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When it comes to furthering our tourism reach, incredible power can come from working together.

Encouraging our local industry to form partnerships and promote the region’s attractions is vital, and the benefits are two-fold.

Firstly, forming partnerships helps boost the profile of the outstanding tourism businesses we have available here on the Sunshine Coast, from attractions to restaurants and immersive encounters.

Secondly, by promoting these businesses we are encouraging visitors to stay longer – benefiting our accommodation providers – and importantly, spend more.

Today’s savvy traveller will often research their holiday online before they leave, but word-of-mouth once they arrive is extremely valuable when it comes to determining where they eat, what they should do and how they get around.

To help foster industry relations Visit Sunshine Coast has partnered with Sunshine Coast Council to host SCouT: The Sunshine Coast Big Day Out for Tourism Operators.

The free event will be held at the new Sunshine Coast Convention Centre at Novotel Twin Waters Resort on 14 May, encouraging Sunshine Coast tourism businesses to promote their product and form working relationships with industry members and accommodation providers.

The day will be broken up in to two sessions, with Visitor Information Centre volunteers invited to come along in the morning followed by accommodation providers and the tourism community from 2:30pm.

Exhibitors on the day will also be given the chance to form partnerships with each other, with industry professionals on hand to guide their discussions.

The event will include keynote speakers, and finish with a free networking event from 5:45pm.

This year SCouT will feature more than 100 exhibitors covering event and event services, food and beverage, tours and experiences, transport and travel services and attractions.

The day will kick-off with the ‘Volunteer Exchange’, with more than 200 volunteers from visitor information centres across the Sunshine Coast and surrounding council regions invited to chat with exhibiting operators and receive an update on their product.

Accommodation providers and the wider tourism community are invited from 2:30pm, with the afternoon session also including presentations from keynote speakers including the former Executive Director of Lonely Planet Gus Balbontin and Sovereign Hill Museums Association Marketing Director Jennifer Ganske.

Recent figures show the Sunshine Coast’s popularity as a holiday destination continues to grow with record holiday spend in the region from domestic visitors in the year end December 2018, proof our tourism industry is going from strength-to-strength.

Events such as SCouT ensure the Sunshine Coast continues this growth, and holiday-makers have the best possible experience.

To register your attendance for the afternoon session and free networking night, visit teamsunshinecoast.com/scout.

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