Thursday September 7 2006
MEDIA RELEASE Embargo Thursday 7th September 7pm
Local stories set to lure tourists “Tasmania’s North West – Where will the stories take you?” is the catchphrase for a new tourism brand unveiled tonight by the Cradle Coast Authority, to attract more visitors to the region for longer stays. The brand, which focuses on the wild and natural environment, friendly people and remarkable stories about local culture and heritage, is designed to draw together the diversity of tourism experiences in the region in a simple message that has strong visitor appeal. Cradle Coast tourism development manager, Ian Waller said the new brand had the support of tourism representatives from the nine local councils in the region as well as Tourism Tasmania, but operators were seeing it for the first time. “What we launched tonight is the look, feel and tone of what will constitute our new brand and hopefully a marketing campaign that will differentiate this wonderful destination from the rest of Tasmania,” he said. “As a region, we’ve struggled to communicate what we have to offer and have sent mixed messages into the marketplace, so we looked to visitor feedback to pinpoint what set us apart from other destinations and to drive the development of the new brand.” Mr Waller said consumer response would be the most important measure of the success of the brand. He said the labeling of the destination as Cradle Coast had been identified as an issue by prospective visitors, either searching the internet or using more conventional means to find information on the region.
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“We believe the decision to use the term ‘Tasmania’s North West’ in our marketing will be greeted with some relief across the local tourism sector and will be supported as a strategy particularly for those people using the world wide web to search for information and plan their holidays.” M&C Saatchi Melbourne were commissioned by the Authority to develop a creative interpretation of the brand that could be used in marketing and promotional materials and media strategies. Tonight’s presentation to 175 delegates at the annual tourism forum in Smithton was a mockup of how the Circular Head area could apply the brand through photographs, storylines and imagery portraying the far North West. “The industry needs to understand that this is just the start of a process that will help make Tasmania’s North West a mustvisit destination and that it will need to be supported by tourism operators and local tourism associations to make it work.” Mr Waller said the Authority was seeking to employ a marketing officer to work alongside the local tourism sector to help implement the new brand.
ends Sample images for the new brand have been emailed to you today. If you are unable to access these images or haven’t received them, please contact Rosemary Britton at Cradle Coast Authority on 6431 6285.
For further information contact
Nicki Fletcher Media Liaison Mobile 0417 221 260 or Ian Waller Regional Tourism Development Manager Mobile 0419 372 400
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