MEDIA RELEASE
22 February 2011
Cooperation drives the tourism dollar further
More than 120,000 new North West Coast and Western Wilderness visitor guides have been distributed to tourist information service providers around the State and country as part of an annual update of the handy reference booklets. The guides feature 74 tourism businesses based in North West Tasmania and 46 businesses in the West covering accommodation, tours, sights and eateries. The new guides are available from visitor information centres, accommodation providers, taxi and coach lines, car hire companies, interstate consumer travel shows, select interstate travel agencies and onboard the Spirit of Tasmania One and Two. The guides can also be downloaded from Tasmanian and local tourism websites. The Cradle Coast Authority tourism team has been promoting participation in the visitor guides to the region’s tourism operators as part of the organisation’s support of the North West Coast and Western Wilderness Zone Marketing Groups. Tourism Marketing Coordinator, Don Monk, was pleased to see the high level of participation in the guides despite the backdrop of declining regional visitor numbers. “Cooperating in promotions such as the visitor guides allows even the smallest of tourism businesses to reach tens of thousands of potential visitors,” Mr Monk said. “It’s not only cost effective but also reinforces the fact that together our regional tourism industry presents a very attractive holiday destination capable of catering to all kinds of travel budgets and interests.” Tourists are increasingly making holiday plans with the assistance of the internet and there were more than 30,000 visits to the download page of the travel guides at www.traveltasmania.com.au in 2010. This year the download number is expected to grow to around 50,000 copies. Travel wholesaler, TasVacations, is one of the distribution points for the guides passing them on to retail travel agents Australia‐wide. Feedback on the 2011 guides has been positive with agents commenting on the popularity of the booklets with their clients especially once a Tasmanian trip had been booked and tourist’s thoughts turned to planning their daily itineraries. End… Cradle Coast tourism works with the tourism and associated industries, councils, state government and visitor centres to create a regional tourism sector that delivers economic, social and environmental benefits to the Cradle Coast. Cradle Coast tourism is a unit of the Cradle Coast Authority. Cradle Coast Authority media contacts: Amanda Wilson Don Monk Communications Manager Tourism Marketing Coordinator Ph: 6431 6285 Ph: 0447 381 706