Mad March, Rise Up for our River ramps up and celebrating International Women’s Day
As we head into the Mad March long weekend in South Australia, there is much to celebrate for our tourism industry. In addition to the festival ‘madness’, it is also an important weekend for our Rise Up for our River tourism recovery campaign for the Murray River regions, with marketing ramping up across TV, print and digital from Sunday.
WOMADelaide starts this evening, drawing thousands of festivalgoers to the city’s Botanic Park/Tainmuntilla over the next four days.
It is the first time in the event’s 31-year history that it opens having sold out of Friday, Saturday, Sunday and multi-day tickets in advance. The record pace on ticket sales surpasses the previous record set in 2008 when 3-day and Saturday tickets sold out just days ahead of the festival opening.
The unprecedented demand for WOMADelaide – which includes from out-of-state visitors – translates into strong outcomes for our industry. Coupled with the Adelaide Fringe and Adelaide Festival, it all helps drive hotel bookings and sees more people spending in restaurants, bars, cafes and retail.
From this Sunday, you can expect to see a lot more of our Rise Up for our River campaign. A wraparound of the Sunday Mail, the first in a series of TV specials on Channel 7 of South Aussie with Cosi, and the launch of our Rise Up for our River TV commercial kicks off the first burst of activity – all aiming to put the attention of South Australians state-wide on the Murray River regions and showcase the breadth of experiences on offer.
Behind the scenes, we’ve been working with operators across the Riverland and Murray River, Lakes & Coorong to onboard them to round one of the River Revival Voucher program.
Expressions of Interest have now closed for operators to be part of round one, as we work together to finalise their offerings ahead of the ballot opening on Monday 27 March.
Operators looking for information about Rise Up for our River, including how they can help amplify the campaign activity, go to tourism.sa.gov.au.
Another important day this week, was International Women’s Day. I was fortunate to attend Government House for an International Women's Day event, and meet with women leading the future of our state and going boldly in their fields. It was inspiring to be in the room and hear such creativity, drive and passion. I am very proud that women are so strongly represented across our state's tourism industry and within the SATC - with women comprising more than 70 per cent of our staff and 60 per cent of our executive team.
Emma Terry
Chief Executive Officer