Developing your product or service

Competitive edge

To be a successful business you must develop a competitive edge. To achieve this you need to provide a product or service that is unique to your competitors.

It is important to recognise that in addition to creating a competitive edge for your product or service, tourism operators need to work together to create a competitive advantage for the region. By partnering with tourism agencies such as Tourism Queensland and regional tourism organisations, and developing mutually beneficial relationships with other tourism operators, this can help to boost tourism in the region by creating a more desirable tourist destination.

Your Business Success Part 13 - Creating a competitive advantage

Networking

To be a successful tourism operator you need to utilise the benefits of networking. Networking ensures a business is market led. In the tourism industry you have to be prepared to network as its benefits far exceed just working with others to achieve common goals or greater bargaining power. A range of networking opportunities are being planned all the time. Contact the Regional Tourist Organisation (RTO) in your area to find out more on planned networking events.

Ian and Bonnie McLennan of Hidden Valley Cabins, and Allan and Michelle Sharpe of Heritage Tea Rooms discuss the benefits of working together to stimulate tourism in the Townsville region.

Your Business Success Part 6 - Business Clustering

By endorsing other tourism operators in the region, Hidden Valley Cabins and Heritage Tea Rooms have assisted in providing a suite of experiences to enhance the promotion and desirability of the Townsville region to visitors.

Your Business Success Part 7 - Business Clustering and Advertising

Allan and Michelle Sharpe of Heritage Tea Rooms highlight the importance of collaborating with support bodies such as Tourism Queensland, the Queensland Tourism Industry Council and the Department of Tourism, Regional Development and Industry. It is imperative for both new and existing businesses to utilise the assistance and opportunities provided by these support bodies to further develop their businesses.

Your Business Success Part 4 - Networking with tourism bodies

Pricing

Pricing is a key element to a successful business. To be competitive in the marketplace the pricing structure of your product or service should reflect market trends and offer value for money.

Marketing and Distribution

The tourism industry is highly competitive, which demands that tourism operators have excellent marketing skills. Tourism is a product and service that is offered and can be purchased by a worldwide market, so it is important that the tourism operator markets and distributes their product or service accordingly.

Greg Howe, a Regional Director at Tourism Queensland advises the owners of Hidden Valley Cabins of how to work cooperatively in the Townsville region to compete in a global market. By utilising support agencies such as Tourism Queensland, tourism operators can become more competitive from a global market perspective.

Your Business Success Part 8 - Global Competition

To assist you in finding information on marketing as well as other helpful hints to assist you in marketing visit the Tourism Queensland marketing web pages.