Tourism body to hold conference this month

THIS year’s Great Ocean Road Regional Tourism (GORRT) Conference is promising attendees new ideas to spring clean their products before the summer peak season, as well as tips and tricks to grow their business and customer base to make dollars, energy and efforts stretch further.

Organisers have announced that they have secured Jesse Desjardins as the headline speaker at the conference – titled “Evidence-based marketing: amplifying and maximising the tools at your disposal” – to be held in Colac on October 25.

Mr Desjardins now works at fwNATION but is known to many in the industry from his seven-year tenure as the global manager for social and content at Tourism Australia, with he and his team speaking to millions daily via Tourism Australia’s digital platforms.

Named as one of Skift’s most influential people in travel, he has accumulated several industry accolades including three Cannes Lions and has collaborated with leading brands and innovators in the business including Facebook, GoPro, DJI, Buzzfeed and the City of Sydney.

Mr Desjardins will introduce conference participants to his Customer Experience Map – this will also be explored in greater detail in the customer experience masterclass, held the day after the conference.

Other presenters at the conference include Shae Keenan from Visit Victoria, Carolyn Childs from My Travel Research, Joel Thorsen from Bliss Search Agency, Mel Stewart from Hyper Social and Shaun Miller from the Warrnambool China Bureau,

The GORRT conference will be held at the Colac Otway Performing Arts Centre on October 25 from 9.30am-5pm.

For tickets or more information, head to greatoceanroadtourism.org.au.