JUST FOR CLICKS
Tourism’s pitch to the Instagram generation
DODGY internet coverage is forcing the Far North to miss out on a wealth of free advertising by a generation of social media “insta-travellers”.
A Federal Government report has recognised poor digital connectivity as a major hindrance to the tourism industry.
POOR digital connectivity is robbing the Far North of a powerful new breed of free “instatravel” tourism marketing.
Image is king for the hashtag generation and instantly uploading photos of waterfalls and pink cocktails is integral to any journey worth its salt.
Tourism Tropical North Queensland CEO Pip Close said digital black spots and plain dodgy 4G internet connections were an unnecessary hindrance.
“The rule is people usually post within one hour of arriving in a destination,” she said.
“We’ve got so many people coming into the region as tourists but they can’t post their experiences because of poor digital connectivity.
“The businesses suffer but we also miss out on marketing opportunities.”
TTNQ also wants to attract “influencers” – social media gurus with enormous reaches who earn money or luxury perks for spruiking experiences to their adoring horde.
For example, Australian Lauren Bullen, who runs the @gypsea_lust Instagram page, travels the world sharing photos to her 2.1 million followers.
The need for improved connectivity in tourism-reliant areas bore specific mention from the Joint Standing Committee on Northern Australia.
Its Northern Horizons — Unleashing Our Tourism Potential report outlines 33 recommendations and acknowledges the slow and non-existent internet as a major impediment.
Leichhardt MP Warren Entsch, who chaired the committee, was confident the bulk of the recommendations would be executed.
“The first Pivot North report we did, most of those recommendations went into the Northern Australia White Paper and a very large number have now been implemented,” he said. “The strength of this is that it’s a consenting report.”
With a federal election in the wings, Ms Close hoped the Far North’s tourism industry would get fair consideration.
“We have 50,000 tourists coming into the region in any one day,” he said.
“For every resident, we’re servicing 12 tourists.
“If you look at infrastructure funding, they most likely look at the population of people.
“Because our actual population is small, we don’t get the focus that we should.”