Minister launches ground breaking new App

Beechworth, 18 August 2023

On Friday afternoon,???Tourism North East?with the help of the Hon. Jaclyn Symes, State Member for Northern Victoria and Attorney General, launched the Victoria's High Country App.?

Over a year in the making, Specialist Apps has worked intensively with the visionary team at Tourism North East to create the “Victoria’s High Country” App.

‘Victoria's High Country’ visitor app, a dynamic digital visitor guide and wayfinding tool that puts the latest information about everything there is to eat, see and do in the hands of visitors to Victoria’s High Country.?

The app gives a boost to local tourism businesses, helping to drive traffic to their business by promoting their experiences and connecting them more readily to visitors. The App provides hyper-local information allowing visitors to locate and connect with tourism experiences in the town they are staying as well as providing search and wayfinding capability enabling visitors to explore the region based on their interests and needs.?

Geoff Elwood, CEO and founder of Specialist Apps said “We’ve created something really new and special.???Victoria’s High Country App provides interactive digital maps, trails, and details of??over 3000 businesses across the entire High Country region, in an incredibly compact and easy to use app.??We had to solve a range of critical problems to deliver an App that can function fully offline.??Our team has done an incredible job coming up with innovative solutions to compress a massive amount of data into a manageable data payload.???Being able to present the huge number of business listings, attractions, places of interest and interactive trails in a responsive, easy to use interface that is simple and engaging has been no mean feat.???As an avid cyclist, I especially love the innovative trail explorer with interactive elevation profile explorer that the guys have come up with!??”

Using the power of?Australian Tourism Data Warehouse (ATDW), the App delivers hyper-local content, mapping and way-finding directly into the hands of our visitors. But most impressively - it works in and out of mobile range.

Here's a quick preview of the new App in action:

To download the App for iOS click here:

To download the App on Android click here:

Minister for Regional Development Harriet Shing

"With this new app, we're boosting local tourism opportunities for businesses across Victoria’s High Country - enhancing connectivity and the visitor experience and driving more jobs and economic growth in rural Victoria."

Bess Nolan-Cook, CEO of Tourism North East

“Victoria’s High Country is full of hidden gems, with something for everyone. Our new app allows visitors to find the region’s offerings more readily, meaning they can spend less time searching, and more time enjoying everything our incomparable region has to offer.”

Ella Metcalf, General Manager, Bridge Road Brewers

“The new app is a boon for local businesses, helping to promote our offerings and connect us directly with potential customers. It’s been a tough few years and we welcome this investment by Tourism North East and the Victorian State Government to support our resilience and continued recovery.”

About Specialist Apps:

Specialist Apps is at the forefront of developing visitor engagement Apps for Local Councils and Shires, Zoos, Aquariums, Botanic Gardens, Museums, Schools, Universities and Public /Tourist Attractions across Australia, Asia and Europe.

We work closely with each client to develop visitor engagement Apps that solve compelling, real world problems for Visitors to their attractions.?

About Tourism North East:

Tourism North East (TNE) is the Regional Tourism Board for Victoria’s High Country, which encompasses the Shires of Alpine, Murrindindi, Benalla, Indigo, Mansfield, Towong and Wangaratta, and the three major alpine resorts of Falls Creek, Mt Buller and Mt Hotham.

Charged with developing the strategic tourism direction for the High Country, Tourism North East focuses on uniting its diverse stakeholder base in a common development path to optimise visitor economy outcomes.

This work includes delivering a broad range of strategic supply and demand tourism initiatives including regional marketing, product development, strategic planning, industry development, investment prioritisation, research and advocacy.

These efforts are focused on the High Country’s five recognised product strengths in Cycle, Victorian Alps, Nature-Based Tourism, Food, Drinks and Produce and Arts, Cultural Heritage and Events.

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