The Yarra Valley & Dandenong Ranges Pass tested whether a shared visitor program could turn regional discovery into measurable participation. From June to September 2026, people joined the Pass, completed activities across a network of local businesses, created content, referred friends and redeemed rewards. This case study reports the figures published by Loop Fans with Tourism East and explains what they do, and do not, establish.
Source: Building a Visitor Participation Economy: Yarra Valley & Dandenong Ranges Pass, June–September 2026. The page links to the complete six-page pilot report. All results below describe that pilot period, not a forecast for another destination.
Explore the regional model: See Loop Digital Passports and Coalition Rewards, or use the connected region guide to place a passport alongside planning and bookings.
What the pilot set out to test
Tourism East and Loop Fans worked with local operators on a shared Pass for the Yarra Valley and Dandenong Ranges. Members could take part in activities such as visiting participating places, engaging with regional content, entering photo competitions, referring friends and using rewards. Businesses could contribute experiences and connect their own programs to the regional Pass. The design gave visitors more reasons to explore and gave the destination a way to observe activity beyond a page view.
The pilot was a participation program rather than a controlled experiment. It did not randomly assign visitors to a Pass and non-Pass group. That distinction matters: the reported activity shows what members did inside the program, but does not by itself prove that every visit or purchase was caused by the Pass.
Four months of reported results
| Measure | June–September 2026 result | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Members | More than 1,100 joined. | People who signed up during the first four months. |
| Participation | 83% of members earned credits through at least one task. | Activity after signup, not simply a member total. |
| Tasks | More than 5,400 completed. | The report groups visits, content, reviews, votes and referrals among tasks. A task is not a confirmed purchase. |
| Referral joins | 258 members, about 24% of the total, came through a friend. | Member acquisition attributed to the program's referral route. |
| Businesses linked | 23. | Local operators connected to the Pass. |
| Business exchange | 11 businesses exchanged credits; 381,919 credits moved across the network. | Program credits, not currency or revenue. |
| Rewards redeemed | 42. | Completed reward claims across stays, experiences and local products. |
| Visitor content | 282 pieces from 202 members. | Photos, posts and reels; use rights and permissions as described in the report. |
| Business referrals | 2,091 clicks to participating businesses over 90 days. | Outbound interest, not 2,091 bookings or sales. |
| Visitor insight | 160 questionnaires across 75 postcodes. | First-party survey responses from a subset of participants. |
These figures are taken from the published pilot report. The report's own charts and definitions should be used when quoting a number. For example, cumulative tasks shown in a monthly chart and the rounded “5,400+” total describe different views of the same pilot activity.
Activation mattered more than the signup count
More than 1,100 members is useful context, but the stronger early signal is that 83% earned credits through at least one task. That indicates many members did something after joining. The reported task total suggests repeated engagement across the program, but task types differ greatly in business value. A community vote, a photo entry, a verified visit and a booking should not be treated as equal economic outcomes.
The report says 70% of September's active members had joined in June, July or August. That shows some continued participation from earlier cohorts. It does not tell us the retention rate of every original member, because the denominator is September's active members rather than all people who joined in June. A future report could show monthly cohort retention and how activity changed for each group.
The report also says 81% of September tasks occurred Monday to Friday. That can help a DMO examine weekday engagement, but tasks are not the same as weekday visitor spend. A regional team should pair activity data with partner feedback and transaction data where available before claiming an economic effect.
How the business network worked
The Pass linked 23 businesses, with 11 recorded as exchanging credits. Members could earn through participating businesses and move credits between a business program and the regional Pass. That is the key difference between a single-venue reward card and a regional network: an action associated with one operator can help a person discover another.
The 381,919 credits moved are a measure of network activity. They are not Australian dollars. The report records 42 rewards redeemed. It also records A$5,457 in receipts and spend across 18 members, averaging A$303, with A$2,057 at linked businesses. These are observed amounts in a limited recorded subset, not the total revenue generated by the Pass. Reporting the denominator makes that distinction clear.
For a DMO or BID designing a similar program, the practical questions are who funds a reward, how a merchant verifies a claim, whether credits can be used across locations and how the organiser reports value to members. See the coalition launch guide and BID loyalty guide for the operating choices.
Visitor advocacy and usable content
The pilot recorded 282 pieces of visitor content from 202 members and 258 friend-referred members. The report also lists 21 business reviews and 1,983 community votes. Each has a different role. Content can give future visitors a more realistic picture of a place; a referral can bring a new member; a vote can show interest; a review can help a customer decide. None should be presented as a confirmed booking without further evidence.
The photo competitions produced 217 entries submitted for use by Tourism East and participating businesses, according to the report. A destination should document the permission behind each image or video before reusing it in campaigns. Public reviews have separate platform rules. Google Maps prohibits incentives for reviews, so any future program should request honest Google reviews without offering a reward and use rewards for other eligible contributions.
Expanding the content program should begin with questions future visitors actually ask. A cycling route may need surface, difficulty and hire information. A wine trail may need transport and opening hours. Visitor content is most useful when it answers those practical questions and points to an accurate business or itinerary page.
What the visitor questionnaires revealed
The pilot collected 160 questionnaires from people across 75 postcodes. Two in three respondents lived outside the destination. The report lists food and dining as an interest for 89% of respondents, nature and outdoors for 82%, and local produce and shopping and wineries for 68% each. These are responses from the questionnaire group, not a census of every visitor to the region.
The report also asked what might bring people to the region midweek. Bonus Yarra Credits were selected by 63%, special midweek offers by 59%, better-value accommodation by 44% and information about what is open by 26%. Those answers can inform a test of weekday routes and offers. A future campaign should then measure whether the new offer changed actual visits or bookings.
Interest data can help a DMO design more useful recommendations and help members decide which experiences to present together. It is also a reminder that visitors need more than a list of attractions. They need current details, a plan that fits their time and a reliable path to book when a business takes reservations. The AI Trip Planner guide for DMOs covers that planning stage.
What this case study proves, and what remains open
The pilot demonstrates that a regional program can recruit local businesses, activate many enrolled members, record a range of visitor contributions and support rewards across a network. It provides first-party operational evidence from a real destination program. It does not establish incremental visitor spend for the whole region, a causal lift in overnight stays or a return on investment for every merchant.
The next measurement layer should connect a visitor's plan and Pass activity with confirmed merchant outcomes where possible. Useful measures include new versus returning customers, cross-visits between towns, confirmed reservations, redemptions, merchant-reported value and the cost of operating the program. A booking link click and a sale should remain separate. The destination booking measurement guide explains how to do that.
For a destination considering a Pass, the most transferable lesson is the measurement design: define member activation, task types, reward redemption and merchant value before launch. Start with a workable set of local partners and a route people can complete. Then use actual participant and operator feedback to decide what to expand.
What another region can test next
A second pilot should record a clear baseline before launch: partner visits, direct bookings or qualified referrals, depending on the region's goal. Set a simple cohort definition, then track how many eligible people join, act again and redeem a reward over the same period. Separate members who discover a partner through the Pass from those who already planned to visit it. Where possible, use merchant-confirmed actions or booking-system records to validate reported outcomes.
The Yarra data gives useful proof that visitors participated and that businesses received attention. It does not isolate the Pass's effect on regional revenue. A follow-up design with agreed outcome definitions, merchant participation rules and a comparison period would make the next economic claim stronger.
Primary source: Loop Fans and Tourism East, Building a Visitor Participation Economy: Yarra Valley & Dandenong Ranges Pass, June–September 2026, including the linked six-page PDF.