Enticing NZ to SA, Illuminate Adelaide launch, voucher ballot & more..

Plenty of news in the tourism space this week with the confirmation of the trans-Tasman bubble, details of the ballot for Great State Voucher round three and a new event for winter, Illuminate Adelaide, launched this morning.

I wanted to share some of the activities and insights, that are relevant for our state’s tourism sector.  We know Easter was a particularly busy time for operators, and that forward bookings are looking good for April, but we also know that there is uncertainty for the winter months. That’s why we have created our next round of targeted stimulus – vouchers for hosted tours and experiences – which we believe will drive activity in the CBD and visitation to our regions.

We’ve had a great response from operators signing up to voucher round three, and I remind you, if you believe you meet the eligibility criteria, to submit your Expression of Interest by midday on Monday 12 April via the application portal here. 

We know that South Australia is well and truly on the radar for people looking to holiday – with both intrastate and interstate activity on the rise.

Across all states, SA currently has the second highest visitation of all tourism destination websites, with southaustralia.com also generating the second highest amount of leads to operators in the country.

Only NSW tops us – which is a massive credit to our South Australian operators, who continue to deliver world-class products and experiences to consumers. Already this year, 1.9 million leads have been generated to operators across the state – only just behind NSW on 2.1 million, and streets ahead of third-placed Victoria on 396,000.  

Today we also launched our newest event – Illuminate Adelaide, which is going to light up our CBD over winter. It’s bringing world-class art, technology, music and design to create over 150 installations, performances and events, including 41 world premieres. Details in the media release.

The trans-Tasman bubble was another positive for our sector this week, as was the news from the state’s Transition Committee yesterday that restrictions on travel from Brisbane will be lifted at midnight on Sunday, and Byron Bay restrictions lift from midnight tonight.

Our Marketing team is continuing to work across all of our key markets – in particular into New Zealand (our fourth biggest international market, worth around $45 million pre-COVID).

While we have remained active in the digital space, we’re ramping up our TVCs and online marketing to ensure South Australia is front of mind for New Zealanders ready to get out and explore. Our 'Hey New Zealand' TVC, which was launched late last year in anticipation of borders opening, has had over 1.5 million views (watch it below).

We step up this campaign in the lead up to the first flight from NZ to SA on May 5 and we're working with Tourism Australia to maximise the opportunity and the marketing reach. We also know the visiting friends and relatives (VFR) market is a very important sector, and there is an emerging market of younger professionals looking for quality food and wine, and events, so we are showing them what we have on offer. 

Read on below for other updates for SA's tourism industry.

Rodney Harrex
Chief Executive

Tour and experience operators invited to new campaign with Experience Oz

A new cooperative marketing campaign with Experience Oz kicks off this month, to help promote and sell South Australian experiences to interstate visitors. Experience Oz is an Australian owned and operated online travel agent selling tours, activities and experiences to their customers. They are passionate about experiences and on-hand to provide support.

The campaign encourages interstate visitors to book an experience while visiting South Australia, and will be marketed through the Experience Oz website, social media, blogs and e-newsletters. 

Any operators interested in having their product distributed through Experience Oz and its partners, are asked to complete the new supplier form.

View the Industry Update – 8 April 2021 here.