I suppose like a lot of places around the world, it is evolving to be understood beyond what the word “brand” would ordinarily lead us to believe it is about. As a nation and group of states, tourism has always been a big part of our economy and national psyche. The importance of tourism to us as a nation firmly entrenches a set of classic “destination marketing” principles into the way we initially approach place branding. I think that’s changing though.

The shining example of that in Australia at the moment is Brand Tasmania and the work they are doing. Their willingness to own a space that might be seen as a risky proposition in classic destination marketing terms (Tagline: The quiet pursuit of the extraordinary) is truly impressive. They’re a shining light in the Australian world of place branding.

"Place branding is less and less about appealing to a target market and telling them why a place is good for them, and more and more about a place telling the world who it authentically is, and then letting the potential visitor, resident or business decide for themselves whether it feels like their place."

The key challenge is finding leadership within the government that can take a long term view on things. True place branding takes time to take effect, and that time isn’t something a modern-day world affords us.

The news cycle and election cycles (3 years at a federal and state level, as short as 2 years at a local government level) are simply incompatible with the time frames required for powerful place branding to be done. What this does bring into focus though is the importance of growing something from the community, grassroots level, upward.

Doing it with authenticity from the ground up means that by the time elections come around, the candidates will have to be on board with well branded, united places.

A sense of unity around a vision for a place and an accompanying set of values inherent within a community are pretty hard things to ignore as an aspiring political candidate.

I think there’s a more sustainable version of tourism and visitation on the horizon and events can play a critical role in helping us work towards that horizon. I see that future as one that invites people to experience a place, as opposed to consuming a place.

I’m keen on the idea here in Australia of recurring annual events in our country’s towns and cities acting as a contemporary Welcome to Country. In Australia, our indigenous population has been practising a Welcome to Country ceremony for tens of thousands of years. At its heart, that ceremony is an acknowledgement and welcoming of the outsider.

It’s about recognising them, letting them know what our values are, and welcoming them into our place on the premise that they understand what it is that we hold dear. By framing our travel like that, it takes it out of the “consumer” mindset where visitors arrive, consume, and leave, and takes it into a more respectful setting where visitors arrive with a sense of respect and willingness to understand an “other”.

I encourage my clients to execute their recurring, place-based events with that philosophy in mind in the hope that they build a deeper connection with those that come to their place for those events.

Time to reflect and think about our path forward. Whilst it will take time for things to change, I think there’s a shift away from economic impact being the one and only metric upon which an event’s success is judged.

For so long now, the number of visitors and overnight visitor expenditure an event would drive was just about the only metric governments would pay any attention to when investing in events.

The pandemic, and before that bushfires here in Australia, highlighted the importance of community, civic pride, and collective identity for a place. That has brought those social equities focused outcomes to the fore, and they are being prioritized more and more by the powers that be.