Southern Gold Coast News

June 2010

To read the General Manager’s Budget presentation speech to GCCC, click here!

Coming Soon

Watch out for the following events coming up in the next 3 months!

July	August	September
Beach Soccer Championships 7-10th July	The Cat Empire at the Coolangatta HoteI 27th Aug	Swell Sculpture FestivaI 10th-19th Sept

To contribute to our monthly newsletter, please email the details to admin@southerngoldcoast.com.au by the 23rd of the month for the information to be included in the following month’s newsletter, or call us on 07 5534 3500!

The Currumbin RSL College have launched a brand new training program based around Customer Service.

Boomerang Smiles is a customer service training program that has a clear message, is uniquely Australian, has a strong branding and is very accessible to service businesses in terms of cost time and location!

The idea was born as a result of concerns raised by the media in 2009 where the lack of customer service on the Gold Coast was highlighted. Currumbin RSL College Coordinator, Jane Renata, raised the idea with CEO Anne Stovin for the College to create a training program to improve customer service, an idea that was then reinforced when Anne attended Connecting Southern Gold Coast’s Sector Forums, in which participants expressed an overwhelming concern for the lack of service culture.

Taking the idea to the next level, the College gave birth to Boomerang Smiles and launched the program on the 25th May.

It all starts with a smile! The training is vibrant, entertaining & interactive as well as cost effective and convenient. At $100 per participant, this is 2hrs well spent investing in your business, after all it costs a lot more to attract a new customer than to keep an existing customer and service counts!

Contact the College today to find out when the next course is running and upskill your staff today!

0755595077

www.boomerangsmiles.com.au

FREE iPhone marketing information morning @ Currumbin Beach Vikings SLSC

Directory Saver is a new form of marketing where the user/customer chooses to download a FREE application (app) to their phone and browse offers on-the-go.  It is the first of its kind in Australia working to help businesses get their name out there into the public and promote offers in digital format.  This ground breaking application will enable users to download vouchers on-the-go and redeem them at point of sale.  We want to help you show off your business to thousands of people, help increase your sales and allow YOU to control your offers.

WHERE:     VIKINGS ROOM – CURRUMBIN BEACH VIKINGS SURF CLUB – 741 PACIFIC PDE. CURRUMBIN BEACH.

WHEN:       9am-10am JUNE 16 2010 WITH MORNING TEA TO FOLLOW.

COST:        FREE!

E-MAIL CARLY WAY - functions@currumbinslsc.com.au TO BOOK YOUR SEAT TODAY.

or call 0428 451 579 for more information.

Click the link below to read Graham’s latest tips…

Are you kidding yourself???

Within the next year, traditional electricity supply costs are predicted to skyrocket by around 20%. We are likely to see further cost increases in coming years resulting from carbon pollution reduction measures and growing demand, particularly in South East Queensland and northern NSW.

As the peak environmental body for the Gold Coast region, Gecko is proud to be part of the solution with an exciting new initiative offering affordable, high quality, solar power and solar hot water systems. The benefits are great:

•    No upfront cost!
•    Pay off monthly (with the savings you’ll be making on your electricity bill!)
•    Uses current government rebate incentives
•    Secures your home energy supply, long-term
•    Provides a possible source of income
•    Reduces greenhouse gas emissions
•    High quality systems, and excellent long-term warranties and support

This opportunity comes thanks to an innovative alliance between Gecko, the Maleny Credit Union, and leading Queensland-based solar solution provider, Ingenero.

In the face of rising electricity prices, switching to solar will substantially reduce your household’s energy consumption, save on your electricity bills and shield you from predicted further increases. Currently you can expect a 1.08kW solar power system to reduce your household’s energy bills by between $380 and $470 a year and cut household greenhouse gas emissions by around 30%. What’s more, replacing an electric hot water system with solar is the single most effective action householders can take to reduce their power bills and carbon footprint.

Find out more and get a quote here

Thursday 6 May 2010

Edited Extract

Address to: Budget Review Committee

Gold Coast City Council

By: Jim Wilson, General Manager, Connecting Southern Gold Coast Ltd

Councillors, thank you for the opportunity of briefly addressing you on the past and proposed activities of Connecting Southern Gold Coast Ltd (CSGC).

When my Chairman, Murray d’Almeida, and I addressed you on a number of occasions, about this time last year, CSGC had only just begun its operations and was still working overtime to determine projects and activities that would satisfy its KPIs for continued funding under the Management and Funding Agreement with Council.

I am pleased to report that, in the last year, we have met our KPIs.

With the assistance of Grayson Perry and Di Dixon of GCCC, our Board has developed a sound appreciation of how our Management and Funding Agreement works, and the KPIs we are expected to achieve.

Based on our regional SGC Strategic Planning exercise in late 2010, our Board is also keenly aware of what  SGC  businesses believe CSGC should be doing to promote economic development, investment and employment  in the region.

In short, our businesses very much see us leading economic development by delivering 4 key services for the economic betterment of the SGC.

The first service is: Tourism Promotion and Marketing of the SGC.

You know of our MOUs with GCT; SCU and Tweed Tourism. We are working to enhance these, for example, we now  have an Austrian student at SCU working on ways we can make the Seafood Discovery Trail become a ‘tourist destination’ in itself.

In addition to the Seafood Discovery Trail, we have created new “experiential” tourist products in Pure Green Discovery and the Walks and Lookouts of the SGC, each of which have website presences.

The Gold Coast Convention Bureau and GCT are actively assisting us with promoting these new product offerings. On top of this we have delivered 25k promotional DL brochures both in the SGC and to major tourism information centres from Brisbane to Toowoomba to Stanthorpe;

The second service is: Events and Festivals.

Our focus is on part-funding of events and festivals that underline and diversify our destinational product portfolio, thereby generating brand exposure and developing the image of the SGC, as a sub region of the wider Gold Coast.

We have successfully assisted with kick starting the Kirra SurfStock Festival and Beach Soccer at Kirra, and are working on an inaugural Kite Festival. We have made representations to the Premier of Qld and Qld Events Corporation. The Premier’s Department has replied urging us to keep working with Qld Events Corp on these and other Events and Festivals;

The third service is: Business Development Services.

This is not so much about attracting new businesses to the region- where our limited resources make this very difficult and where there are numerous paid agents and advisers working that agenda in this extraordinarily difficult environment — rather it is about working with “what we have” to make “it” better.

For example we have engaged in a number of sectoral initiatives where we are working with key local businesses and industries. Examples are Medical Tourism, Surf Industry Development Project (with GCCC), the Seafood Discovery Trail, and our MOU with BEC to provide pro bono advice to our predominantly small “s” small business sector (75%-80% of businesses employ fewer  than 3 people).

Also, I am pleased to report that a direct result from our Strategic Planning exercise with IBL and SCU last year has seen the Currumbin RSL launch a new product through the Currumbin RSL College: this product is the Boomerang Smiles customer service program for small business. Paul Donovan, the Chair of GCT, will officially launch this new product later in May.

The fourth service is: Communications to our stakeholders and the World at large.

We have developed our website www.southerngoldcoast.com.au and traffic is increasing. We send out monthly newsletters to the region on what is happening in the SGC in the tourist and business sectors, plus reporting our activities.  The feedback from all points has been excellent.  Also we service the Seafood Discovery Trail and Pure Green Discovery Websites. Our communication strategies are focusing on emphasizing the “promise” of unique experiences to potential visitors.

From a financing perspective we have shared the costs of developing the Seafood Discovery Trail with Tweed Tourism. We have not raised any other funds from third parties, for example, selling advertising space on our website, due to difficult economic conditions restricting our ability to raise such additional revenue. We will take advantage of opportunities to raise such additional funding as and when economic circumstances change (in this respect, we understand that GCT and SPAL do not raise much if any additional revenue from advertising or sponsorship).

We need to continue our work, if we are to build enduring economic growth for the SGC.

Our plan for FY 11 is simple. It has 4 planks-they are:

1. Continue to work and refine the 4 Deliverables of Tourism Promotion and Marketing; Events and Festivals; Business Development Services; and Communications by improving the quality of the engagements and the undertakings to which we allocate resources;
2. Work closely with our MOU partners to achieve outcomes for the region in line with the GC City Economic Development Strategy 2020;
3. Work with the ED&T Dept of Council as a strategic partner, to identify possible collaborative outcomes such as attracting new business and investment to the region;
4. Continue to engage with the local business community via forums such as our Tourism Working Group. Our aim here is challenge existing attitudes and approaches and develop an enthusiastic business- community opinion about action on:

• The importance of projects listed in the Gold Coast Hinterland Tourism Operating Plan 2009-2018 such as: Rapid Transit; Surf World Gold Coast Precinct; Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary Gateway; Surfing Infrastructure ; and Mount Warning Green Caldera-  just to name a few;
• the “environmental presentation” of the region, as the environment in our small, and geographically and topographically-diverse region is the under pin of our regional economy  and its future economic prospects; and
• development of synergies with new businesses investing in our region- businesses such as SCU, new accommodation providers, and others such as Surfing Australia.

Thank you for your support for our endeavours to date.

Recent adverse publicity about the safety of some precincts in our region has necessitated us taking an interest in the matter from an economic perspective. I am sure our readers appreciate that residents and tourists alike want to live in a community where they can feel safe to enjoy the wonderful cultural and natural attributes of our region.

The facts are that the recent adverse publicity is nothing more than uninformed sensationalism and does not recognise the massively favourable decline in unsavoury incidents in our beautiful region, as reported by the authorities in both the SGC and our important neighbour, the Tweed region.

Further the reports have given no recognition whatsoever to the wonderful work of the Coolangatta/Tweed Community Safety Committee which has been in operation for over 5yrs and has been very committed to addressing causes and effects at the social and community level.

Our company’s view is that this Committee, along with the great cooperation of the police forces and community service providers, on both sides of the border, have been fundamental to improving, what is always a work in progress for any community in Australia.

THATS THE GOOD NEWS!

Finally, Jim Wilson, our General Manager, has written to the author of a number of articles and asked him to meet in order to learn the context in which our wonderful communities are addressing the concerns which are being published. The author has already agreed to meet with him in the near future with a view to a mutually beneficial outcome. Our objective is that he will take a continuing interest in THE GOOD NEWS and publish it, rather than needlessly deflating our community spirit and turning away tourists, who are a major creator of jobs and opportunity for our close-knit communities and precincts.

Keep spreading THE GOOD NEWS!

Last month the SGC welcomed Cooly Dive as a new business that had relocated to our beautiful region!

So this month we thought we’d remind you all that the Whales are arriving… and Cooly Dive are the best people to take you out to see them close up! From June – November each year the majestic Humpback Whales migrate north right past our beautiful shoreline.

The team at Cooly Dive have been whale watching since 2000 and in the last 4yrs they have seen whales on EVERY trip! Which is why they guarantee you will see whales when you cruise with Cooly Dive, and if for some reason you don’t, they will give you a free ticket for your next cruise to make sure you get to experience these amazing creatures in the wild!

Not only can the team at Cooly Dive provide amazing experiences with the whales but they can also show you the underwater world of intrigue and beauty by taking you to popular dive sites such as Cook Island where you can dive with Gropers, Green and Loggerhead Turtles, Rays and a vast array of other amazing marine life.

So give Tony and Carol a call today and book your cruise to see the whales this year! You never know, you might get really lucky and see Migaloo, the only known albino humpback whale in the world!

In 2000, Don Jolly returned from extensive tourism roles in Asia & Europe and established a leading training and consultancy, Don Jolly & Associates, nowtrading as Global Tourism Solutions (GTS).

Don Jolly’s passion is to guide tourism enterprises and executives to further develop their skills and maximize their opportunities.

GTS is designed to provide tourism enterprises witha one-stop service in developing: -

- Professional development of the sales &marketing team

- Enthusiastic customer service teams

- Effective sales, marketing and management retreats and meetings

- Executive coaching/consulting on a one onone or small group basis

In order to assist enterprises and individuals to further develop, GTS has developed a range of key professional development workshops including: -

• Global Tourism Strategies

• Global Tourism Sales

• Powerful & Effective Presentations

• Global Cultural Understanding

• Global Negotiations

• Global Customer Service

GTS has also introduced a new tourism coaching service as well as developing a series of short keynote addresses on major sales, marketing & management topics such as goal setting, more effective team management, creativity and developing enthusiasm and passion.

Find more information about how GTS can assist your tourism business today by visiting wwww.donjollyassoc.com

Southern Cross University invites organisations and individuals to consider supporting a scholarship as part of the Rising Stars Scholarships Program. Rising Stars Scholarships aim to reward students who demonstrate outstanding academic potential and also provide support to students who may not otherwise have the chance of a university education. By funding a scholarship, businesses are supporting the aspirations of our students, which in the long term encourages our talent to stay local and contribute to the local economy. Currently more than 40 organisations, individuals, councils and trusts support the program.

Southern Cross University has increased its presence on the Gold Coast with a new campus at the Gold Coast Airport. This is an excellent time to consider supporting the Rising Stars Scholarships program … your students in your community. For further information, please visit www.scu.edu.au/risingstars or contact Rebecca Park by email: development@scu.edu.au.