Paronella Park - Queensland Government

The Innovation Case Study Library
Paronella Park Innovative Attraction
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Department of Science, information Technology,
Innovation and the Arts
© State of Queensland 2014
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Purchasing a piece of History
Spanish emigrant José Paronella started to build
Paronella Park, featuring public gardens and a
reception centre located on the banks of Mena Creek,
in 1929. The Park was also the site for the earliest
river-driven hydro-electric generating plant in North
Queensland, commissioned in 1933. The Park was
purchased by current owners, Mark and Judy Evans in
1993.
Paronella Park:
Innovative Attraction
Overview
Industry
Tourism
Challenge
To expand, and add value to, the customer
experience through continuous innovation
Solution
• Introduction of personal greetings to visitors
• Pricing entry fee to be all-inclusive
• Understanding what customers want
• Continually innovating
Since that time, the Evans family has redeveloped
Paronella Park to win numerous tourism and business
awards. Most recently the Park won the Qantas
Bronze Award for Sustainable Tourism in the 2013
Queensland Tourism Awards, and the 2013 Tropical
North Queensland Tourism Award for Outstanding
Contribution by an Individual. Other awards include:
the 2012 Telstra Australian Business Awards; the 2011
Ecotourism Australia GECKO Award; and winning the
2009 Queensland Tourism Awards and Tropical North
Queensland Tourism Awards for the Heritage and
Cultural Tourism category.
Mark and Judy both have strong business
backgrounds, having worked for large corporations
within the computer industry.
Turning a dream into an innovative business
After several years on the corporate treadmill, the
couple headed off on a round-Australia trip to
discover their dream in the early 1990s. On that trip
they discovered the magic of Paronella Park, which
was listed for sale. Two years to the day after leaving
Perth, they purchased the Park in 1993.
Paronella Park
on the map
Map data ©2014 GBRMPA, Google
The Business Challenge
Mark said they started the business with a
simple plan of 60 action items, which has now
been re-written about 100 times, and over time
has probably contained 6000 items. This first
iteration was an informal plan, subsequent to
conducting a full feasibility study. However,
initial contact with the bank indicated they
would not consider a loan for the purchase and
development of the business.
Planning secures funding
Undeterred by the bank’s pessimistic view, the
couple used their extensive business skills to
complete a formal business plan. Part of the
plan involved a feasibility study looking at the
movement of people around the area, including
visitor levels to other tourist attractions within the
region. By evaluating the Park’s historical visitor
records against these new figures to assess
potential visitor numbers, the couple was able to
make estimated visitor and cash-flow projections,
which demonstrated the business could be
financially viable. This more comprehensive
business plan was then provided to the bank’s
loans officer; after which, the bank agreed to loan
the capital to purchase and develop the Park.
‘Incidentally,’ Mark continued, ‘some of the 60
items on the original action plan that I referred
to included many things not mentioned in the
formal business plan.’ It included things like:
getting new crockery, cleaning the gardens; and,
many small things like putting signs up and
getting a brochure printed. He said there were
also long-term things that needed to be done,
such as: repairing the hydro set up; lighting the
lower gardens; and, creating a new entrance to
the park. ‘This is where we needed Judy’s skills in
project management,’ he said, with the action
plan providing a starting point.
Although they have continuously innovated
during the two decades of operation, one of their
earliest and most important innovations was
based on a simple decision. Mark explained ‘I
found I was working in the garden getting sweaty
and dirty, and when I heard a car, I’d rush out
to greet the people. Now it is hard to describe
what Paronella Park was all about, and even to
this day we don’t tell people what it’s about: we
describe it as an experience. Because of this
we decided that we would ensure there was a
personal touch to everything we did. That simple
decision made an immediate difference to our
visitors, and we have never looked back.’ The
process of continuous customer engagement
had begun.
Right
The landmark:
past and present
‘Innovation is surviving and
thriving. Turning obstacles into
opportunities. Test the market,
engage with your customers, and
persevere.’
Mark Evans, owner of award winning tourism attraction
Paronella Park, North Queensland
Park owners: Mark and Judy Evans
Enhancing the customer experience
Mark said that such an idea is not new; but this
was the exact point - it is all about the customer
experience and showing visitors that you care about
giving them the best experience possible; ‘For
example,’ he says, ‘it rains a great deal here, and so
we bought a lot of umbrellas and we provide them
to people as soon as they pull into the car park.’ He
believes up to 30 per cent of people simply drive
away if they are not greeted; and on a rainy day that
number would be much higher.
The second major innovation involved a pricing
point decision: to increase their entry fee. Mark
said it initially sounded counter-intuitive to both
customers and competitors alike, until they realised
the total value included within the $42 entry fee,
which holds significant value for the customer
experience, while doubling as an incentive marketing
tool. The fee entitles the customers to the following:
day and evening tours; an overnight camping stay
with hot showers; free Wi-Fi access; barbecue
facilities; electrical charge points for mobile device
batteries, a bag of fish food; a booklet on the trees
and plants in the Park; and, a two year pass to revisit the attraction. Mark said that since introducing
the new fee structure ‘our customers become our
salespeople.’
The importance of value adding
The couple continues to add value to the customer
experience with group tours scheduled throughout
the day, including an evening tour to showcase
nocturnal fauna. Mark explained that after each
tour is completed, that particular guide signs a
bookmark with their name so that the customer has a
permanent reminder of who took their tour. He said,
‘we have added value to the expectations that people
would normally have when purchasing a ticket. This
is where the experience exceeds the customer’s
expectations.’ He says the feedback is incredibly
positive; ‘we have been told by customers that they
have not experienced anything like this when visiting
a tourist attraction, where the ticket price includes so
much added value.’
When asked about the business case, Mark replied:
‘We want to make this the number one tourist
attraction in Australia. We’re still on that path,’ he
said. With their business backgrounds, the couple
knew it was important to develop an information base
about where visitors came from, and whether they
had visited North Queensland previously. Essentially,
they developed a visitor profile database that would
inform their marketing strategies.
The Mena Creek
Hotel adds to the
customer experience
Luke Evans welcomes
new visitors to the park
Responding to market trends
Mark said ‘we really needed to understand our
market and we have seen that change over the years.’
He believes they were able to quickly recognise
and respond to those changes. For example, they
recognised early to cater for people with mobility
issues, or families who are concerned about whether
their children would enjoy the Park; in addition to
offering families the option to bring a picnic, or to
eat in the Paronella restaurant. Mark said that by
meeting people as they arrive, they were able to allay
any fears visitors might have on whether the Park was
going to be worth their time, while also explaining the
inherent value contained in the entry fee.
Discussions they had with customers provided
information needed to respond to changes over time.
He said ‘we decided very early on that we would get
into the Japanese market because we were getting a
few Japanese visitors, but we couldn’t talk with them.’
The solution was close to home as they employed a
Japanese staff member who is still with them now.
This staff member now acts as an ambassador,
regularly travelling throughout Japan and talking with
children about visiting the Park.
Improvement through customer feedback
On the issue of business challenges, Mark said it
was important not to think they knew it all. While
accepting the tourism industry bodies have valuable
information about tourism attractions; it is the
customers who regularly visit their attraction that
provide them with the best information, he says. In
1999 they found, through customer feedback, that
people wanted to know more about the history of
the park, so the guided tours provided the solution.
They also had people pulling into the car park at 5
pm and ask if they were closing, so they decided to
light the bottom gardens, in addition to providing
accommodation and evening tours. [cont.]
[cont.]
The introduction of meet and greet addressed
business challenges, becoming their competitive
advantage, while providing information to further
develop customer services. To manage customer
complaints, they have customer feedback forms as
well as the visitor books. ‘At the end of every tour, the
guide gives a short speech that says we are good, but
not perfect; and the only way we can get to be perfect
is to hear about your experience, and where you
think we can do better,’ Mark explained. ‘Customers’
opinions over time have been the main source of
improvements to the park,’ he said.
Learning the lessons of change
When asked about the lessons learned during two
decades of operation, Mark replied ‘the biggest
lesson is that we don’t know everything; and that
change happens all the time.’ He said they have
endured a couple of very big cyclones, and during
these times they made some very good strategic
decisions. After Cyclone Larry in 2006 everything
changed - it was the best thing that could have
happened to the Park because it forced a complete
review of how they operated. That is when they
changed the pricing structure with everything
included in the admission fee. But it also saw them
embracing the increasing caravan traffic and the ‘grey
nomad’ market; one of the biggest decisions they
have made in the last decade. Mark said ‘this sector
has become so big that we’ve had to increase the
area available to cater for the increasing trade.’
He says that when the global financial crisis (GFC)
occurred, they were cushioned because they are
across such a diverse group of markets. They were
able to weather the GFC impact because they were
strongly established in the domestic market, and
were increasing their popularity in the caravanning
Accommodation
facilities are being
significantly expanded
market. ‘We had already moved into the new pricing
structure with the two year pass, which included the
free overnight caravan spot in the price of the ticket,
so we were in a very strong position,’ he said.
Several experiences have set them back, with
compliance red tape being the biggest road block.
Mark says family issues concerning health not only
help, but force, you to focus on creating an adequate
work-life balance. The other important issue
involves meeting the bureaucratic and regulatory
requirements from all levels of government. Speaking
further about business compliance, Mark argues that
running an innovative, best-practice, business can be
very challenging, adding ‘there is no incentive from
regulators to be the best you can be.’
Technology adoption drives creativity
The business embraces new technology and
harnesses the creative application of the Internet for
their marketing campaigns. Mark said this medium
has enabled them to cost effectively market the
business to a world-wide audience; which in turn,
has helped them win tourism awards. Concerning
their integration and implementation of Internet
marketing, Mark said ‘we move fast and we don’t
mess around. We don’t make the same mistakes
twice, and we spend a lot of time and money; and
where there has been some heartache, we just move
on.’ [cont.]
Mark says confidently, ‘We believe we have the best
customer service in Australia. We do make mistakes,
but our recovery is quicker than most. If something
goes wrong, we apologise and we provide a refund
immediately - no questions asked.’ It is simply a
matter of maintaining that customer relationship he
says. With 90 per cent of the domestic advertising
driven by word-of-mouth - the benefit the all-inclusive
price has produced - this could easily work the other
way if there are disgruntled customers; so managing
mistakes is crucial to a business’s reputation.
The Internet marketing now extensively targets the
Chinese market, with huge growth potential, as
well as continuing to encourage Japanese tourists.
Mark says they have an employee from Japan who
specifically tailors their Japanese marketing, and
when they travel to Japan they are travelling to say
thank you for the support. They also visit Japanese
tourist attractions on fact-finding missions, gathering
information to learn more about the culture.
They have arrangements with eight Chinese tour
companies bringing visitors to the Park, and now
employ Chinese staff. They asked design schools in
Australia, China, Hong Kong and Taiwan to design
Paronella Park themed T-shirts; which are now sold to
visitors and have proved hugely popular.
Tangible benefits to local region
The couple continues to focus on expanding the
customer experience, which has led to leasing the
Canopy Walk and the purchase of the local Mena
Creek Hotel. Mark said ‘Before we purchased the
pub, we first developed a business plan to assist
and evaluate all the numbers to make sure this was
going to be viable and sustainable, and the same
thing for the Canopy Walk. The foundation for these
acquisitions was to leverage off the fact we have 25
tour bus companies coming to the Park. We can use
those relationships to encourage them to visit the
Canopy Walk and the pub,’ he said. They also plan to
cater for, and capitalise on, the grey nomad market;
increasing their overnight caravan accommodation by
200 per cent over the next few months.
The benefits for the region are significant, employing
44 staff including five international staff from Japan
and China, making them a significant employer in the
area. Mark says they now have a turnover around $4
million annually, meaning they are pouring money
back into the community. The Park’s overnight
caravan area currently accommodates 20 vans, and
they have six on-site cabins. The pub has seven
rooms, and behind that are 45 acres being developed
to accommodate more caravans, complete with an
amphitheatre for outdoor entertainment.
Customers and staff drive innovation
To capture and manage innovation, Mark says all
their staff is involved in decision-making, and they
are open to ideas that will improve and enhance
the business. He says ‘Discussions and ideas flow
all the time - at the end of the day, it’s all about the
person who hands over the money to come in - what
is going to make a difference for them.’ He believes it
is important to make sure the staff feels comfortable
about coming up with ideas, to engage with
customers, and to feel they can make a difference.
He contends that mistakes are all part of developing
a business, and they have plenty of experience
managing mistakes. ‘But we learn from them. At our
regular team meetings we provide plenty of feedback,
and the staff are never shy about coming forward with
new ideas,’ Mark says.
New ideas, knowledge and procedures come from our
customers, Mark says, and they travel widely, both
domestically and overseas to see what other tourist
attractions are doing.
Mark believes ‘innovation is surviving and thriving.’
For their business specifically, he says innovation
is focused on providing unique experiences
for customers, changing red lights to green by
adding new activities, while continuing to look for
opportunities to improve the overall experience:
it is across all aspects of the business. One such
innovation is conducting night tours with night vision
goggles; which has been tested in the market and
had a great response.
Externally, they are involved in most of the regional
and state tourist organisations and associations.
He says they have a particularly strong relationship
with the Queensland Tourist Industry Corporation,
a fabulous support for them. Interestingly, because
of their success they have also become a source
of knowledge and support for people setting up
businesses in the local area; particularly those
who are interested in setting up tourism orientated
businesses.
Clear focus provides direction
Mark believes their greeting innovation is something that can be picked
up and used again by transferring it to another site. And this is exactly
what they recently did through the lease of a nearby tourist attraction, the
Canopy Walk. ‘We took this attraction over 13 weeks ago, and transferred
it (the greeting concept) over there and the impact has been immediate,’
he said. ‘In four years we expect to have 150,000 people going to that
attraction.’
Future Challenges
‘Most of our innovation does not cost us much, so
there are few hindrances,’ Mark says. ‘We keep big
projects for the wet season when customer numbers
are down.’ Future challenges include: increasing
the overnight accommodation and keeping it filled;
attracting quality staff; capturing more of the Asian
market which is growing at 30 per cent; and, keeping
up with supply of the pub meals which are growing
in popularity. He says perhaps the biggest challenge
is the integration of the three products - the Canopy
Walkway, the Mena Creek Hotel and Paronella Park
- into a multilingual public relation and marketing
campaign.
Finally, Mark’s advice for start-up businesses is:
test the market, engage with your customers and
persevere. ‘Don’t be scared to look at what else is
working, don’t be afraid to try it, and be motivated
by it.’ He also says it is important to remember that
only 6 per cent of ideas actually happen, so you
need to find a good, preferably industry experienced,
sounding board to see if the ideas are workable;
and always ask the hard question: will it give a
solid return? One final, yet really important point to
remember is ‘change and keep changing.’
Find Out More
To find out more about Paronella Park
please visit: www.paronellapark.com.au
If you have an innovative idea and want
to explore your support options visit
www.business.qld.gov.au
Explore the Innovation
Case study library
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