Hi to all stakeholders in Australia’s Golden Outback.

Welcome to this autumn edition of Australia’s Golden Outback e-newsletter, designed to give stakeholders an insight into some of the marketing and promotional activities that were undertaken for the region over past few months.

A lot of activity has taken place over the last 12 weeks and autumn also marks the beginning of our intrastate self drive campaign aimed at stimulating the self drive market out of Perth, which this year is expected to be stronger due to the current lower fuel prices.

This is also consumer and trade show season, with AGO having a strong presence at numerous caravan shows throughout the major east coast capital cities.

I sincerely hope that the following pages will give you a good insight into some of the activities we have undertaken on behalf of our stakeholders, and as always any feedback is welcome.

Warmest regards

JAC EERBEEK
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

AGO Editorial Features

AGO negotiated four, minimum double page features in major Perth weekend newspapers during March. These features highlighted our sub-regions with editorial and allowed local tourism operators to also participate with their own advertising.

The features appeared:
• 6 March, Sunday Times, 5 page Esperance and Fitzgerald Coast feature
• 13 March, Sunday Times, 5 page Wheatbelt feature
• 20 March, Sunday Times, 6 page Goldfields feature
• 2 April, The Weekend West Australian, 4 page Gascoyne-Murchison feature

AGO underwrites these features and the actual number of pages depends on how many operators and Shires support the feature with their own paid advertising.

AGO would like to thank Goldfields Tourism Network, City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder, Kalgoorlie-Boulder Pure Gold Visitor Centre, Tourism Esperance, Esperance Visitor Centre, Shire of Esperance, the various Wheatbelt sub-regional tourism groups comprising of Pioneers’ Pathway, NewTravel, Roe Tourism, Central Wheattbelt Visitor Centre, Shire of Cunderdin and also to the Gascoyne Murchison Tourism Inc for contributing cooperative funds towards the cost of running these features.

The AGO double page ads which appeared in the features follows:

Esperance Campaign

In partnership with the Esperance Visitor Centre, Tourism Esperance and Shire of Esperance, AGO ran press ads designed to bring Esperance to the attention of consumers as a ‘wonderland’ holiday destination.

4 press ads on a weekly basis appeared in the Sunday Times travel pages during February and March, highlighting ‘Extraordinary’ facts about Esperance attractions, tours, sightseeing and things to see and do. Consumers requiring more information were directed to the Esperance Visitor Centre.

Tactical Pensioner Advertising - ‘Destination Merredin’

AGO and the Central Wheatbelt Visitor Centre in Merredin cooperatively funded a press advert which appeared in the Sunday Times Escape on 10 April promoting a special ‘Destination Merredin' event package taking place over the Mother’s Day weekend on 7-8 May.

This package encourages pensioners to use their free TransWA or discounted pass on the Prospector to Merredin and includes overnight accommodation, some meals, transfers, tours, a Phil Doncon art exhibition evening at the Cummins Theatre, culminating with a live art performance by the artist at a Mother's Day picnic at Roy Little Park.

For more information on these packages contact Central Wheatbelt Visitor Centre on 9041 1666 or click here.

AGO Product Featured in Perth & The West Coast Holiday Brochure

Sunlover Holidays is one of Australia’s largest travel wholesalers who produce individual holiday brochures on Australia states. They recently released their new 2016/17 Perth and West Coast Holiday brochure, distributed through travel agencies Australia-wide.

The 2016/17 publication contains some 9 pages of AGO holiday products and self drive itineraries. Over 100,000 copies sit on racks of travel agents throughout Australia. For more information or to download an electronic version of the publication click here.

AGO Product in German Best of Travel Group Brochure

AGO employs the services of a part time representative in Germany, Tanja Brunnhuber. As this is one of our major overseas markets, Tanya stays in touch with the German travel industry to ensure AGO product is featured in brochures and promoted in any campaigns.

Tanya recently negotiated AGO inclusion in the 2016/17 Best of Travel Group ‘Westaustralien' brochure featuring various AGO self drives and products on some 12 pages. To download an electronic version of the publication click here.

Attending consumer shows is always important for Australia's Golden Outback, as questions asked by consumers at these shows indicate a high level of interest for future visitation. In recent months the AGO region was promoted at the following:

S.A. Caravan & Camping Show, 17-21 Feb

AGO was part of the Tourism Western Australia tourism information stand at the South Australian Caravan and Camping Show. Many thanks to Jessica Shilton from Kalgoorlie-Boulder Pure Gold Visitor Centre who attended the AGO/TWA stand on our behalf.

VIC. Caravan & Camping Show, 24-29 February

AGO attended the TWA stand at the Victorian Caravan and Camping Show. Many thanks to Milton Valli from Esperance Bay of Islands B&B/Experience Esperance Tours who attended on AGO’s behalf.

W.A. Caravan & Camping Show, 16-20 Mar

AGO and its regional operators again had the largest presence at the recent Perth Caravan and Camping Show. All up, some 11 booths side-by-side formed the AGO promotional tourism area at the Claremont Showgrounds.

Stands in the AGO area included Goldfields Tourism Network, Nullarbor Links, Gascoyne-Murchison Tourism Inc, AGO information stand, Wheatbelt, Wave Rock and Tourism Esperance.

44,049 consumers visited the Perth show and we would like to thank all the organisations and volunteers that gave AGO a great presence at the Caravan Show.

NSW. Caravan & Camping Show, 9-17 April

The NSW Caravan Show running over 9 days is one of the longest in Australia. Many thanks to Carina Macdonald from the Central Wheatbelt Visitor Centre who attended the AGO section of the Tourism WA stand at the NSW show.

Upcoming Consumer Shows

QLD. Caravan & Camping Show, 8-14 June

Many thanks to Neil NcGilp from Goldfields Tourism Network who will attend the AGO section of the Tourism WA stand at the QLD show.

Tourism WA Ni Hao WA 2016, Fremantle 14 March

With anecdotal evidence that more Chinese are now starting to travel through parts of our region, AGO attended the 1 day Tourism WA Ni Hao event in Fremantle.

Jac Eerbeek met with some 30 outbound agents from China and Hong Kong in day-long, 15 minute appointments. Sheenagh Collins from Wave Rock also presented with the Jac, as this extraordinary natural attraction is one readily recognised in China.

AGO would also like to thank Rick Besso from Wavecrest Village Hopetoun for attending the Ni Hao event in his own right. Wavecrest has for some time been successfully providing an all up nature based experience for Chinese visitors.

Upcoming Trade Shows

Australian Tourism Exchange, 15-19 May

The biggest annual travel trade event hosted in Australia is the Australian Tourism Exchange (ATE). Each year this event rotates around the various states with it to be held on the Gold Coast in 2016. Some 1,000 senior travel wholesalers and Aussie Specialist travel agents from ‘western’ and ‘eastern’ countries attend and meet with sellers such as AGO, who present their destination with a view of having their products featured in travel brochures and online sites.

This year Neil McGilp from the Goldfields Tourism Network will be joining Jac in the AGO booth.

Tourism WA European Roadshow - UK, Northern Europe, 26 Sep-7 Oct

Tourism WA organise a biennial travel industry roadshow through some of AGO’s key international markets; Germany, Switzerland and the UK. TWA invite RTO's and internationally ready stakeholders to participate in this event and AGO will be attending later this year.

Since the beginning of this financial year, AGO has been heavily involved in hosting educationals for the travel industry, journalists and social media travelling through our region. As many people have no idea as to our unique attractions, it's in our interest to educate the media and travel industry to ensure we gain extra media coverage and better advice to consumers thinking of undertaking a holiday into AGO.

These educationals have included:

Nominations Now Open - 2016 Perth Airport WA Tourism Awards

The Western Australian Tourism Awards are designed to recognise and reward business excellence within the Western Australian tourism industry. The awards are open to all Australian Tourism Accreditation Program (ATAP) businesses in WA and we would encourage as many operators in the AGO region to nominate.

Winners of some 29 individual categories go on to the Australian Tourism Awards and we would love to see an AGO operator win state and national recognition.

To submit your business for consideration in the awards click here. Nominations close 5pm on Wednesday 8 June.

Growing Kalgoorlie-Boulder - Futures Forum - Have Your Say

Kalgoorlie-Boulder is embarking on an exciting process aimed at securing a thriving economic future. The development of the Growth Plan will enable the community of Kalgoorlie-Boulder to explore and drive the future of the City in a way that ensures economic growth, improved liveability and prosperity into the future.

Stakeholders are invited to attend the Futures Forum which will analyse possibilities about the City's economic future. The keynote address at the Futures Forum will be given by Bernard Salt, Demographer and Futurist. Other guest speakers include:

You can register online to attend the community evening event on Tuesday 3 May (free), and/or the full-day forum on Wednesday 4 May ($60 per delegate).

As a result of appointing Amy Johnston to handle our digital marketing, AGO's social media presence over the last 12 months has increased dramatically, and we now have some 7,500 followers on AGO's Facebook and have had a number of images we posted picked up by Tourism WA and Tourism Australia.

Amy advises as a result of our increased presence and TWA/TA sharing our images, we have recently been reaching up to 10 million people.

If you have something new, different, or just interesting, let Amy know at digital@goldenoutback.com and she might be able to promote it to our followers. It also helps if you 'hashtag' your posts #goldenoutback also #thisiswa and #seeaustralia so that ourselves and Tourism WA can readily see these posts and on forward to increase our reach.

AGO would also like to commend Jaimen Hudson from Esperance Island Cruises for putting Esperance in the social media spotlight through his amazing drone footage. Jaimen’s ‘Paddle Boarding with Whales’ video has received some 5.7 million views on YouTube and his Lake Hillier Pink Lake video is also receiving thousands of views, fantastic promotion for Esperance!

Don't forget you can engage with AGO online by following us at:

AGO Facebook - Australia’s Golden Outback
AGO Instagram - australiasgoldenoutback
AGO Twitter - AGO Twitter - @golden_outback

Esperance Wonderland Social Media Videos

Dan Paris, an award-winning photographer and producer based in Esperance created some short videos exclusively for AGO's social media use.

The 5 x 30 second ‘snackables’ (or 3.5 minute long) ‘Esperance Wonderland’ video highlights Esperance as the perfect escape, focusing on extraordinary natural attractions such as its snow white beaches, Lucky Bay, Cape Le Grand National Park and diving/water experiences, all designed to get consumers thinking about the ‘wonders’ of Esperance and taking a holiday there.

Plans are in place for similar style videos to be produced for other AGO destinations including the Gascoyne-Murchison, Kalgoorlie/Goldfields and the Wheatbelt.

To view the videos, check out https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BU11rLcDXRo

Events are an important tourism motivator as they give visitors another reason to travel our region.

The Golden Outback website places an events calendar right in the middle of the home page and any stakeholder in the region can list their local event for FREE!

All you need to do is go to:
www.australiasgoldenoutback.com/events/event-submission and submit details of the event, which we then publish live online.

There is no cost for this service, it only takes a few minutes to enter your event and it helps to highlight that there is lots of interesting things to do throughout the entire region.

For further information on any of these articles, please contact
Jac Eerbeek, ceo@goldenoutback.com or Gabby Simoni, marketing@goldenoutback.com