Small Program, Big Impact: Digital Growth in Mandurah’s Tourism Sector

In 2024, Visit Mandurah partnered with Tourism Tribe to deliver a compact but high-impact digital capability program for six local tourism businesses. While small in size, the Mandurah Digital Champions program shows what can be achieved when targeted support, the right tools, and motivated participants come together.

This post shares how the program was delivered, what the businesses learned, and why this model could work in other regional areas across Australia and the world.

Program Overview

The Mandurah Digital Champions program was designed to be affordable, accessible, and practical. Participants contributed just $99 to take part, making it a realistic option for small businesses working with limited time and budgets.

Each participant received:

• A Digital Engagement Health Check™ – a detailed audit of their website, social media, Google Business Profile, and online reputation
• Four months access to Tourism Tribe’s Digital Assistance Plans including tourism tech sessions and online course library.

Tourism tech sessions are twich-monthly small group sessions where participants are introduced to the latest developments in the tourism tech arena followed by an open question and answer time where operators can ask questions or learn from what other operators are doing.

Tourism Tribe’s self-paced online course library features our signature Digital Champions 101 course, written specifically for time-poor tourism operators who don’t have a digital or marketing expert on staff. The library also includes many complementary courses as well as Digital Champions 202 for operators who are at a more intermediate level.

Who Participated?

The program engaged six locally owned and operated businesses from Mandurah’s tourism sector representing a cross-section of Mandurah’s visitor economy including tours, attractions, accommodation, food and drink, and tourism services. This diversity made the program particularly rich, as each operator brought different challenges and opportunities to the table. Despite different business models and levels of digital confidence, each participant approached the program with a strong motivation to learn and apply new skills.

What They Learned

Participants progressed through the Digital Champions 101 course at their own pace and used the program to improve digital skills across several key areas:

• Website improvements and content updates
• Social media marketing
• Online reputation management
• Google Business Profile optimisation

One standout participant not only completed the full course but also took the initiative to complete a second complementary course – an impressive achievement given the typical time commitment.

Measuring Progress: The Health Check Advantage

One of the strengths of this program was the use of Tourism Tribe’s Digital Engagement Health Checks™. These audits provided each business with a snapshot of their digital presence at the start of the program and clear guidance on what to improve.

We also used the results to identify the most relevant training areas for this cohort, allowing us to recommend targeted learning that fit each business’s stage and goals.

Here’s how Mandurah’s participating businesses performed, grouped by digital asset (e.g. website, socials, Google), compared to the Tourism Tribe national benchmark of over 2,000 businesses.

This comparative view gave Visit Mandurah valuable insights into where local operators were excelling and where future support may be most useful.

Tailored Learning at Work

Unlike off-the-shelf programs, the Mandurah model was tailored for the region’s needs and delivered at a pace that respected small business realities. Operators could log in when it suited them, revisit course content as needed, and track their progress.

This program also built on other capacity-building efforts in the region. Separately, Visit Mandurah partnered with Tourism Tribe to run a targeted workshop on ATDW listings – reinforcing the idea that high-impact programs don’t need to be long or expensive when they’re based on clear needs and goals.

What We Learned

• Small groups allow for deeper personalisation and stronger relationships between delivery teams and participants.
• Including a Digital Engagement Health Check™ at the start creates a clear starting point for each business and ensures training is relevant.
• A small participant contribution ($99) alongside funding from Visit Mandurah helped ensure strong engagement from operators while keeping the overall cost manageable for the region.
• Self-paced, practical learning still works, especially when operators feel supported and can see the relevance to their business.

Supporting Tourism Growth in Every Region

The Mandurah Digital Champions program demonstrates that regional digital upskilling doesn’t require big budgets or long timelines. What matters is having a clear purpose, the right support tools, and a delivery model that works for small businesses.

Tourism Tribe specialises in working with local councils, tourism organisations, and economic development teams to deliver flexible, regionally tailored programs. Whether you’re supporting six businesses or a hundred and six, we can help you deliver measurable outcomes that build long-term digital capability.

View our current and past programs or Learn more on our Industry Training page. If you would like to talk to our team about a tailored approach for your region contact us by filling out the form at the bottom of the industry training page.

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