Social media and millennial travellers were hot topics at the Bendigo NEXT tourism conference at The Capital yesterday.
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The conference, which focused on attracting the next generation of visitors to the region, saw restaurant, accommodation and attraction owners attend as well as the City of Ballarat, Campaspe Shire and Mount Alexander Shire.
City of Greater Bendigo tourism and major events manager Terry Karamaloudis said the day looked at how the tourism industry could stay ahead of the curve.
“It’s about being aware of what the markets are, who the people are that want to travel and who they want to see,” he said.
“Then it is an exercise of collaboration between industry and the city to build the experiences and put things out that people want to see.
“It is a constant challenge. You’ve got to cultivate new markets and millennials are high on the agenda. It is something the (Bendigo Tourism) marketing team has focused on more intently.”
Mr Karamaloudis said with major exhibitions, festivals and events on Bendigo’s horizon, it was a good chance for local businesses to prepare for an influx of visitors to the region.
“We’re pitching business owners about what they can do to help attract people to their businesses when an opportunities like Tudors to Windsors present themselves,” he said.
“The Bendigo Autumn Music festival is just around corner, the Easter festival is nearly on us. The people (here today) make a huge contribution to how people feel when they visit the city.”
I Heart Bargains founder Chelsea Thomas was at the conference to speak with businesses about the importance of social media apps like Instagram.
Ms Thomas founded her business in 2012 using Instagram to drive her brand. She now has almost 100,000 followers.
“Social media is a huge thing. It is important for local businesses to be above standard when pushing out messages about Bendigo,” she said. “So much exciting news happens here. The restaurants and entertainment industry are great and the gallery is world class.
“But the hardest thing is getting that message out, so I have run a power hour of everything business owners need to know and getting them up to scratch in Instagram specifically.”
Ms Thomas said Bendigo had a number of businesses who had made a great start with social media.
“You can have great things happening in your business but now know how to share it,” she said.
“But there are many examples of local businesses doing well like the Bendigo Art Gallery, The Woodhouse and the Great Stupa.”
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