From customer experience and cyber security to agritourism, workforce wellbeing and collaboration, here are 10 practical ideas from the 2026 Tourism Together: Make It Matter conference that can help strengthen your business and create even more value for visitors.
Every interaction matters. Every experience matters. Every decision matters. Those were the themes at the 2026 Tourism Together Conference: Make It Matter, delivered by Tourism Greater Geelong and The Bellarine and Great Ocean Road Regional Tourism on 5 August 2026.
If you couldn’t join us, or you’d like a refresher, here are 10 ideas from the day that could make a real difference to your business.
1. Think about who you are targeting
Demographer and trends guru Simon Kuestenmacher challenged delegates to ask a simple but important question: “Am I attracting the right customers?”
Simon shared that over the next decade Australia will see a significant increase in young families. As millennials start families, driving holidays are likely to become more attractive and convenient than flying.
With many of these families settling in Melbourne’s western growth corridor, Simon’s advice was clear: “This is the cohort I want you to target.” They’re a major opportunity for our regions with Geelong and The Bellarine perfectly positioned as an accessible day trip or weekend destination.
Another key demographic is baby boomers. Simon described them as the “dream customer” because they have both the time and financial capacity to travel.
From an international tourism perspective, many fall into the “now or never” category, travelling to visit migrant children and make the most of meaningful travel experiences while they can.
Australia is also experiencing a shrinking middle class meaning we should consider how we position our offerings for both value-conscious travellers and those seeking premium experiences at the two outer ends of the market.
2. Prioritise self-care
Tourism and hospitality is a dynamic, people-focused industry, but it also comes with high emotional demands, seasonal pressure and increasing psychosocial risk. As we move towards the busy end-of-year period, the risk of burnout rises.
Wellness presenter, Jo Surkitt, encouraged delegates to think about what helps regulate your nervous system and supports your wellbeing. Whether it’s walking the dog, attending a yoga class or spending time with friends, making space for activities that recharge you isn’t a luxury, it’s essential.
Jo is running a workshop on 31 August that will explore psychological safety, emotional resilience, nervous system regulation and healthy team culture. The workshop will provide practical, evidence-based tools that can be applied immediately in tourism workplaces, particularly during peak season.
3. Take proactive steps against gender-based violence
Julie Spec and Claire Varley highlighted that preventing workplace gender-based violence is not only the right thing to do, but also good for business. It strengthens workplace culture, supports staff wellbeing, protects reputation and helps position a business as an employer of choice.
To support tourism operators, Julie and Claire launched the Safe Teams, Strong Businesses Toolkit, developed specifically for regional tourism businesses based on the challenges and barriers identified by the industry.
The toolkit helps operators:
- Better understand workplace gender-based violence and your legal obligations.
- Identify simple and practical actions to support leadership, policies, procedures, support systems and workplace culture within your business.
- Access helpful additional resources, training and support services.
Two free 90-minute online workshops will be held on 11 and 18 August to help operators learn more and put the toolkit into practice.
4. Protect your business
Perhaps the most important takeaway from the Cyber Risks break out session was that cyber resilience is everyone’s responsibility. Taking proactive steps today can help protect your reputation, maintain customer trust and minimise disruption if an incident occurs.
Experts from Beyond Bank, Harwood Andrews and Rodderick Insurance shared updates about the growing range of cyber threats facing businesses, including phishing scams, data breaches and ransomware attacks.
The message was clear: as tourism businesses become increasingly reliant on digital systems, cloud-based software and multiple data storage points, protecting those systems and your customers’ data is a critical business responsibility.
The panel focused on practical actions operators can implement immediately including an audit of your data collection and supporting software that holds data, enabling multi-factor authentication, strengthening passwords, educating staff about cyber risks and regularly backing up important data are all simple steps that can significantly reduce vulnerability.
Cyber risk affects tourism operators and businesses of every size and needs to be thought about proactively before an incident happens.
5. Find ways to reduce customer effort
“How are we creating experiences worth talking about?” – Customer Service guru Monique Richardson reminded delegates that customers remember experiences, especially those they can’t wait to tell others about.
As Monique explained, “Great experiences don’t just happen, they’re by design.”
She encouraged operators to map the customer journey and identify where things may be difficult, confusing or frustrating. By removing these pain points, businesses can create smoother, more enjoyable experiences. Customer effort can take many forms, including cognitive effort, time, physical effort and emotional effort.
Another important takeaway was that we can all benefit when experiences are worth recommending. When visitors have exceptional experiences across the region, it strengthens confidence in recommending Geelong and The Bellarine as a destination.
6. Consider what you can offer for business events
Business events bring thousands of high-value visitors to our region every year. These visitors typically stay longer, spend more and often return later as leisure travellers.
Meet Geelong and The Bellarine’s Tamie Ryan reminded us, “It’s not just about one conference room, it’s about how we can all get involved.”
Every conference delegate interacts with dozens of businesses during their visit, from accommodation providers and restaurants to attractions, retail businesses, transport providers and experience operators. Opportunities extend far beyond hosting a conference itself.
Ways to get involved include:
- Thinking about group-friendly offers
- Building partnerships with complementary businesses
- Keeping Meet Geelong and The Bellarine updated on your offering
- Being open to customised experiences
- Developing delegate offers and packages
- Participating in famil opportunities whenever possible
7. Put love into your website
With the rise of AI and the increasing number of searches that end without a website visit, it can be tempting to think websites matter less than they once did. However, Joel and Cory from Bliss Agency reminded us that your website is more important than ever.
Your website remains your most valuable digital asset. You don’t own your social media audience or your online reviews, but you do own your website. Travellers are increasingly discovering destinations through AI tools and social media before visiting a website later in their decision-making journey. But AI still relies heavily on website content to source information, making a strong website more important than ever. Joel and Cory encouraged businesses to ensure their websites clearly communicate location information, answer common visitor questions and make it easy for visitors to book or purchase.
They also emphasised the importance of collaboration. Being referenced by other trusted websites and businesses in their content helps improve your visibility in AI-powered search results, creating another reason to actively collaborate, support and promote neighbouring businesses.
8. Get up to speed on agritourism
Kate Shilling from Tourism Australia shared insights into the growing demand for agritourism experiences and how Tourism Australia is helping drive interest in food and farming experiences across regional Australia.
Kate reminded us that “What is every day for a farmer is extraordinary for a visitor.”
Food bowl regions are playing a significant role in attracting international visitors seeking authentic food, farm and producer experiences. This is particularly important for our regions as agritourism visitors on average do more activities, stay longer, spend more money and disperse into regions more than your average visitor.
Geelong and The Bellarine is one of Victoria’s four recognised food bowl regions, placing us in a strong position to benefit from this growing market.
Following Kate’s presentation, Tourism Greater Geelong and The Bellarine officially launched the Agritourism Roadmap 2026-2029, a strategic guide to support the continued growth of agritourism across the region.
If you’re interested in attracting visitors through food, farming and authentic regional experiences, it’s worth taking the time to explore the roadmap and identify opportunities for your business.
9. Ask yourself: What business are you really in?
Keynote speaker and CEO of Who Gives A Crap Simon Griffiths shared the remarkable story behind the company and ten lessons they have learned along the way.
One of his most thought-provoking questions was: “What business are you really in?”
This goes beyond the products or services you sell. It’s about understanding the bigger purpose behind your business. For Who Gives A Crap, that purpose is delight. It’s reflected in everything they do, from their marketing and branding to their packaging and customer experience.
Understanding what business you’re really in can provide a powerful lens for decision-making and help create a more meaningful and memorable brand.
We also learnt from Simon that puppies and kittens do very well on social media… but puppies always perform just that little bit better.
10. Work more collaboratively
If there was one theme that echoed throughout the conference, it was the importance of collaboration.
Whether it was Monique Richardson speaking about customer referrals, Joel and Cory discussing shared digital visibility and cross promotion, Kate Shilling highlighting collaborative destination partnerships or Simon Griffiths reminding us that no business succeeds alone, the message was consistent.
As Russ from The Whiskery put it during the business events break out session: “A rising tide lifts all ships.”
When businesses work together to create better visitor experiences, encourage longer stays and promote the region collectively, everyone benefits. Collaboration isn’t just good for the industry; it’s one of the most effective ways to grow it. How can you collaborate more?
What a conference!
This year’s conference reminded us all that our industry is strongest when we keep learning, adapting and supporting one another. Whether it’s attending a workshop, exploring a new idea, connecting with another operator or joining us at next year’s Tourism Together Conference, we encourage you to keep building on the momentum and making every interaction matter.
The conversations don’t end when the conference does. The real impact comes from what happens next. We encourage you to take one idea, one action or one connection from the day and put it into practice.
Together, we can continue to strengthen our businesses, enhance visitor experiences and build an even stronger tourism industry for our region.
