Visit Gold Coast: Tourism body launches $1.75m campaign to lure visitors for winter
The Gold Coast’s peak marketing body will spend nearly $2 million selling the city to a travel-starved nation as winter wonderland.
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THE Gold Coast’s peak marketing body will spend nearly $2 million selling the city as a winter wonderland to travel-starved Australians.
Destination Gold Coast’s new winter campaign will launch on Sunday, pitching the famous beaches, hinterland and theme parks as the antidote to the cooler weather in the southern states.
It will be aimed at Sydney, Melbourne, Newcastle, Hobart, Perth, Adelaide and even Brisbane.
Destination Gold Coast CEO Patricia O’Callaghan said the continued recovery of the city’s biggest industry from the COVID-19 downturn depended on boosting visitor numbers during the traditionally quiet winter months.
“This $1.75m campaign will support Gold Coast’s visitor economy in the lead up to and during winter, which we know is traditionally a softer travel period, to safeguard our status as a preferred holiday destination,” she said.
“We know through our insights that there is more than just a pent-up desire to travel. There is pent-up demand to play and reconnecting with family and friends is so important for our wellbeing.
“Targeting families and over-50s, the campaign plays into the nostalgia of multi-generational getaways supported by more than 100 unbeatable accommodation, tour and attraction deals.”
The seven-week campaign will feature outdoor signage, television and digital and social media advertising.
There will also be a two-day stall at Sydney’s Westfield Parramatta Centre Court in May, during which 10 Gold Coast tourism operators will spruik their products, holiday deals and the city itself.
The Coast’s $6b tourism sector lost more than $3,2b in 2020 as a result of pandemic-enforced border closures effectively shutting the industry down.
Its recovery is forecast to take years, with widespread international travel not expected to resume until mid-to-late 2022.
Ms O’Callaghan said a multi-pronged approach to recovery was critical to resurrecting the industry.
“The Gold Coast continues to top the list as a preferred holiday destination on booking engines and this is backed up by consumers voting with their feet, seeing us as the leading beneficiary of the federal government’s half-price flights scheme,” she said.
“With some 200,000 flights to date sold to the Gold Coast, it is initiatives like this that will drive visitors into the region coupled with increased aviation connectivity and cut-through destination marketing.
“The campaign invites our southern neighbours to ‘come and play’ in the sunshine state and swap a cold commute to work for a memorable holiday in Australia’s favourite playground.”
GOLD COAST TOURISM BOSSES LAUNCH NZ CAMPAIGN
GOLD Coast tourism bosses have launched their first overseas campaign in a year - using local Kiwis to sell the city to New Zealand.
The ambitious multimillion dollar New Zealand: We can’t wait to see you campaign will begin appearing on television stations and in cinemas from Sunday to build anticipation of overseas travel resuming.
But not everyone loves the idea.
Reader Phil wrote: “Stay in NZ too many of them here anyway.”
Chris was more understanding of the plight.
“Hilarious. My kiwi wife is waiting to head home to see her family and our new niece. But with 14 days quarantine at that end there is no point. Vice versa for anyone over there looking to come here for a holiday. What an absolute waste of money until this supposed trans tasman bubble opens up both ways.”
Richardff added: “ I would have suggested hold your fire until more certainty of open borders to NZ. Waste of money now. Maybe months or years away.”
William wrote: “What a waste of money! Don’t you think the kiwis would be here if they could travel? They don’t need to be convinced, what needs to happen is stop changing all the rules when they are on the way or have just arrived They won’t come back until they know they can enjoy a holiday and not be part way through and forced into lockdowns. Money spent better elsewhere!”
READ ALL THE COMMENTS BELOW
New Destination Gold Coast CEO Patricia O’Callaghan said New Zealand was a key market for the city and its returning tourists would play a critical role in rebuilding the $6 billion-a-year industry.
“Kiwis have a strong affinity with the Gold Coast and pre-COVID, we were the second most popular Australian holiday destination for New Zealand travellers, after Sydney,” she said.
“With the region home to a large Kiwi population of some 50,000 people, we cannot wait to reunite families, friends and to welcome more visitors back to Australia’s favourite playground.
“Our aim is to keep the Gold Coast front-of-mind while both countries eagerly await a more definitive date for trans-Tasman quarantine-free travel.”
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More than 212,000 New Zealanders visited the Gold Coast in 2019, injecting $241 million into the city’s economy.
Ms O’Callaghan said there was a strong build-up of demand for visitors to travel to the Gold Coast.
“Once travellers can move more freely, we anticipate the Gold Coast will be a highly sought-after destination for families and those eager to get away,” she said but added: “Long-haul international travel is expected to be largely off the cards for the remainder of the year.”
The campaign will be Destination Gold Coast’s first major campaign since it was forced to suspend all marketing efforts in March 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic forced the closure of international borders.
While widespread international travel is not expected to resume until at least 2022, a limited New Zealand travel bubble has already brought large numbers of Kiwis into the country.
The campaign features heartfelt messages from Gold Coast-based New Zealanders to friends and family from some of the city’s most picturesque locations including Burleigh Pavilion, Tallebudgera and the beach.
New Zealand-born Gold Coast Titans players Kevin Proctor and Patrick Herbert also appear.
Ms O’Callaghan said the campaign was based on a similar series of ads it ran in mid-2020 ahead of Australia’s internal borders reopening.
The campaign launch comes just a week after Ms O’Callaghan took the reins at Destination Gold Coast.
She has said increasing the number of flights into the city and securing new attractions are among her key aims.
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