Place branding is more than a logo—it’s the DNA of a place. Sparrowly Group’s Jackie Hicks explores how place branding and placemaking serve as critical economic and social drivers that shape a community’s identity. Drawing on insights from the City Nation Place Australasia forum, we highlight the importance of community engagement, strategic storytelling and collaborative brand development. Whether for a town, city or region, embracing place branding as a strategic priority ensures a stronger, more connected future.

There is a constant pull and push in many cultural institutions between curating a space that is thought provoking, innovative and unique while also managing the need to be sustainable or, in some cases, generate an income just to keep the doors open. tourism can play a role in helping to fill this void.  

According to Cultural Attractions of Australia, cultural tourism is one of Australia’s fastest growing tourism segments with the sector growing 23% over the past five years, compared to total tourism growth of 19%.

So where should you start? Sparrowly Group’s Justine Sinclair provides the key steps to diversifying without losing your cultural DNA.

You probably know or have lived this scenario - you need to develop a Destination Management Plan or a Visitor Strategy and you need data to understand what's been happening or to know where your destination has come from. If you work in destination management, data is the one area that we all know we need to do better and be better at collecting, tracking, analysing it and reporting on it. When we don’t measure, reflect and act, it’s difficult to tell a comprehensive story to inform stakeholders and build true advocacy and partnerships with them.

The team at Sparrowly Group has witnessed travel trends come and go over the years some of which become mainstays. As we move into a new year, there are three key areas we recommend incorporating into your destination and business planning.  

While these travel behaviours are not the first to evolve and won’t be the last. What’s important is to be forward thinking, know your customer, understand their needs and listen to their feedback.

By making this an always on mindset in your destination development and experience design, you won’t need to wait to learn what the trends are…you will set the trend.

In October, Sparrowly Group’s Giovanna Lever represented Australia at the United Nations World Tourism Organisation Gastronomy Conference. Here are her learnings and resources for colleagues in the Australian tourism, food production and hospitality industries.

“Going out at night”…this phrase can conjure up different images and perceptions. Typically these words more times than not are correlated with images usually involving dining, drinking and perhaps performances. The phrase “Going out at night” however, when linked to the night time economy extends way beyond just the ‘having fun’ sector. Sparrowly Group’s Justine Sinclair explains how to support vibrant communities by reimagining the night time economy.

How many people would compare the toilets that we experience in public spaces to the toilet we experience in our own homes? As Place Makers and destination creators, when extending our hospitality, we should definitely be considering the impression that our public toilets are communicating to our residents and visitors.Toilets are a big deal. More than ever before.