Visitor Information Centres: Research and Applications

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Visitor Information Centres Research and
Applications

• Sean Daugherty
• Centre for Hospitality and Tourism Research
• Small Business Research Unit
• Victoria University

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Seminar Outline

• Overview of recent research findings
• Discussion of the VIC DIY Kit
• Summary of new research project

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Background to the Study

• CRC research project in conjunction with CVTC
  (now Tourism Alliance) and the Blue Mountains
  Tourism Authority
• Investigation of
• Visitor perspective and tourism yield
• VIC co-ordinator perspective and the management
  of information

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The Visitors Perspective

• VICs have a clearly defined clientele
• 43 of visitors being adult couples
• a secondary market of family groups (21.5)
• the main age group for these visitors was evenly
  distributed from 35-54 years (sample of 787
  visitors).
• Survey data indicates that 64 of visitors to the
  VIC regions are repeat visitors

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The Visitors Perspective(contd)

• The highest rated service attributes were the
  friendliness of staff and staff knowledge
• VICs influenced 18 of visitors to stay longer
  within the region
• This varied from a few hours to 14 nights or more
  
• VICs influenced visitors to participate in more
  activities.

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The Visitors Perspective(contd)

• Of the repeat visitors 58 have visited the
  region between 1-4 times
• Following access to staff knowledge and
  information from the VIC, 35 of respondents were
  encouraged to visit regions surrounding the VIC
  region
• Statistics have further indicated that 26 of
  these repeat visitors have visited the VICs
  before

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VIC Knowledge Management

• Strategic Knowledge Management Assessment
  Instrument developed
• The assessment instrument provides a benchmarking
  tool for visitor information centres generally to
  identify their capacity for organisational
  learning and knowledge management.

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VIC KnowledgeManagement (contd)

• The following set of documents were analysed,
  again using the instrument to guide thematic
  analysis
• NSW State Government Accreditation Scheme for
  VICs
• Strategic, Management and Business plans
• Vision and Mission Statements
• Organisational Charts
• Duty Statements
• Policy and Procedural Manuals
• Computer Systems Manual
• Written communications to stakeholders

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VIC KnowledgeManagement Findings

• There are substantial constraints on the capacity
  for Visitor Information Centres to develop and
  implement a strategic knowledge management agenda
  internally
• The management agenda is heavily influenced by
• the expectations and practices of external
  stakeholders
• funding agents and
• other peripheral organisations

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VIC KnowledgeManagement Findings

• There is an expectation that
• leadership and organisational culture emerge
  from within the organisation and
• that decisions on the key policy infrastructure
  are also internally driven
• The research was able to identify the recognition
  of the external environment as a significant
  enabler of strategic knowledge management in the
  case study visitor information centre.

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The VIC DIY Kit

• Objectives of the Kit
• How it works
• A Handbook
• Case Study used to lead you through
• The Questionnaire
• A Data Entry Tool
• How to source the kit
• Expression of interest toFiona Richards,
  Research ManagerCentre for Regional Tourism
  Research
• Phone [phone]Email frichard_at_scu.edu.au

Cost 220.00Available within 6 months
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Further VIC Research

• Investigation of the ways in which VICs can best
  disseminate information
• The project will
• Provide an audit of current technology and its
  use in VICs
• Investigate the needs of visitors in terms of
  visitor information
• Pursue the findings from the previous project in
  relation to the management of knowledge in VICs

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Further VIC Research (contd)

• The new project will
• Provide guidance for VICs and a means of
  identifying specific types of visitors
• Provide guidance for information dissemination
  for these various market segments
• Provide recommendations on how best to manage the
  information that is disseminated
• Be guided by an industry advisory group.