Your 2016/17 Membership Survey Results

Many thanks to all of you who took the time to complete our 2016/17 Membership Survey last month. We received responses from 193 members in total, and this feedback serves as an incredibly important source of information as we plan our activity for the next 12 months and beyond.

We have spent the last few weeks looking carefully at the results and we are pleased to share a snapshot of the findings below.

What you told us

Overall satisfaction: 70%

Using the ‘Net Promoter’ scale, 71% of respondents rated the MRBTA 6 or above (vs 80% in 2016) and of these respondents, 33% gave a score of 10, which provided an overall NPS of 11.

Respondents were also asked to indicate their overall satisfaction with MRBTA member services, on a rating scale of 1 (not satisfied) to 10 (highly satisfied).  184 (95%) of the 193 respondents answered this question to give an average rating of 7.08 out of 10.

Satisfaction with specific MRBTA services

Specific services offered by MRBTA rated highest to lowest in the following order:

1. Promotion of MRBTA managed attractions (weighted highest also in 2016)
2. Member communications (also weighted 2nd highest in 2016)
3. Delivery of visitor information & service (was rated 4th highest in 2016)
4. Overall destination marketing (was rated 3rd highest in 2016)
5. Tourism advocacy (was rated lowest in 2016)
6. Engagement with industry stakeholders & partners (rated 2nd lowest in 2016)
7. Digital marketing (ranked 5th highest in 2016)
8. Training & Development (also ranked last in 2016)

Primary & Secondary reason for being a member of MRBTA

In this question, we asked members to answer the one primary and one secondary reason for becoming a member. The three top answers were as follows:

1. To support tourism in region & destination marketing
2. For exposure of their business (this ranked 3rd highest in 2016)
3. For bookings (this ranked 2nd highest in 2016)

Professional development & training

This question was asked to gauge member interest in further professional development opportunities if made available in the region, the strongest weighted themes were:

• Marketing strategy, development & emerging trends (same ranking in 2016)
• More specific training around different traditional and digital marketing platforms – bite-sized training style (same ranking in 2016)
• Customer service, brand & reputation management (this ranked 4th in 2016)
• Tourism product development, pricing & distribution (this ranked 3rd in 2016)

There was less interest in traditional business management, accounting, HR or OSH.

MRBTA focus for the next 12 months

The last question in the survey was open ended and asked members to advise, where they would like to see the MRBTA focus its resources over the next 12 months (2017/18 financial year). Strong themes included:

• Driving further destination marketing & promotion ensuring that the diversity of the region is captured.
• Supporting the development of interstate/international markets, with particular reference to Busselton-Margaret River Regional Airport.
• Growing visitation during off-peak/shoulder periods, with particular reference to events and marketing.
• Supporting members to do business better, with particular reference to training and networking.

How will we improve in 2017/18?

In light of the many and varied needs of our members expressed in the survey, last week we launched a new membership structure for 2017/18 which offers more flexibility than ever before. The packages on offer include the $99 Basic Membership for those who simply wish to become part of the regional tourism community, and range up to the Premium Partnerships for businesses who wish to work with us closely all year round.

In response to the desire for further support of the Busselton-Margaret River Regional Airport, we are pleased to confirm that MRBTA will invest $100,000 over the next two years as part of a cooperative marketing effort between the successful airline, City of Busselton, Tourism Western Australia and other partners.

Echoing feedback from the previous year, the survey results for 2016/17 repeated the need to drive visitation during off-peak periods, with a particular focus on events. MRBTA will therefore continue to support the region’s new winter event, Cabin Fever. The inaugural event takes place from 14-23 July and has been made possible through seed funding from MRBTA, South West Development Commission and CAPEROC.

We have also observed the need for further opportunities to help businesses do better, and moving forwards, you will also see an increased focus on training and development over the next 12 months.

Please check your inbox for news of further initiatives to be introduced over the coming months, including an updated regional Strategic Marketing Plan and improvements in visitor servicing technology. As the tourism environment continues to undergo rapid change, we look forward to working with you all to adapt and test new ways of working.

How to stay in touch

You don’t need to wait until next year’s membership survey to share your feedback with us. Please continue to keep in touch via [email protected] or the membership hotline via (08) 9780 5959. You can also approach any of our team at the monthly mingles, or make a face to face appointment.