Learning on The Move – Tourism Training Done Differently

“ Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.”
 Benjamin Franklin

Learning on the move and facilitating tourism training done differently has been a highlight for Institute of Excellence. It all started earlier this year when I had one of those exciting calls that started with ‘ I want to do something different with our training this year’.

Calls like this inspire me to almost immediately say yes without even hearing out any why, what, how components of the said idea. Experience has taught me to contain my excitability and at least wait for my caller to finish the sentence and then say YES!

The wonderful Kate Lind from Wyndham City Council reached out and proposed a tourism training idea I had dreamt about since starting my training business in mid-2014.

Learn on the Move.

A training day that allows participants to come together and pound the pavement in a way that they can experience their own destination while they learn.

A new collaboration was born and together with Kate, we brought to life an exciting new way to ‘do’ industry training and development.

Why did we do this?

The key objective of our inaugural ‘Learning on the Move’ mission was to engage a select number of business owners, managers and marketing professionals from the Wyndham region. The intention of facilitating a different style of learning was to give current Wyndham ambassadors an opportunity to come together and whilst exploring the region, be educated on a number of ways they can grow their business, themselves and the destination.

Our goals for the day were simple:

1. Experience
   

   Through our trusted friends at Get Lost Travel Group participants had the opportunity to experience the key iconic hotels, attractions, venues and sites of Wyndham. This included Werribee Mansion, Victoria State Rose Garden, Werribee Visitor Centre, Werribee Open Range Zoo, Wyndham Harbour, Werribee Racing Club and Shadowfax Wines.
   

2. Share
   

   Every step of the way, participants were welcomed by business experts to gain a deeper understanding of the area and the respective business and services offered. Having direct access in this way allowed participants to ask questions and make new connections with key leaders in the community.

   Further to this participants were engaged every step of the way through relevant mobile facilitation at specific venues and in transit on the bus as we transported guests from one venue to the other. Topics covered in our ‘on the move’ training component were everything from digital marketing opportunities, social media opportunities, product development, partnerships and packaging.

   

   Despina Karatzias, teaching on the move with Wyndham City Council.

3. Collaborate

   A key outcome that I believe was successfully executed was the door opening to further collaborate. Outside of the key attractions, many other gold nuggets were unveiled on the day for the first time to participants with a running expression throughout the day of “I had no idea this was here.”

Our wins for the day:

Innovation

It was an innovative and accelerated experience that gave life to a new and exciting way to execute an industry training and development initiative.

Each participant had the opportunity to meet key industry leaders, see and experience Wyndham in a fraction of the time.

Accelerated Learning

With the busy pressures of work and life, it can be challenging to get out and explore the sites, meet industry leaders and attend workshops.

Working with Kate to outline a well-planned itinerary combined with a well thought out session plan to complement the places we visited was a winning combination to accelerate all of these key elements for everyone involved.

In a half day experience, participants took in the main sights of Wyndham whilst learning tips, strategies and tools to take their business and marketing initiatives to the next level.

Networking

It was an excellent opportunity for participants to not only meet but experience and share together. The networking that took place throughout the entire day together was outstanding and by way feedback, something participants enjoyed most about this experience.

Educational

Facilitating a day of destination familiarisation whilst at the same time sprinkling participants with business and marketing specific information was a highly educational experience. Participants learned more about their surroundings, learned more about each other and learned many different ways they can grow their business on and offline.

What participants said…

“I wanted to send you and your team a big thank you for inviting me to be part of the tour. It was such an amazing and informative day, there would not be any better way to learn and experience. Once again thank you and please do not hesitate to contact me directly if I could be of any assistance.” – Amol Kasaju – Quest Franchisee

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“What worked well for me was the warm and friendly environment and feel throughout the day and the great mix of participants from the local area. Being that I am relatively new to Wyndham,  the choice of destinations was extremely helpful. Some I was aware of and had been to be before others I had no idea existed and was blown away by facilities and programs right on our doorstep.

Having Despina on board and constantly giving tips and advice around social media brought a whole new dimension to the day. I found it extremely informative and made a number of recordings to take back to our digital team. Meeting other team members such as Dianne at the visitor information centre was also a highlight for me. Her passion and knowledge was second to none, and she has given me a number of things to think about particularly around joint activity between the information Centre and Pacific Werribee. Other highlights included the beautiful Wyndham Harbour, which really surprised me and of course the beautiful surroundings at Shadow fax  Wines and the delicious food and drink we were provided.. All of the destinations we visited have potential opportunities with Pacific Werribee and I am keen to follow up with relevant parties and start putting our heads together.” – Claire Schultze – Pacific Werribee

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“It was a fantastic day and idea. Thank you once again for such a great day – I saw many things and learnt things I didn’t know!” – Lakshmi Cashmore – Industry Development Officer

Summary:

Overall this was a very positive experience for all involved. It was educational, aspirational and fun. Participants were moved swiftly around the destination and it was a pleasure to work with Wyndham City Council to bring to life an innovating new way to learn, network and inspire collaboration. It was a pleasure to be involved and I welcome any opportunity to do the same in future.

Upcoming Training:

The next Instituteofexcellence.com training is a Blogging and Social Media Retreat.

The retreat is set to kick off Friday 22nd June to Sunday 24th June. 

How are you going with your business art? Every quarter we take ourselves away on a creative business retreat with key clear objectives to create business art – blogs, video scripts, graphics, content for socials – and general campaign, content and business planning to keep ourselves on track and see projects through to completion!

Next month we will be retreating just before the end of the financial year between 22nd and 24 June 2018 and be opening it up to 5-10 businesses that will like to get on top of their 18/19 content and campaign planning to come along and join us.

So, if creative solitude and getting stuff done in beautiful surroundings is something your business heart and soul desires get in touch. Mid-year is a great time to do this. We will love your company and the opportunity help you with your content greatness.

We will be holding an information evening on Thursday 7th June at 7.30pm. 

Register here for FREE ‘Choose Yourself: Blogging and Social Media Retreat Information Session’

About Despina:

 

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