Hi all,

Lots on as usual, so I’ll keep this brief…

Operator Survey

Firstly, thanks to those of you who filled in our operator survey. As promised, there was a prize…a one-hour business review with a super capable consultant. We’re delighted to say that the winner is Chris Nicholson, from Relax Holiday Rentals! Congrats to Chris, who also happens to be a super nice guy.

The survey was really informative and definitely helped us decide what collateral we’ll produce, and shape our offer for FY25. We heard that you want buy-in opportunities that are accessible, affordable, flexible, and accountable. Well, we listened and will be testing a new concept with a focus group this week. Stay tuned. We’re excited!

We will communicate the campaign concept at the conference, with a more detailed launch at a specific event shortly after the conference on June 25th. If you haven’t got your conference tickets yet, you can get them HERE.

Regional Events Fund announced

We have been waiting with bated breath for an announcement regarding the ongoing support of the Regional Events Fund. This $38m fund falls under three streams:

• Stream 1 – Regional Event Acquisition: One-off or ongoing major events.
• Stream 2 – Event Growth and Development: Funding of up to $500,000 to grow the economic impact of medium- to large-scale events.
• Stream 3 – Event Industry Support: Funding of up to $50,000 to build capability and support the marketing and operations of events that attract intrastate or interstate visitors.

If you, or someone you know, is interested in developing an event in our region, get in touch with me: at .

To find out more about the REF, please go here and it’s worthwhile considering attending a virtual session hosted by Kelly Dickson (Director of Major Events) and Monique George (REF Manager) on Thursday 10am. Sorry for the short notice. You can find out more here.

Vote for Daylesford!

We worked with the team at Hepburn Shire Council on a submission for the VTIC Top Tourism Town Awards.

Daylesford made the list of finalists, and we’d love your support. We’d be hugely grateful if you could spare a minute or two and vote for Daylesford here.

Our region has a pretty handy track record in these awards, Mount Macedon won ‘Top Tiny Tourism Town’ in 2022 and Woodend achieved Bronze in the ‘Top Small Tourism Town’ in 2023.

Our friends in Maldon to our north are also finalists in the same category, and in the spirit of regional collaboration, you can check out their submission and vote for Maldon here.

Thanks in advance.

(Another) free webinar

We have worked with the team at Tourism Tribe over the years and they’re great. Many of you are familiar with the team and their great work. They’re offering a free webinar on ‘Smart Tool Quick Win’ at which you’ll learn: What the day-to-day tools you must use to speed up your workflow, How you can use ChatGPT for tech support (instead of just content), What tech skills should your staff have?

The webinar is this Thursday, June 6th, at 11am. Reserve your spot here.

Thanks for the ongoing support of DMT and the region.
Cheers,
Steve Wroe (he/him)
CEO
Daylesford Macedon Tourism