Striving for Excellence

Victoria's tourism industry has an opportunity to distinguish itself by offering exceptional experiences that deliver high levels of satisfaction to visitors. By meeting or exceeding the expectations of visitors, the industry will enjoy greater repeat visitation and positive word-of-mouth referrals by those satisfied visitors, and build and sustain a competitive advantage.

Given the increasing competitiveness of the global tourism industry, the capacity to compete now and in the future relies on the ability to deliver quality tourism experiences and to develop a reputation for excellence.

Striving for quality visitor experiences is the new minimum standard for tourism businesses. Internationally, this focus has been recognised and adopted by the European Union, Scotland, Wales, Canada and New Zealand. These countries have built a tourism industry that is characterised by its consistency, safety, reliability, efficiency and value for money when delivering a memorable experience.

These characteristics are being demanded by the more sophisticated, well-travelled consumer/visitor.

While businesses in the tourism industry associate good business practices with higher profits, product differentiation and satisfied customers are also crucial, especially in markets where the consumer is being bombarded by an ever-increasing number of marketing messages. Now more than ever, the power of positive word-of-mouth referrals is a proven cost-effective way to improve business performance.

Significant potential exists to enhance existing business practices and destination services to offer exceptional visitor experiences.

Quality tourism is achieved when back and front-of-house, business practices, local interdependencies and regional cohesiveness, are integrated seamlessly to deliver the promised visitor experience.

The perception of the level of excellence achieved will vary according to the experiences and expectations of the individual visitor.

It is undeniable that striving for Tourism Excellence needs to be a continual and ongoing process in the promise, offer and ultimate delivery of a quality experience.