Tuesday 1 December 2015

South Coast Regional Tourism Organisation Wins Prestigious Destination Marketing Category at NSW Tourism Awards

For the first time ever, the South Coast Regional Tourism Organisation (South Coast RTO) has been awarded top honours for its ground-breaking 'Unspoilt' marketing campaign as part of the 2015 NSW Tourism Awards announced at Darling Harbour last night.

Destination Marketing is one of the most hotly contested categories of the prestigious annual awards, with the South Coast RTO's submission beating off strong competition* from Broken Hill (Silver), and Wild About Whales, NPWS Sydney (Bronze), to take home the top prize.

'Unpsoilt' is the South Coast region's first ever “whole-of-region” tourism marketing campaign, developed in partnership with Destination NSW (DNSW) which provided fifty per cent of the campaign funding via their Regional Visitor Economy Fund (RVEF). The South Coast RTO worked closely with DNSW's marketing and digital teams to devise and execute the award-winning campaign.

South Coast RTO Chair, Ms. Catherine Shields, comments that this collaborative approach – both with Destination NSW and as a whole region - has certainly enabled a bigger impact than five small stand-alone campaigns, contributing to its now award-winning status.

“The 'Unspoilt' campaign is a breakthrough collaborative marketing campaign which saw the five Local Government Areas on the South Coast of New South Wales - Shellharbour, Kiama, Shoalhaven, Eurobodalla and Sapphire Coast/ Bega Valley - pool their resources to brand and promote the region as a whole.

Ms Shields continues: “In a unique partnership with DNSW, the South Coast RTO created a standout positioning for the region with the Unspoilt South Coast. The campaign features people enjoying outdoor activities in the Unspoilt landscape and this fresh approach has proved to be a runaway success.

“It has particularly resonated with our target markets - busy couples and families in Sydney and Canberra, who long for a break in beautiful surroundings,” she concludes.

In September, the South Coast RTO and DNSW revealed the 'Unspoilt' campaign contributed to record increases in domestic visitor numbers to the South Coast and more than 1 million leads to South Coast tourism businesses. Since its launch, the 'Unspoilt' campaign has delivered to the South Coast region its strongest growth in the tourism sector since the introduction of the National Visitors Survey in 1999 – a truly phenomenal result.

The NSW Tourism Awards are presented by the Tourism Industry, a division of the NSW Business Chamber and proudly supported by Destination NSW. Now in their 26th year, the Awards celebrate and acknowledge tourism businesses that have demonstrated outstanding achievement and success throughout the year.

An interview after the award presentation with SCRTO Chair Catherine Shields, SCRTO Secretary Diane Johnston and Eurobodalla Tourism's Kerrie-Anne Benton, can be viewed here: https://www.facebook.com/NSWTourismAwards/?fref=ts.

No comments:

Post a Comment