MARKETING OUR DESTINATION FOR RECOVERY

In such a fluid environment we have been closely monitoring the impacts of COVID on the travelling

On Sunday Australian market and our customers and how 11 October, we our destination is being launched the start of our biggest perceived. This will ensure our program is going to hit the mark and work ever marketing hard within a competitive program in the domestic travel landscape. interstate market. This program is Australian consumer sentiment has been impacted by lockdowns and second waves designed to put and the uncertainty that lies Tasmania firmly within the minds ahead. The feeling of trust and safety is at the forefront of our customer’s minds. Our most of travelling recent survey that monitors Australians to drive demand and our brand has shown we have built considerable trust as a destination with our audience convert this demand which will hold us in good stead into visitation. as borders open. Driving demand and supporting We know there is still a desire to travel and to reconnect with family and friends. For some restoring access to people travel will occur quickly the State are key priorities in the T21 while others will wait to see what happens once borders fully open up. The uncertainty recovery action plan with the opening and closing and are at the heart of our work. of borders, being stranded, travel protocols and quarantine as well as potentially losing money through having to change and cancel plans are all weighing on people’s minds. It’s also leading to much shorter booking windows. Like most businesses we have also planned our program around a range of scenarios. It’s a flexible program that will enable us to turn elements on and off and swap out our creative assets to ensure we can optimise the market opportunity that is available to us and to enable us to respond to changing sentiment and conditions. It’s exciting to be back out in market with our new brand platform ‘Come down for Air’ that we launched in October last year. This received a great response from industry and the market. Our brand is perfectly placed, it positions Tasmania as the antidote to the straitjacket of modern life which particularly for our audiences in Melbourne and Sydney has never been so tight. The next phase of this work is to show the variety of experiences Tasmania has to offer tapping into the yearning to get out and about and experience something new. Road trips were starting to become more fashionable before COVID and with the flexibility, safety and an opportunity to revisit childhood memories of long family car trips they are very much back on the holiday list for many Australians. To tap into this growing demand we are launching a new self-drive touring program which includes three new drive journeys.

MIND THE NEIGHBOURS THEY POO ON THE LAWN

Honestly, you can’t go anywhere on Maria Island without being surrounded by them. Wombats. Pademelons. Wallabies. It’s ridiculous. They’re everywhere. Suppose that’s what happens when you turn an entire island into a wildlife sanctuary. You can hear them too, rustling about, singing to each other, munching away next to you, while you’re just trying to take in the old historic convict buildings and the windswept landscapes.

It’s very distracting.

Our Unordinary Adventures program will also showcase our mountain bike, golf, fly fishing and walking experiences targeting people who travel to pursue their passion and adds depth and breadth to our destination offering and appeal. We are also looking to re-enter the New Zealand market which is likely to be the only international destination available to us at least in the first half of next year. Our program is designed to leverage the similarities we have with New Zealand and show our neighbours across the ditch that our culture, heritage, wildlife and perspective on life is well worth the trip.

Photo: Lisa Kuilenburg

Our intrastate campaign ‘Make yourself at home’ has been in market since June and has been well received by Tasmanians who have taken up the call to get and about and explore our beautiful State. This program will continue until June next year to support industry while interstate markets rebuild. While the world around us has changed, the fundamentals that make us such a special destination is our collective passion for this beautiful state and our close connection between people and place these remain core to our marketing program and the experience our visitors are seeking.

Keep up to date with our program via tourismtasmania. com.au or sign-up for Tourism Talk.

Emma Terry Chief Marketing Officer, Tourism Tasmania