Wotif.com to woo Kiwis to the Land of the Long White Beach
Posted by editor (editor) on Jun 10 2010
2010 >>

A new pilot tourism marketing campaign with major online accommodation provider Wotif.com will encourage Kiwis to leave the Land of the Long White Cloud for the Sunshine and Fraser Coasts’ Land of the Long White Beach, Tourism Minister Peter Lawlor said today.

Mr Lawlor said Kiwis would have the chance to save up to 50 percent on a Sunshine Coast and Fraser Coast holiday with the launch of the new campaign, coordinated by Tourism Queensland in partnership with Wotif.com, the Sunshine Coast Tourism Partners and was supported by Fraser Coast South Burnett Tourism.

“The ‘Land of the Long White Beach’ campaign begins this week and runs until 9 May and will serve up some incredible accommodation rates for New Zealanders,” Mr Lawlor said.

“The campaign will be promoted through online, radio and press channels across New Zealand, with people able to book rooms for travel until July.

“As the days get shorter and colder we’ll be sending the message of warmth and the laid back Sunshine Coast and Fraser Coast lifestyle across New Zealand, encouraging people to visit Wotif.com and top up on some Queensland sunshine.”

Mr Lawlor said more and more people were booking their holidays online and campaigns like this would not only help boost awareness for the Sunshine Coast and Fraser Coast, but translate into bookings for tourism businesses.

“Wotif.com is renowned for providing holidaymakers with great value deals, with previous partnerships reaping fantastic results for participating operators and the extended local tourism industry,” he said.

“This is the first time we have ventured into the New Zealand market to use wotif.com as a booking channel so hopefully it will have as much success with the Kiwis as it does with Australians.”

Mr Lawlor said in January Tourism Queensland ran a similar campaign with Wotif.com targeting South East Queenslanders with hot Sunshine Coast holiday deals which was estimated to have generated more than $5.4 million for the local economy.

Tourism Queensland CEO Anthony Hayes said Tourism Queensland’s focus over the past 18 months had been on hard-hitting tactical campaigns aimed at driving bookings.

“Domestically and internationally we have worked with industry to offer fantastic holiday deals and packages aimed at getting heads in beds right now when the industry needs it most,” Mr Hayes said.

“Our aim through these targeted online retail campaigns is to support the Queensland tourism industry and explore every opportunity internationally to attract more visitors to Queensland during the traditionally quieter months in the middle of the year.

“It’s proven to have worked for us domestically in the past and we want to continue the approach and test the waters internationally, reminding Kiwis that there’s no better place to be over the winter months than in Queensland.”

In the year ending December 2009 398,000 Kiwis visited Queensland spending approximately $531 million on their trips.

Last changed: Jun 10 2010 at 2:48 PM