Goal 4: Be a highly effective organisation

Annual Report 2012-13

Stakeholder engagement

All of the Tourism Tasmania Board and staff play a part in engaging with a wide range of stakeholders internationally, interstate and locally.

In 2012, Tourism Tasmania conducted a Stakeholder Engagement Survey as a follow-up to the 2010 Stakeholder Engagement Survey. Following the 2010 survey, the purpose of which was to measure the level of stakeholder satisfaction with the organisation’s overall communications and engagement, a number of recommendations were put forward by the Corporate Communications team and implemented across the organisation. These measures included enhancing online resources and communications, increasing staff participation in industry events, enhancing the profile and contact details for management team members, and publishing and distributing new material outlining the industry resources and services available from Tourism Tasmania.

The purpose of the subsequent 2012 survey was to measure the effect of those changes and actions on stakeholder satisfaction with our communications and engagement.

Overall, the response to the survey indicates that Tourism Tasmania has improved its communications with stakeholders, and has improved its industry engagement and communications across most areas. The survey also showed that our efforts to encourage all Tourism Tasmania staff to regularly engage and build stronger relationships with the tourism industry and other stakeholders is delivering positive outcomes and will continue in future.

Further monitoring of the delivery of our online and electronic communications will also continue.

Tourism Tasmania’s corporate communications team coordinate the formal communication of the activities of Tourism Tasmania. This is undertaken using a range of channels including the Tourism Tasmania newsletter - a bi-weekly newsletter, Industry Advisories - email news notifications distributed to the TigerTour database and select stakeholders - and through website publishing, RSS broadcasting and Twitter feeds.

During the financial year, a total of 21 Industry Advisories were distributed on topics including campaign launches, announcements from the CEO and Tasmanian Visitor Survey results.

Tourism Tasmania continued to use video messages to communicate news and announcements to stakeholders. Over the year, Tourism Tasmania produced six video messages from the CEO or Director of Marketing.

Tourism Tasmania also maintains a corporate website whose primary audience is Tasmanian tourism businesses. In 2012-13, there were 99 514 visits (70 135 unique visits) to the corporate website.

Enhancements to Tourism Tasmania's corporate website include the redesign of its news service with the various news sources combined into a single location for ‘all news’ and a revised approach to the publishing of Tourism Tasmania newsletter, Tourism Tasmania's industry newsletter, to gain efficiencies in its production and distribution.

Tourism Tasmania also maintains a trade resources website to assist in the delivery of information to distribution partners. This year Tourism Tasmania expanded the website’s content to include an extensive training module - Walking in Tasmania - for the specialist training of distribution partners located in the US market.

Tourism Tasmania also supported the Minister for Tourism and the CEO of Tourism Tasmania in preparing speech notes and media releases on funding announcements, new product openings, Tasmanian Visitor Survey results and other major Tourism Tasmania initiatives.

Local media are an important stakeholder in the communication of Tourism Tasmania’s activities to the general public and to industry stakeholders. The Corporate Communications Team provide regular briefings, fact sheets and research data to Tasmanian and interstate media and also respond to requests for comment or statistics on tourism issues in the state.

Business Services

Values workshops

The Department of Economic Development, Tourism and the Arts (DEDTA) developed a whole of agency values team in September 2010. Tourism Tasmania has representation on this team. In order to help align and embed the values within the organisation, Tourism Tasmania and the larger Department recognises values in their recruitment and selection process. Values are also promoted through ongoing forums and briefings with the Agency Executive Team which includes the CEO of Tourism Tasmania.

Risk and assurance

Tourism Tasmania conducts its own internal audit program using contracted auditors, Deloitte. Audit topics are selected by the Audit Finance and Risk Committee (AFRC) and resulting programs of work and timelines developed by management with input from the internal auditors. The results are reported back to the AFRC with agreed management actions/treatments. The progress of the agreed recommendations is reported to the AFRC at each meeting.

Audits commenced and overseen by the committee in 2012-2013 were an evaluation of the Strategic and Corporate Framework of Tourism Tasmania and an examination of Tourism Tasmania’s marketing policies and strategies including its Brand management.

The Board also undertook its biannual Board Effectiveness Survey and workshop with Deloitte to ensure best practice and skill use across the Board.

Risk management

Tourism Tasmania is committed to a comprehensive approach to managing risk using a Risk Register framework, a process that requires identifying business risks arising from its strategic direction and operating environment. Tourism Tasmania’s risk register is reviewed annually by the AFRC. Management report quarterly to the AFRC on the risk treatment plans and on any new or escalated risks and the appropriate processes to manage them.

In early 2013, over sixty five per cent of staff participated in an overview of risk management at the project level presentation and workshop that reinforced and grew further staff knowledge of risk and risk assessment. A second workshop to capture the remaining staff is scheduled for early August 2013. Following this, in late August 2014 management and a selection of staff will attend a facilitated session with the auditors to update, review and identify new risks for Tourism Tasmania and its priorities.

Financial reporting system

Tourism Tasmania's operating procedures include a comprehensive system to report financial information. These procedures include the formal review of budgets by senior management and the CEO before endorsement by the Board; forecasts, revised on a quarterly basis, compared against the budget; monthly management accounts with a comparison of actual results against the forecast budget; monthly reporting and tracking of debtors; review and approval of Annual Financial Statements, prior to AFRC and Board endorsement; and annual review of delegations of authority.

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