LOVE NSW CAMPAIGN DRIVES DEMAND FOR INDUSTRY

Destination NSW’s tourism recovery campaign, Now’s The Time To Love NSW, is driving strong demand for industry in its first week through high levels of public engagement, widespread media coverage and support from industry partners.

Since launching on Monday 1 June to coincide with the easing of restrictions on regional travel within the state, social media mentions of #LoveNSW have jumped 80 per cent reflecting the growth in NSW travel related content and discussion online.

Videos posted on Destination NSW’s consumer social media channels to celebrate the return of travel on 1 June have reached more than 1.1 million people, attracting 395,000 views to date.

"These are great early results for the campaign and show that Destination NSW's approach and content is resonating well with potential travellers," Destination NSW Chief Executive Officer Steve Cox said.

"We have a lot of activity lined up in the coming months and VisitNSW.com will be our call to action for information and bookings, so businesses should sign up for a Get Connected listing now.

"Further, our NSW First Digital Marketing Tips webinar for operators, which included information about the Love NSW campaign, had a record 389 participants this week and is now available to view on demand."

Organic traffic to VisitNSW.com continues to grow, climbing 15 per cent in the past week. Website visits are up 82 per cent compared with three weeks ago, prior to the announcement about intrastate regional NSW travel resuming.

This week, Destination NSW secured the TODAY Show to present weather segments live from across NSW, showcasing many of the state’s top tourist destinations and operators to its national audience.

Destination NSW’s publicity team hosted weather presenter Tim Davies for a ‘recovery road trip’ through the Central Coast, Hunter Valley, Port Macquarie, Coffs Harbour and finishing in Byron Bay.

Tourism businesses featured across the week include:

• Central Coast - Bells at Killcare Boutique Hotel, Pearls of Australia, Onyx Coffee, The Marshmallow Co, Outdoor Adventures on the Central Coast, chef Sean Connolly cooking at The Wild Flower Bar and Dining and Australian Reptile Park
• Hunter Valley - Brokenwood Wines, Oaks Cypress Lakes Golf & Country Club, Hunter Valley Horses and NSW Segway Tours
• Port Macquarie - Salty Crew Kiosk, Port Macquarie Koala Hospital, Hello Koalas Sculpture Trail, Port Macquarie Surf School, Beach to Bush Trike Tours, Bill’s Fish House and twotriplefour Restaurant
• Coffs Harbour - The Big Banana, Nyanggan Gapi Cafe, Dolphin Marine Conservation Park and Coffs Harbour Butterfly House
• Byron Bay - Cape Byron Lighthouse, Tropical Fruit World, The Bucha of Byron, Three Blue Ducks and Elements of Byron

Viewers were directed to VisitNSW.com for more information about the destinations and operators featured in the broadcasts and to plan their own NSW escapes.

Destination NSW is also working with travel partners to drive conversion for Sydney and regional areas.

A TripAdvisor campaign is currently live promoting NSW as a short break destination through high impact digital media, and to convert some of the travel website’s 2.5 million unique desktop users and 4.9 million mobile customers to bookings for NSW operators.

The campaign focuses on inspiring travellers to take day trips across Sydney and regional NSW based on current traveller search behaviour on TripAdvisor.