The Off Season: New Tourism Tasmania campaign partnering with popular podcast, hit TV show
While it’s traditionally been challenging to attract mainland visitors to Tasmania in the winter months, a new advertising campaign is bringing in the big guns to entice tourists to the state.
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Mainlanders will be enticed to visit Tasmania in the colder months with the aid of a slick marketing campaign involving partnerships with a hugely popular podcast and a hit reality TV series.
The fifth iteration of the Off Season campaign was launched at Evandale’s Harland Rise Chapel on Sunday by Premier Jeremy Rockliff and Tourism Tasmania CEO Sarah Clark, who said the aim of the initiative was to convince interstate travellers to choose the state as their preferred holiday destination this winter.
The campaign, which features stark black-and-white imagery, will take over the iconic Martin Place retail precinct in Sydney and partner with the Hamish and Andy podcast and the Good Weekend and Traveller magazines.
Off Season content will also be aired in the ad breaks when the new series of Alone, filmed in Tasmania, airs on SBS later this year.
Ms Clark said Tourism Tasmania would be joining forces with airlines and trade partners to “further drive bookings”, including supporting airline seat sales and self-drive packages.
The campaign went live across the country on March 26 and will run until August 31, with more than 600 offers and events available as part of the campaign.
Mr Rockliff said one in eight Tasmanian jobs were supported by the tourism industry and that visitors invested a total of about $3.5bn into the state’s economy every year.
“Tourism is more important to employment and jobs in Tasmania than anywhere else in Australia,” he said.
“My message to all Australians is, ‘Come down to Tasmania for an authentic, wonderful winter experience’. And of course, winter is a season not to escape from but to be rejuvenated.”
Ms Clark said the Off Season was an “awesome collaboration between Tourism Tasmania and the tourism industry”.
“[We are] putting together these great offers for people to experience right across the state,” she said.
“This could be anything from a dark sky paddle in the Hobart harbour right through to a fungi tour over in Corinna on the West Coast, or having s’mores at the Agrarian Kitchen.”
Peter Blackwood, of agritourism and accommodation business Harland Rise Chapel, said driving increased visitation to the state was “so good for Tasmania” and that his business had plenty to offer people.
“We’ve got a wood heater inside that heats up the building very nicely, good Waverley blankets, locally made,” he said.
“You can cuddle up on the couch and do what you like in comfort, look out at the cool [conditions]. But also we’ve got a fire pit if you want to stand outside [and] have a few wines.”
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