Unite for common goal
How region can build its tourism
SELLING southern Queensland as an experience and not just a destination could hold the key to replicating locally the success of the internationally renowned 100% Pure New Zealand tourism strategy.
But beyond that notion was tourism and industry operators uniting under one strategy and message, according to the man who lead the development of the campaign.
Now chairman of Hawke’s Bay Tourism, George Hickton was responsible for establishing the 100% Pure New Zealand marketing campaign as chief executive of the country’s tourism body.
He told the Toowoomba and Surat Basin Enterprise Access NZ conference the success of the campaign was in selling the country as an experience beyond the picturesque destination when it first launched in 1999.
It’s a lesson for Toowoomba and surrounding region which has ridden a wave of interest from organisations and local governments each working to build visitor numbers across the Darling Downs.
Boosting tourism as an industry for the wider benefit of the region is one of the main focuses of the TSBE Access NZ trade mission this week.
Southern Queensland Country Tourism CEO MaryClare Power said the group’s regional strategy was solid and the key was to remain on message and continue promoting Toowoomba and the surrounding areas.
She said while there had been some success in recent years, including shoring up day-trippers from Brisbane and the east coast, there was more to be done.
“We have grown our Brisbane market over the past five to six years, have extended the length of stay, and we are getting some growth in the (tourist) spend,” she said.
Ms Power said the four councils represented by Southern Queensland Country Tourism were collectively open to new opportunities to boost visitor numbers, including attracting tourists from markets outside of Brisbane, and the Sunshine and Gold Coasts.