel they need to visit the whole place rather than just one (winery).”
Ms Marsh said if tourism operators worked together to attract visitors, it would benefit the whole region.
“The best way of doing that is online but there's thousands of other wineries in Australia, so it’s very difficult,” she said.
“The way to drive those sales is by creating an experience which is tourism related.”
Sanguine Estate is known for its music festival, which has expanded into Bendigo, while the Heathcote Food and Wine Festival is popular year after year.
”Those weekends where there’s a collaboration of operators and wineries are the best weekends,” Ms Marsh said.
“They drive the most profit and we can't do that single-handedly. A festival brings benefit for food operators, local accommodation and other businesses and has an amazing flow-on effect (for) everybody.”