‘In this era of growing scepticism well-curated and emphatic digital campaigns are the need of the hour’
Through these unprecedented times, we have adopted several practices to engage and interact with our end consumers and travel partners.
To support our commercial, distribution and airline partners - in Australia and in market – we are ensuring they are up to date with requisite information and are a key part of our recovery plans. We also continue to engage with and educate front-line sales staff in our key international markets including India via the Aussie Specialist Program. Throughout the crisis, which has brought so much change and uncertainty, our industry and operators have remained top of mind for us. In fact, we have stepped up our communications, including launching weekly webinars, to keep the industry informed on public health measures, travel restrictions as well as the various Government support packages being made available, which have been deeply appreciated.
We also continue to engage with our customers by helping them daydream of their next holiday while they’re at home. In line with this, we released our new ‘With Love from Aus’ video across our social media channels, which we hope will inspire people to think about visiting Australia in the future. In addition to this, we have curated virtual tours and entertaining online events that help us remain top-of-mind among target audiences.
The underlying goal for us as marketers in this industry has always been to establish high brand resonance and positive recall with our audience that will eventually translate into visitation to the destination. While customers are confined to their homes now it is essential to build high recall for your product, service or destination.
Specifically, for tourism, we must look into propelling this sense of resonance by promoting experiences and activities that align with the prevalent market sentiment and one that will take precedence in the future. For instance, we are increasingly seeing a rise in the hyper-vigilant and eco-conscious traveller who would prefer to partake in activities that can accommodate for seclusion and isolation. Therefore, at Tourism Australia our 360-degree virtual tours and live events have been curated bearing these trends in mind.
Through this phase of restricted travel, we have engaged our customers on a continuous basis through digitised content formats that remind them that all of Australia awaits them on the other side of this pandemic. To engage customers further, amidst the lack of travel, we’ve also collaborated with new age and regional platforms to create interesting and interactive content for our audiences. Thus, in this era of growing scepticism and customers becoming increasingly varied, well-curated and emphatic digital campaigns are the need of the hour.