SA's Winter Tourism Campaign a Hit With Local Businesses
Image credit: Karen Smith
The South Australian Tourism Commission’s (SATC) Winter Campaign has been declared a success by local operators, with those involved in the campaign reporting positive results.
The Winter campaign, which was launched in March, reached millions of Australians with the SATC’s consumer website, www.southaustralia.com, reporting more than 1.7 million visits by the domestic market, a 72% increase year on year.
The advertising is part of the State’s Rewards Wonder Campaign that showcases the many wonders of South Australia, including an array of unique tourism operators and experiences from across the city and regions.
Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment, David Ridgway said the State Government had invested an extra $3 million into the Winter Campaign.
“The winter marketing push has been incredibly positive for SA’s tourism industry, with many operators reporting a spike in bookings and enquiries, including Mount Lofty House, Rawnsley Park Station, Hideyhole, EP Cruises and Bellwether Wines among them” said Minister Ridgway.
“Occupancy is up significantly on last year at Mount Lofty House in the Adelaide Hills, and visitation to the d’Arenberg Cube rose 20% year on year for the period of the campaign, with EP Cruises doubling its passengers from last year.”
“This shows the campaign has made Australians aware of the depth of winter experiences on offer around Adelaide and South Australia.
“Striking imagery and experiences were captured from right across the state such as the Limestone Coast’s Ghost Mushroom Lane. After featuring in the campaign, the Lane welcomed 20,000 visitors in just 8 weeks.”
Jasmin Packer from Hideyhole in the Adelaide Hills said the exposure for local operators had been amazing.
“Our statistics have been off the radar. Our followers have increased by 10 times, from 100 to 1,000 and all of our available bookings are completely sold out. This is unprecedented for Hideyhole. More importantly for us, it helped us give back more to what we care about – thanks to the winter campaign we increased our donations to bushcare by over 30%,” Ms Packer said.
On 1 September, South Australia’s new domestic tourism Spring/Summer Campaign launched and will run until January 2020. Featuring world-class operators, including Africola restaurant, Adelaide Oval Roofclimb and Kellermeister Wines, the campaign asks the interstate audience to judge South Australia for themselves.
Minister Ridgway said that with SA's burgeoning visitor economy now at a record $7.2 billion, it’s vital we build on that momentum by enticing more people to come and visit our great State.
“It’s fantastic to see the new SATC domestic advertising campaign has already got people talking. We hope that buzz will translate into people booking their flights and experiencing all the wonders South Australia has to offer,” Minister Ridgway said.
The Spring/Summer campaign videos can be viewed here: https://www.youtube.com/southaustraliatravel