Australia s Golden Outback WA Regional Tourism Organisation

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FI Australia s Golden Outback WA Regional Tourism Organisation Destination marketing - different to many regions The above

The aim was to reverse an adverse impact on bookings in the short and long term for Esperance caused by a natural disaster.

1 FI Australia s Golden Outback WA Regional Tourism Organisation Destination marketing - different to many regions The above advertisement was one of the innovative marketing ideas of Australia s Golden Outback. The aim was to reverse an adverse impact on bookings in the short and long term for Esperance caused by a natural disaster. And it was successful. Details are set out in this paper. With the compliments Norm White, Director Advance Tourism Mt Waverley Victoria Ph (03) Mob May 2007 Please feel free to make this paper available in full or in part to others who may be interested in a more successful tourism industry. If published, please provide acknowledgment to Advance Tourism.

2 Australia s Golden Outback WA Regional Tourism Organisation Destination marketing - different to many regions Australia s Golden Outback (AGO) is putting runs on the board for the tourism industry in that region by using modern strategies, innovative ideas, entrepreneurial methods, swift responses to market developments and by developing cooperative links with stakeholders across the region. This paper outlines why AGO activities are different to most other regions. AUSTRALIA S GOLDEN OUTBACK So different Western Australia covers an area of 2,525,000 Sq Kms. Australia s Golden Outback AGO covers 54% of the state, 1,378,080 Sq Kms. Both New Zealand and the UK each fit into the region about 5 and a bit times. The region is classic OUTBACK Australia. It is the real Australia which even has an OUTBACK COAST around Esperance. The locals say The region is a place where beer still comes in draft..not boutique! It is a region where you still buy the wine..not the label! It is a region where doctors come with a pilot s licence, and Where Yabbies come from the dam.not the freezer! Nature has given the region wide open spaces with natural attractions such as Wave Rock, Mt Augustus and a range of national parks including Cape Le Grade, Cape Arid and the Fitzgerald River National Park. Added to this are man made attractions such as the goldfields of Kalgoorlie, Coolgardie and to the north, the historic gold towns such as Menzies, Leonora, Laverton and others. World class attractions include the Gormley insider statues at Lake Ballard and the Outback Highway to the NT border which officialdom has asked to be called the Outback Way. Advance Tourism 1

3 AUSTRALIA S GOLDEN OUTBACK HAS A DIFFERENT MANAGEMENT STYLE In September last year a new CEO was appointed, Jac Eerbeek, a long standing industry identity known throughout Australia. Jac brings to the RTO extensive industry experience which includes 15 years with Tourism WA retail travel offices in Melbourne and Sydney 3 years in Tourism WA s USA office at the time of the America s Cup 20 years as part owner of Great Aussie Holidays, successful WA tour wholesaler Jac is using his industry background to take AGO in a new and different direction. In the short term since joining the RTO, he has put runs on the board. In a few short months, Jac Eerbeek has swiftly implemented an array of initiatives to benefit the business potential of the region s tourism industry. JAC S PHILOSOPHY At a recent meeting of Tourism Northern Goldfields at Menzies, Jac spelt out his marketing philosophy which is Perth consumers have a good feeling about the AGO as a holiday destination, the RTO just needs to get them to visit NOW Image advertising with pretty pictures will not get their wallet out of their pocket. There will always be another destination that looks more attractive at the time they go to spend their money AGO needs to put price and product offers in front of the consumer, convincing them to buy the AGO product NOW AGO needs to have constant product press adverts keeping the region in constant view of the consumer. This contrasts with many regions which focus on branding and theming campaigns without supporting marketing activities designed to secure customers for tourism businesses. NEW DIRECTION Jac s new direction features A focus on generating business more customers spending more money in regions Rationalising resources with others to achieve greater market impact Maintaining close links with tourism groups across the region Responding quickly to business opportunities Raising awareness outside the region within WA, interstate and overseas CHALLENGE The challenge for the AGO is to get their message about the region out to consumers in distant markets. The AGO region is a vast area with a variety of messages applicable to different destinations. The region has four iconic images for marketing 1. Mt Augusta 2. Gormley statues at Lake Ballard 3. Wave Rock 4. Kangaroos on the beach at Esperance It is a region with much to offer but the low profile is challenging. Few in Australia are familiar with the wonderful features of the region which are many. Advance Tourism 2

4 MEETING THE CHALLENGE Immediate tasks are Intrastate Improve the AGO Holiday Planner further Increase press/magazine adverts with promotional selling of self-drive concepts in the region Create editorial in all forms of media Interstate Encourage domestic wholesalers to include AGO product in their brochures Cooperative advertising with self-drive itineraries including car rental in interstate press Overseas Encourage international wholesalers to include AGO products in their brochures Provide co-operative funding for advertising in their markets General Work closely with motoring organisations in WA, eastern states and NZ which are AGO target markets MARKET COMMUNICATION REFRESHING DIFFERENT APPROACH Bold, exciting, new ideas have been used to target business not just pretty images and themes. Regional Holiday Planner Improving the 2007 AGO Holiday Planner was a priority. This meant Immediate layout changes to focus on iconic experiences and self-drives to the region 80,000 copies being delivered from printers in January 2007 Improved distribution of the brochure to Visitor Centres as well as new locations where customers can collect them including 30 car rental and motorhome rental offices in WA Next year, the self drive itineraries will be further improved with daily route format Tactical adverts in WA newspapers A series of tactical advertisements appeared in the West Australian and Sunday Times which both have high circulation and readership features. Two advertisements appeared titled Great Value Esperance Escapes, Great Value Kalgoorlie Escapes. Packages were put together by AGO with cooperation from local tourism businesses, airlines and rail and coach services operator TransWA. The packages included 3 day Esperance Fly/Stay 4 day Fly/Stay Woody Island Eco-experience 5 day Esperance Ezi-time coach n stay 3 day Kalgoorlie Fly/stay 3 day Kalgoorlie Fly/drive 5 day Goldfields Getaway Rail/stay Call to action was the WA Visitor Centre in Perth with 1800 phone number. Another package range was advertised in conjunction with WA wholesaler, Great Aussie Holidays, and coach and train operator, TransWA. These packages promoted as True Blue Outback Escapes included 3 day Kalgoorlie Escape, and 5 day Kalgoorlie and Esperance. Call to action was Great Aussie Holidays with both a Tollfree phone number and website. Also bookings could be made through travel agents. These packages have been supported with consumer print adverts. Advance Tourism 3

5 Another package range to be promoted in eastern states features the Northern Goldfields and Kalgoorlie is being developed with WA wholesalers, Discover West. Again these packages use product provided by local industry stakeholders. Magazine adverts Several advertisements have been placed in WA magazines that are read by target market segments. One example is a double page advertisement in Scoop Traveller Summer Edition Left page This page sponsored by Kalgoorlie Goldfields Tourism Message carried was about the appeal of this area to adventure travellers. Heading read Right page This page was headed Kalgoorlie Holiday Deals A selection of packages was shown as well as a selection of self-drive sightseeing programs. Adventure - all that s missing is.u Call to action on this page was Kalgoorlie Visitor Centre with 1800 phone Call to action on this page was WA Visitor Centre, Perth with 1800 phone. Another example was a double page advertisement in the RAC WA Road Patrol magazine promoting selfdrive holidays in the Murchison. Novel self-drive campaign 4 weeks, 4 different destinations Australia s Golden Outback region being a self-drive destination, the RTO placed self-drive adverts in the Sunday Times on 4 successive weeks. A different iconic destination was promoted each week with a novel approach. Each advert had 3 different self-drive itineraries setting out an itinerary on a day by day basis, kms involved and the driving times. See next page for an example advert. The concept was outlined to give customers a feel for what the destination offered. Maps for the itinerary were enclosed and URLs for regional tourism websites shown for further local information. The call to action for each advert was the WA Visitor Centre Perth 1800 number. This novel concept was a different approach to the traditional style of offering selected experiences. By showing itineraries, local features were still highlighted but in a form more readily acceptable to touring travellers. Very clever self drive brochure for consumer shows The success of the four self-drive itineraries led Jac Eerbeek to produce a special 8 page fold out brochure 150mm x 400mm. The itineraries outlined above were copied into this special folder. Included in the folder was a map of the road across the Nullarbor Plain with some touring details, wildflowers self-drive itineraries and a map of the lower half of WA. This unusual size brochure has been well received at consumer shows and attracting much interest. It is a very practical document for travellers. Advance Tourism 4

6 An example of the four self-drive adverts which featured an iconic destination, this time, WA Goldfields Advance Tourism 5

7 Trade support AGO s Jac Eerbeck has recently been on trade missions to NZ and the UK. He has also been to the eastern states and has encountered a low level of awareness in the travel industry of what his region offers. Correcting this situation is now a priority as Jac knows just how important it can be to have informed travel industry sources promoting the destination. His travel program included March 07 April 07 OZ Talk Auckland NZ 300 NZ travel agents and local wholesalers UK Roadshow London, cities in England, Glasgow, Dublin 350 travel agents and wholesalers 7-10 May 07 East Coast Roadshow talking to 300 agents about new Great Aussie Holidays range which includes AGO product May 07 Discover Australia, Alice Springs 200 Swiss/German travel agents May 07 Flexi Kalbarri 200 European travel agents at an adventure workshop. 25 May 1 Jun ATE Brisbane 500 travel wholesalers from around the world. On the AGO stand will be Kepa Curl Aboriginal Tours from Esperance. ESPERANCE NATURAL DISASTER On 4 th January this year, a road key bridge for access to Esperance from Perth was washed away by unusual floods between Ravensthorpe and Esperance on the South Coast Highway. This left visitors to Esperance with a longer circuitous route through Kalgoorlie to get in and out of the town. Far more serious was the extensive media coverage which was negative and blown out of proportion. Some media coverage created an image which was worse than reality. Almost immediately, Esperance tourism businesses were getting cancellations, not only for holidays in the short term but also for periods as far ahead as Easter. An urgent appeal was made to AGO for help. First action was for Jac to approach Perth media to lobby for a different approach and to make the media outlets aware of the economic damage they were causing. The media responded with better coverage but much damage had been done. Tourism Western Australia and AGO each contributed $25,000 for a press campaign which started in the Sunday Times on January 21 with the advert which appears on the front cover of this paper. The focus of this advert was to assure travellers that Esperance was back to normal. The main thrust of the advert was to assure customers that the storm had passed, all was back to normal and that exciting experiences awaited. It took a positive approach by offering a perfect break which has greater appeal than resorting to a patriotic approach which experienced people in the industry know does not work. To reinforce the message over the next five Sundays, a series of different adverts appeared with the following subjects Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Alternative routes to Esperance were promoted Road reopened with temporary bridge which had been constructed around the fallen bridge Theme was that Esperance accommodation could not have been cheaper with the low rates that were being offered Esperance is close to several National Parks and they were featured Packages were sold using Skywest air services and TransWA coach services from Perth. Each advert had a positive sell approach to negate the unfavourable image caused initially. These activities were reinforced with ongoing PR activities particularly in Perth. Advance Tourism 6

8 Results achieved No specific figures are available but the rate of cancellations was arrested, the advertising and PR campaign stimulated demand in the short term and in recent times Esperance advises that they have been enjoying almost boom conditions. In other words, the disaster was turned from a downturn into growth in the longer term for the destination. In summary, this was achieved by 1. Swift action to counter adverse media coverage 2. Tourism WA and AGO quickly funding an advertising campaign 3. Prompt action with an advertising campaign which was not the usual service for the public approach, instead it was built around a strong commercial message designed to motivate customers (visitors) to visit as soon as possible 4. The assistance provided by the Esperance tourism industry with special rates for packages, etc., and 5. Most important of all was the commercial leadership provided by AGO s Jac Eerbeck who quickly developed a strategy to counter the problem which was executed without delay. KALGOORLIE MELBOURNE AIRLINK Skywest have let it be known they are considering buying a new aircraft so that air services from Kalgoorlie to the east coast (Melbourne it seems) can begin later this year. Even before any official announcements, Jac Eerbeek moved swiftly to plan marketing support for the launch and to provide ongoing support in the east. Already AGO has approached Tourism WA, Kalgoorlie Goldfields Tourism, Tourism Northern Goldfields, Golden Quest Discovery Trail and industry stakeholders with a proposal to pool funds to achieve greater impact. Wholesalers are also being approached. This airlink offers so much potential for tourism for the Golden Outback region and AGO wants to maximise the benefits for the region. Swift action has ensured that there is ample time to develop an effective campaign for both the launch and for ongoing market support. OTHER FUTURE PLANS To build demand for the region, some of the future plans include Development of more packages in the region for self-drive visitors and to have product available for wholesalers Travel industry famils to the region Working with overseas wholesalers to include more AGO product Improving the AGO website with more self-drive product More publicity for individual attractions in the region, many being little known presently Key to success of these plans will be the cooperation coming from tourism groups and industry stakeholders around the region. Jac Eerbeek knows from his many years in the industry that close working partnerships with regional stakeholders deliver the best results. For this reason, Jac has established good links with the industry around the region. Using resources available through AGO, the aim is to deliver to the region s tourism industry More customers Ways of helping tourism groups across the region to develop the appeal of their destination. AGO ADMINISTRATION The AGO is one of 5 WA regions. The RTO s Board comprises 9 industry stakeholders and 2 local government representatives. Chairman John Jessup is heavily involved in the accommodation sector. Advance Tourism 7

9 AGO staff comprises CEO Jac Eerbeek plus Marketing Coordinator Gabby Simoni. The RTO did have an accountant but when he resigned, restructuring of duties and outsourcing of PR functions and accounting was made possible. Using these funds differently is providing far better results particularly with PR activities. A high priority of the organisation is to work closely with industry stakeholders with plans designed to generate business results not just advertising and promotion. This policy is already paying off. RESULTS ACHIEVED While it is too soon to see any definitive statistics, the Kalgoorlie Miner reported significant increases in visitors over the recent Easter period. Also Esperance provides anecdotal reports that the destination is enjoying strong results flowing from the campaign since the bridge collapsed. The new strategies enunciated by AGO are being well received by Councils and tourism industry stakeholders around the region. Australia s Golden Outback is moving in an exciting direction. It has moved on from just advertising and promotional activities to the modern approach of business driven strategies. Jac Eerbeek s extensive industry experience is benefiting results in the AGO region. As a long standing industry professional, Jac knows the product which has market appeal, knows how to enthuse the customers to buy and how to maximise support from the trade. His selection as CEO is already proving a sound investment. Congratulations AGO very exciting progress Advance Tourism 8

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7SILVER $ Avon Tourism Inc BRONZE $100.00 AVON TOURISM About Us In the early 90 s the Avon Valley Tourism Association was formed as an initiative of the then Toodyay Tourist Bureau, comprising of the Shires of Beverley, Brookton, Goomalling, Northam,