‘Dunedin, a pretty good Plan D’

Auckland? No. Blenheim? No. Christchurch? Also, no. Instead, a tongue-in-cheek tourism campaign is promoting Dunedin as ‘a pretty good Plan D’.

The $150,000 campaign from Enterprise Dunedin, the destination marketing arm of Dunedin City Council, aims to woo domestic travellers to the city. But will it work?

Council marketing manager Malcolm Anderson said the campaign was pitched at those who could no longer go overseas due to coronavirus restrictions, and aimed to show them ‘‘Dunedin can offer pretty much the same thing’’. Egypt’s pyramids? No worries. Dunedin has its own version — two small volcanic-formed hills. Bali’s beaches? Chill out — Dunedin is covered in beaches, just bring a wetsuit. And Edinburgh? Dunedin’s close enough.

The campaign uses selfdeprecating southern humour to entice people to the city. ‘‘It is about what’s different about

Dunedin — it’s a little bit quirky and it gets people’s attention,’’ Anderson said. ‘‘There is a lot of noise in the [domestic tourism] market, and we need to stand out.’’

Anderson said feedback on the campaign, which was created with the assistance of a Dunedin firm, had been overwhelmingly positive.

‘‘It is quirky and completely in line with our brand.’’

The campaign was initially developed pre-Covid-19 and with support from the wider tourism industry. The campaign was now being funded by the council, which had not asked for any tourism industry support.