#BookThemOut Boosts Bookings

24 Jan 2020

#BookThemOut Boosts Bookings

South Australians have rallied behind the state’s bushfire affected communities, with tourism operators reporting strong bookings in the week after the #BookThemOut campaign was launched.

Operators on Kangaroo Island and in the Adelaide Hills have reported a spike in incoming inquiries and requests for information in the past week, as South Australians get on board to support local businesses and boost the local economies.

Visits to the South Australian Tourism Commission website and social media channels also peaked significantly, with more than 15,000 unique visitors to the #BookThemOut page on southaustralia.com from 19-23 January.

On the day of the campaign launch, the SATC’s southaustralia.com website received the highest number of domestic visits on record for a single day – more than 61 percent higher than at the same time last year, and greater than 10,000 more visits on a single day than any day during the SATC’s Rewards Wonder Campaign. Over the week, southaustralia.com recorded over 100,000 visits.

Bushfire related content across the SATC’s social media channels had a combined organic reach of over 4 million people, including more than 2.2 million people reached through Facebook and more than 1.8 million reached through Instagram. This is a significant increase on the South Australia Facebook page average reach per month of 3 million people.

South Australian Tourism Commission Chief Executive Rodney Harrex said the early results of the campaign, and how much people have taken to it, are a positive first step in getting the sector back on its feet.

“The #BookThemOut campaign was designed with a clear message that we need to get people back to the regions, and to support our communities,” he said.

“We are hearing direct from tourism operators that they want visitors back, and to hear that the campaign is already making a difference to their business and the number of bookings they’re getting, is a small but critical step forward in the sector’s recovery.”

Sharon Pearson, of Mount Lofty Ranges Vineyards, said they had 30 people in the cellar door last Sunday, compared to three the week before.

“It’s been great to see people coming back up into the Hills. It’s been tough for many people in our community, but now we want people to come back, visit us and see how amazing the hills are. We’ve had a really good week and are keen for a very big few days over the Australia Day weekend,” she said.

Kangaroo Island’s Sea Dragon Lodge co-owner Steve Lane, said he had been “absolutely inundated with luxury holiday package bookings” – many which would normally have booked at Southern Ocean Lodge.

“While we are not an ultraluxe resort, we are able to offer our guests a very personalised and unique luxury Aussie holiday experience on Kangaroo Island.”

“They really like the fact that we can offer a luxury holiday package with everything included. Since the fires started, we have had over 130 guests stay with us and all of them reported having a wonderful holiday on KI. There are so many great things to see and do on the island, so come over and #BookThemOut.”

The #BookThemOut campaign is running across TV, press and outdoor, as well as digital and social media platforms, with a large part of the campaign driven through social, user-generated content and PR.

Watch #BookThemOut here:

Find out how you can help at southaustralia.com/campaigns/book-them-out.