Sapphire Coast Tourism Update August 19, 2015 Welcome to Spring... nearly. Whale sightings and close encounters are being reported almost every day i
Sapphire Coast Tourism Update August 19, 2015
Welcome to Spring... nearly. Whale sightings and close encounters are being reported almost every day in a great sign for the next few months.
With a mixture of relief and excitement we have managed to get the first edit of our destination video piece to market. Read on to view it, see how you can share it, use it and access the beautiful footage for your own use.
Also in this edition: Good news with a great range of finalists for the South Coast tourism awards. Digital is tracking well and visitor numbers remain steady.
Sapphire Coast, stunning video out now!
We have been harping on for a while now about how critical film is when attracting new visitors to a destination. Our biggest challenge has been getting caviar quality footage for our ham sandwich budget.
Thanks to the efforts of Gooseboy Productions and tens of friends of SCT we finally made it. The first edition is the super trailer at 3 minutes with cut downs planned, for social media and niche markets, in the very near future. The shorter versions will be specific to food and wine, nature, coast and heritage experiences.
As part of the project a new song and soundtrack was created for the Sapphire Coast. The beautiful piece ''I was always here'' will also be made available to industry for destination marketing purposes.
Local business interested in accessing the footage or soundtrack for their own productions can chat to SCT anytime about their requirements.
A key to getting the content out there will be spreading it via all Sapphire Coast stakeholders, the tech savvy can simply use the embed code on YouTube or Facebook. You know what we mean!! If you need help contact our office.
The Video is on You Tube here.
Year ending March 2015 visitation figures
Total visitors
Includes domestic day, domestic overnight and international overnight visitors. Data is not available for international day visitors.
An estimate of 890,000 visitors was the 14th consecutive above average visitor total and the 4th highest year end March estimate in the Sapphire Coast Tourism Monitor. It further suggests that a fundamental upwards shift in visitor volume commencing year end Sept '11 has occurred.
Total nights
The total of 2.2m nights is above average for the Monitor the 3rd highest year ending March estimate.
Domestic overnight visitors
The above average estimate of just over 500,000 domestic overnight visitors is the 2nd highest estimate of all periods in the Monitor.
Domestic nights
An estimate of 2.1m domestic visitor nights is also an above average result compared to other periods in the Monitor and the third highest for a year ending March estimate.
Domestic day visitors
An estimate of 365,000 is higher than the year ending March ’14 and extends a long run of above average estimates.
International Nights
An international nights estimate could not be prepared for the year ending March ’15 due to insufficient sample size.
Source: - Sapphire Coast Tourism Monitor – an independent monitor of tourism in the Sapphire Coast prepared by Peter Valerio of Tourism Strategy Development Services. Estimates are based on data compiled from Tourism Research Australia's National and International Visitor Survey databases. Adjustments are made to exclude data that relates to adjacent Local Government Areas. Annual estimates lacking acceptable sample sizes – and therefore unacceptably high sample survey error - are excluded from the Monitor.
2015 (Jan - July) so far by the numbers
Digital saw positive growth across all assets in the first half of 2015. Web engagement grew by over 15% and Social engagement by a whopping 278%, a significant result given a large decrease in budget from 2014.
Highlights on Facebook for Jan to July '15 were...
1.2m total reach
218,868 engagement
140,280 stories created about us
1904 new likes
On the Web
Total unique visitors to destination sites were 149,184 (15% increase on '14)
Total page visits were 411,289 (15% increase on '14)
Cruise Eden update and guide training opportunity
The 2015/16 cruise season has 9 cruise ships visiting the Port of Eden.
The 2016/17 season is even bigger with 11 ships!
Tour Guide Training Opportunities
Tour guide preparative workshops are planned to prepare and recruit guides for an immediate and significant increase in cruise visitors.
Scheduled dates are:
BEGA: Wednesday, 9th September
MERIMBULA: Monday, 14th September
EDEN: Wednesday, 16th September
Those wishing to participate should contact cruise@sapphirecoast.com.au
Update on South Coast 'Unspoilt' Campaign
Partnering our South Coast neighbours will continue to be a feature of our 2015 marketing activity. Building on the momentum of the 2014 Unspoilt campaigns, we are investing right now in a spring digital campaign. We expect 1000s of leads to Sapphire Coast listings on the VisitNSW website so...
Your listings on Get Connected are very important
To maximise potential from the '15 Unspoilt campaign please re-visit your listing on the visitnsw.com.au website. Overall campaign investment by the South Coast RTO will be in excess of $600,000 with visitnsw site pages the key landing pages.
To update your listing or create a new one visit Get Connected
Spring is Campaign Time
The Spring shoulder is prime time to visit Sapphire Coast for whale watching and nature experiences with plenty of accommodation capacity in the region.
To summarise this year's campaigns:
South Coast Unspoilt partnership. Will focus on ACT, NSW & Vic regional markets in partnership with South Coast. As above.
Sapphire Coast Digital Campaign
SCT are already busy gathering content and boosting facebook posts into our key markets.
Eden Whale Festival - DNSW Flagship funded marketing campaign.
In the final year of DNSW's funded promotion for the Eden Whale Festival, SCT is managing a social, direct and print campaign.
So what does this all mean for industry?
To capitalise ensure your listings on partner's sites are the best they can be with enticing imagery and video where possible. It is also an ideal time to get special offers or bundles up on booking partner sites as well.
Destination presentations at DNSW & Tourism Australia
The team travelled to Sydney recently to update TourIsm Australia and DNSW on our destination experiences and strategies.
At DNSW we were able to outline our commitment to continue to develop our region as nature's heart of the Sydney Melbourne Coastal Drive in partnership with our partners at Sydney Melbourne Touring, Eurobodalla and East Gippsland.
Tourism Australia's next international campaign will focus on experiences Aquatic and Coast, so it was timely to share our passion for our best experiences to around 30 of the TA team including the Managing Director, John O'Sullivan. The new video was a hit and our TA presentation was also filmed and sent to TA international teams all over the world.
International Trade Visit
SCT, on behalf of the Australia's Coastal Wilderness steering committee, recently hosted international travel agents from China, India, Germany and Spain at a function at the Wharf Restaurant Merimbula.
The group, which also included Tourism Australia international representatives from France and Germany were given a fantastic oyster presentation by 'Captain Sponge' and a sit down dinner with a detailed presentation on our destination.
The overwhelming feedback was surprise at how unique their experience was around our area and what great potential we had for increases in international visitors into the future.
Are you interested in Eco Tourism accreditation?
In November this year Eco Tourism Australia will be visiting to run a workshop on gaining Ecotourism accreditation. The workshops will be a great way of obtaining accreditation.
Interested businesses should contact SCT. Information on Eco accreditation can be found here.
Social Media conference learnings
Earlier this month 'digital Sarah' attended the '2015 Social Media in Tourism Symposium'. The two day symposium
is the leading event of its kind in Australia and included speakers from DMOs in Netherlands, Flanders (Belgium), Queensland (inc Sunshine Coast), Victoria, Northern Territory and Margaret River in Western Australia.
There was also a presentation from TripAdvisor and workshops on content creation and working with influencers (digital fans with big audiences).
Audience representation was from all states and territories within Australia. International presence from Austria, Belgium, Canada, Fiji, Hong Kong, Netherlands, New Zealand, Solomon Islands, Tahiti, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom and United States
The key take homes were:
KNOW YOUR STORY, KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE
A brand is a combination of stories shared within the destination. "By knowing your audience you can foster more authentic stories and ensure that people's experiences match your destination's stories as well" William Bakker, Destination Think!’s chief strategist and partner.
MAKE YOUR VISITOR THE HERO
"90% of consumers trust social media recommendations from their peers, only 14% trust brand's social media advertisements" @SocialeeMedia
Make your visitor the hero by sharing their stories and testimonials on social media. It’s authentic, earns social cred and is inexpensive to create.
MAKE IT EASY FOR PEOPLE TO TELL STORIES
Free wifi is a crucial part of storytelling, and Melbourne is gearing up to offer it city wide.
Also, a hashtag like #sapphirecoast creates conversations, gathers content, and helps you monitor and engage conversations about your brand.
EMPOWER YOUR STAFF
Encourage your staff to engage with social, give them training and empower them to the gather and create stories.
FAMILS GO DIGITAL
Influencers (social media storytellers with big audiences) are now crucial media partners in the famil mix.
MARKETING BUDGETS GO DIGITAL
Tourism NZ spends 90% of it’s marketing budget on digital.
An entertaining and inspiring video presentation for accommodation providers: A digital holiday park: How one woman grew BIG4 Bellarine Holiday Park from a bare paddock to revenue generating business, particularly in off-peak times, and learnt a lot about social media.
And another:
Surprise & delight: Visit Queensland
40 visitors, 40 surprises - how Visit Queensland took engagement with visitors to a one on one level and what that did for word of mouth.
Local Finalists for South Coast Tourism Awards
Congratulations to the local finalist in the South Coast Tourism Awards. No doubt they will be busy preparing for the Gala South Coast Tourism Awards Presentation Night next Wednesday 26th August at the Ulladulla Civic Centre.
For more on the awards and the gala event visit here.
2015 finalists.
Magic Mountain Tree Climb Challenge - Adventure
Eden Killer Whale Museum - Culture and Heritage
Eden Visitor Information Centre - Visitor Centre
Merimbula Visitor Information Centre - Visitor Center
Sapphire Waters Motor Inn - Accommodation
Best Western Fairway Motor Inn - Accommodation
NRMA Merimbula Beach Holiday Park - Caravan Parks
Tathra Beachside (Tathra Beach Family Park) - Caravan Parks
Discovery Holiday Parks Pambula Beach - Caravan Parks
South Coast Holiday Parks - Bermagui - Caravan Parks
Sara Wilson - Young Achiever
Reboot in Bermagui
After a super successful first year ReBoot is back. Run, refresh, relax and renew in beautiful Bermagui on Saturday September 26th and Sunday 27th September, 2015.
Pambula Motorfest September 26 & 27
The Pambula Motorfest is a not-for-profit event that is run annually to raise funds for the local community and provide a family fun motoring event for entrants and spectators alike. The show has something for everyone, not just the motoring enthusiast, with a swap meet, show and shine, ladies stalls, trade stalls, merchandise trucks, a massive kids zone and so much more! For the car enthusiast there are street machines, hot rods, vintage, motorbikes, trucks, utes, 4x4's, Vans.......it's all at the Pambula Motorfest!
More information
Don't forget to share your food story with the world
Do you offer a unique food or wine experience? The key pillars of Tourism Australia's recent Best Restaurant campaign are wine, people, seafood, produce, restaurants, experiences and festivals.
Many of you are already getting involved with the Restaurant Australia campaign sharing great pics of food and location. Getting involved in the campaign can be as simple as tagging your social media pics with #restaurantaustralia and #sapphirecoast or making around 10 minutes to upload your business direct to the site
