Meet Kelly-Anne Smith, founder of Silver Compass Tours

Meet Kelly-Anne Smith, a tourism insider on a mission to spread the word about slow, sustainable, and immersive travel experiences through local food and wine.

Kelly is the Founder and Chief Experience Officer of Silver Compass Tours, a boutique tour operator specialising in food, wine & cultural experiences of regional Australia and regional Italy. She is based in the Orange wine region of New South Wales. Kelly is an active member of Travel Massive Sydney.

In this interview, Kelly shares more of what inspires her to make tourism better.

How did you get into the tourism industry?

I was working in Dubai for a PR agency with the Abu Dhabi government as a major client – we helped launch several tourism initiatives based on economic diversification. Then the owner of the agency and I were headhunted to go and set-up the communications department of the new Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority.

We were part of the internal team who helped position Abu Dhabi as a tourism destination, and we were involved in creating events-based tourism as an attractor.

I was lucky enough to work on the inaugural Abu Dhabi International Film Festival, ArtParis Abu Dhabi international art fair, Gourmet Abu Dhabi (a haute cuisine food festival) and the very first Abu Dhabi F1 Grand Prix.

What inspired you to create wine and food tours in Italy, and then Orange?

I was inspired to create the food and wine tours to Italy as my husband is from a remote region in Central Italy called Ciociaria – it was the food and wine destination of Roman emperors, but over the last 2,000 years everyone has forgotten about it.

As a highly-trained tourism professional, I could see there was potential appeal for sharing an authentic regional Italian experience in a little-known region – which would also help with local economic diversification into tourism.

Returning back to the Orange wine region in Australia, I also realised that the two regions were not dissimilar – lots of clever producers and artisans are following their own passions.

It’s my belief that these kind of authentic experiences and the chance to meet interesting, passionate people and learn more about the sense of a place through its food, wine, culture, and history are what contemporary travellers are seeking. That’s the focus of Silver Compass Tours (www.silvercompasstours.com.au).

What’s the biggest challenge of operating in a remote region?

The NBN (National Broadband Network)! Australia’s internet connectivity is woeful, it’s extremely difficult running an online business with internet that cuts out when it’s windy, when it rains, and when all the kids in the street come home at 3 pm.

Secondly, limited understanding of what I’m trying to achieve with developing packaged tours among local stakeholders. Essentially, my business model is based on promoting each of the businesses within my itineraries, as well as the entire region the tour is based in.

There hasn’t been a dramatic level of support or encouragement so far, but I’m operating on an assumption that I need to prove the value of this approach first before people start to understand that they also need to contribute true value to the experience. This is more of an issue in regional Australia – in regional Italy they have hospitality and genuine warmth ingrained in their DNA.

What’s the most rewarding thing about creating your own brand and business?

For years I worked in the corporate world, writing strategies and developing campaigns only to send them higher up the chain and for them to come back mangled and compromised. There’s nothing more thrilling than creating your own brand and strategies and being able to send them to yourself for final approval.

The most rewarding thing is when you’re actually out on tour with a group of travellers who are experiencing your tour concept in real life.

I’ve taken people to places in Italy which made them cry (from astonishing beauty) and guests in Australia seem to really get the importance of supporting our local producers and vignerons and go a bit wild purchasing products to take home – it’s fairly breathtaking for our locals and gives them renewed energy to keep doing what they’re doing.

Being the connector between awesome people is the role that’s utterly rewarding to me in my business.

What tips do you have for independent tour operators starting out?

Feel the fear and do it anyway. Focus on the guest experience to build your business – as long as they are having an amazing time and keep coming back, supplier agreements and stakeholder support will eventually fall into place.

Connect with Kelly on Travel Massive and follow her Silver Compass Tours on Facebook to learn more.