Experience Development Program

This program is designed to assist businesses to understand product development and develop their capability. If you own an established tourism business that is already online bookable and selling to domestic trade, this program may not be the best fit. 

The program consists of three (3) modules and each will be delivered as a workshop for every participant to attend. Two of the workshops will be in person, and the third will be held either online or in person

The workshops will be held across regional South Australia and run by SATC staff. Exact locations and dates are provided in the Expression of Interest Guidelines.

Yes, contact your local Regional Tourism Manager or the SATC [email protected] for further information.

This program aims to assist operators to develop a world class tourism product or experience and will not assist operators with writing an application for grant funding. Many funding programs require robust product development planning and/or demonstrated experience delivering outcomes.

Priority will be given to applicants that can confirm attendance at all three module workshops. We understand that at times circumstances may change, and the SATC will work with the applicant individually to support alternative ways to attend at that time.

No, there will not be marked assessments. 

No, there is no financial cost to an applicant to take part in the program, however applicants must be able to commit their time to attend three module workshops and complete minimal work outside of the SATC-led sessions, to further refine their tourism experiences.

Yes, new businesses with a registered ABN can apply. There will be some assumed knowledge in the program that includes business fundamentals. If you are starting a new business and are not quite ready for the EDP, the SATC has a suite of tools for new businesses which can assist.

Developing a business plan can assist prioritising business objectives, goals and a road map to develop and sustain your business. The Australian Government has resources and templates available to help support the development of a business plan. To access these, please click here.

Another useful tool is Artificial Intelligence, such as ChatGPT, which can help write a business plan for your business using a simple prompt. Adding more detail to the prompt will help the outcome of your business plan, such as your tourism product/experience, location, website and any targets you wish to achieve. Once AI has produced a business plan, review and adjust based of your own business needs and details.

Highly experienced SATC staff will run the program and mentor applicants. Our staff have first-hand experience in running small tourism businesses, marketing, events, business development and international trade.

This program is for experiences and product development. If your new accommodation features an experience element, this could be a right fit. If not, the SATC can still assist you. We encourage you to email us [email protected] to set up a time to discuss further with our staff.

To take part in the Experience Development Program pilot, you will need to have a valid ABN at the time of application. If you are looking at getting started in tourism and understanding the industry, we would recommend looking into some of the SATC’s tools to get you started.

SATC staff can assist with product development enquiries. Please email us: [email protected].

Yes, but you must already have or wish to further develop packaged/bookable experiences beyond a room booking. For example, hosted tours, food and wine experiences or all-inclusive packages.

There are 12 tourism regions in South Australia, each supported by a local Regional Tourism Manager. Contacts for your local Regional Tourism Manager can be found here.