‘Open for Business’ campaign attracts Kiwis to the Sunshine Coast
Posted by editor (editor) on Jul 21 2009
2009 >>

Tourism Queensland’s ‘Open for Business’ campaign encouraging New Zealanders to continue visiting the Sunshine Coast following March’s oil spill has reaped some fantastic results for the region, Tourism Minister Peter Lawlor said.

Mr Lawlor said the $180,000 clean-up campaign developed by Tourism Queensland in collaboration with Sunshine Coast Regional Council and Sunshine Coast Tourism, commenced on the 12 April and encouraged Kiwis to visit the Sunshine Coast.

“Preliminary results indicate that the campaign not only reassured New Zealanders that the Sunshine Coast was indeed open for business during the important Easter break it has also been a huge success generating an additional 1336 room nights for operators in the region,” he said.

“This fantastic result is then multiplied when you consider the money spent by international visitors when in the region and equates to an approximate expenditure of $700,000 in Queensland, with the majority of which being spent in and around the Sunshine Coast.”

Mr Lawlor said the aim of the campaign was to keep the stunning Sunshine Coast top of mind amongst New Zealanders and generate an interest and desire to want to visit some of the coast’s fantastic experiences.

“The campaign was run in partnership with Flight Centre, the largest wholesaler of Sunshine Coast products in New Zealand, and with local tourism operators,” he said.

“New Zealand is the Sunshine Coast’s largest international market accounting for 28 percent of all international visitors and the Queensland Government remains committed to generating interest from this crucial market.”

“79,000 tourists from New Zealand visited the Sunshine Coast in the year ended March 2009, supporting approximately 1000 Queensland jobs.”

Sunshine Coast Mayor Bob Abbot said Council had recognised the need for immediate action following the oil spill to reassure potential visitors that the region had not lost any of its appeal.

Cr Abbot said he was grateful for the State Government’s assistance in promoting the Coast’s many attractions across the Tasman at a critical time.

“We knew even though we had completed most of the clean up soon after the spill, there was still potential for our Easter holiday tourism business to be quite severely affected,” he said.

“We were delighted to work with Tourism Queensland on this campaign highlighting all this region has to offer and to let New Zealand travellers know that nothing had changed.”

Mr Lawlor said in response to the current environment, Tourism Queensland was increasingly focusing Sunshine Coast marketing activity on New Zealand as an international market likely to drive growth for Queensland in the short term.

Last changed: Oct 06 2009 at 3:47 PM