New Visitor Campaign a Winner for Wollongong

A marketing campaign developed by Destination NSW, in partnership with Destination Wollongong, achieved record results for Wollongong over the Australia Day long weekend, with many hotels booked out for the first time.

The It’s ON in Wollongong campaign, based on Destination NSW’s successful It’s On in Sydney and NSW campaigns, highlighted the range of events taking place in Wollongong and linked hotels in the area to the campaign by providing visitors with an attractive accommodation package.

“The success of It’s ON in Wollongong, which lifted many hotel occupancy rates to 100 per cent, is testimony to Destination NSW’s new marketing strategies for NSW and its key visitor locations,” Minister for Tourism and Major Events, George Souris.

“The dedicated focus on bringing more overnight visitors to generate more visitor expenditure has achieved great results for the local visitor economy, with Wollongong’s summer program of events injecting $22 million into the city’s economy. It’s a working model we will look to repeat with other Regional Tourism Organisations.”

The campaign included creative elements developed by Destination NSW for the State-wide It’s ON in NSW campaign, as well as social media to attract fans of the area. Facebook likes for It’s ON in Wollongong increased by a record 19.5 per cent, over just 10 weeks.

Mark Sleigh, General Manager, Destination Wollongong said “We are thrilled with the results the ‘It’s ON in Wollongong’ campaign delivered. Being able to leverage the campaign Destination NSW created meant we could more effectively let visitors know what events were happening.”

“With a strong media plan to support the message, we increased overnight visitation in Wollongong beyond our expectations to sell outs in many places. Feedback from key stakeholders of the campaign, including Wollongong City Council, hotel managers, event organisers and local businesses, has been overwhelmingly positive.”

Sandra Chipchase, CEO of Destination NSW said, “We are delighted that Wollongong has seen such great results from the It’s ON in Wollongong campaign. One major hotel almost doubled their occupancy rate from the same time last year. It’s also a fantastic result for local businesses in the area and for visitors who got to experience what the area has to offer.”