Festivals and events are important in attracting new and diverse visitors to destinations and in encouraging visitors to travel in off-peak seasons. Tourism outcomes are intrinsically linked to event success and sustainability, and the loss of events can impact the host region.

Volunteer burnout, event fatigue and competition are three common challenges that events are facing in 2018. The reliance on volunteers in an increasingly time-poor society means that events are struggling with a lack of resources. Who has room for innovation, new ideas or creativity?!

We want to understand what the biggest challenges are for your event in 2018!

Please take a couple of minutes to complete the multiple-choice poll below. We’ll share the results and provide some helpful insights gleaned from our experience with events throughout regional Australia.

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* 1. Attracting and retaining volunteers for our event is a key priority to ensure sustainability.

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* 2. Our event has a current strategic business plan that provides focus and direction for the team.

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* 3. Our event has an up to date event operations manual and 12 month planning timeline that guides all operations for the event and keeps us focused and on track.

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* 4. Dedicating time to undertaking a robust post event review process each year is a priority for our event.

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* 5. We have good intentions to create fresh new elements for our event each year, but we just don’t have time to think about it.

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* 6. We rely heavily on sponsorship and grant funding to run our event each year.

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* 7. We know that risk management is important, but we really just don’t have time to do it properly. 

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* 8. Marketing is a priority for our event because it is all about attracting visitors.

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* 9. We pay a marketing agency to do our event's marketing because it means it is done well and it's one less thing for us to think about.

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* 10. Our event team has regular meetings to discuss things, but they are often repetitive and a waste of time.

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* 11. We work closely with our local council and regional tourism organisation to ensure that our event aligns with the destination brand and experience.

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* 12. The amount of work involved in running an event is overwhelming. We wish we had a paid event manager.

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* 13. Prioritise the following from most challenging (1) to least challenging (9) areas of event planning (You can click and drag the items to rearrange their order)

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* 14. If finance was not a restriction for your event, what things would you do differently to ensure your event's success and sustainability?

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