Australia s Golden Outback Autumn 2013

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1 Australia s Golden Outback Autumn 2013 Lake Lefory, Kambalda Hi to all stakeholders in Australia s Golden Outback. Welcome to this edition of Australia s Golden Outback e-newsletter, designed to give stakeholders an insight into some of the marketing and promotional activities that were undertaken for the region over past few months. As well as having some new members appointed to the AGO Board, Gabby Simoni last week left us to go on 7 months maternity leave. I am sure everyone that has dealt with Gabby wishes her all the best as she moves towards motherhood and we look forward to her intended return in October. Gabby s replacement while she is on maternity leave is Shirley Tsao, who comes to us from Blue Travel, an Asian inbound travel company. The cooler Autumn months traditionally mark the beginning of our campaigns aimed at stimulating the self-drive market out of Perth. It s also consumer and trade show season, with AGO having a strong presence at numerous caravan shows and trade shows throughout Australia. The following pages will give you an idea of some of the activities we have recently undertaken and as always, stakeholder feedback is very welcome. Warmest regards JAC EERBEEK CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER - 1 -

2 A New Gabby Joins AGO AGO Board Members Whilst Gabby is on maternity leave, we have been lucky to recruit the services of Shirley Tsao. Shirley is a mother of four, originally from Taiwan, speaks fluent Mandarin and is super passionate about the Outback. Shirley has run her own hospitality business in Perth and for the last 2 years was a Business Development Manager at Blue Travel, a major Asian inbound company. Shirley has a strong belief that Chinese will visit our Outback region and as well as performing Gabby s normal duties, she will be using her contacts to develop and promote Outback itineraries for the Chinese market. At the AGO AGM held in Esperance late last year, the new AGO Board was announced. Members being re-appointed were: - Chris Pye Chairman - Cross Region Representative - Arianne Webb Vice Chair - Goldfields Representative - Frances Jones Treasurer - Gascoyne-Murchison Representative - Stacey Newman Coastal Representative - Stephanie Clarke-Lloyd - Wheatbelt Representative - Patrick Hill Laverton Shire Councillor - WALGA Representative - Robyne Reynolds Indigenous Representative - Marcus Falconer Tourism WA Representative New appointments to the Board were: - Don Ennis Mayor of Narrogin - WALGA Representative - Ellen Bradley Distinctive Tours Cross Region Representative On behalf of AGO, I would like to thank all existing and new board members for the time they devote to the region and also thank them for their advice in the promotion of our vast Outback region. Refreshed AGO Logo For 2013 we thought it was time to refresh the AGO logo. Our original logo of the sun and blue swoosh came about because it was part of the state s branding some 8 years ago. Tourism Western Australia no longer uses this as the state s branding and as such we are able to make changes, incorporating some of our other iconic attractions. Changes you might notice in the logo on the left, is that we have now included red earth, a Gormley sculpture, Mount Augustus and some wildflowers. The windmill, poppet head, Sammy the Seal, Frenchman s Peak and Esperance blue water remain

3 General Marketing 2013 Holiday Planner Now Available Advertising Campaigns AGO Billboard Campaign The new 2013 AGO Holiday Planner was distributed to more than 120 Visitor Centres across the state in the second week of January. Each year, we rotate one of our sub-regions as the main cover picture and this year it was the turn of the Wheatbelt region. This Holiday Planner at 104 pages is the largest tourism brochure produced by a WA Regional Tourism Organisation. A digital version of the planner is also available from We would sincerely like to thank all operators and Shires in the AGO region, who supported the 2013 planner with their advertising and Shire information. AGO negotiated for a series of billboard advertisements to be featured on 14 sites around the Perth metropolitan area. These 6m wide x 3m tall billboards highlight AGO s 4 subregions and are located in the city s western suburban areas and entry points into Perth. In keeping with Tourism WA s Extraordinary branding, all billboards in the series feature a large headline Been to the Extraordinary Lately? with an inspirational image of Mount Augustus, Wave Rock, Lucky Bay or Gormley Sculpture at Lake Ballard. The billboard campaign commenced late January and will run for 3 months until late April. The call to action encourages consumers to visit the AGO website for more information

4 Esperance & Coast feature The West Australian Newspaper AGO negotiated for a 3 page editorial feature on Esperance and Coast which ran in the Saturday Weekend West Travel on 23 February. This editorial feature was financially underpinned by two side-by-side adverts as shown below. It also gave smaller operators in the Esperance region a chance to advertise their own products. AGO has also negotiated similar editorial features to appear in The West Weekend Travel pages on the following dates: 16 March - Kalgoorlie & Northern Goldfields 4 page feature 06 April - Gascoyne & Murchison - minimum 2 page feature AGO would like to thank Tourism Esperance and the Esperance Visitor Centre for contributing cooperative funds towards running their feature, and all the operators who took out their own paid advertising. AGO Digital Campaign The West Travel AGO recently attended a function hosted by The West Australian Travel team, winning a door prize comprising of online digital, press advertising and an EDM package valued at over $10,000. AGO immediately commenced the online digital component of the prize with digital ads highlighting our 4 sub regions, for the entire month of March on The West Travel website. The digital ads appear in various sizes highlighting four AGO sub-regions: Wheatbelt, Goldfields, Gascoyne-Murchison and Esperance and Coast Consumers clicking on the adverts will be directed to the AGO website for more information. To check out the digital ads visit AGO would like to thank Stephen Scourfield and The West Travel team for this fantastic prize, enabling AGO to extend our promotional efforts. Esperance Campaign In partnership with The Esperance Visitor Centre and Tourism Esperance, AGO has now started a campaign designed to stimulate visitation to Esperance during the shoulder pre- Easter period, when the weather is still fantastic. Press ads are now starting to appear in the Sunday Times Escape and The West Weekend Travel pages highlighting Extraordinary facts about Esperance

5 Kalgoorlie Pensioners Campaign Goldfields Tourism Network Press Campaign Since the closure of West Coast Coach and Rail, there has been no organisation putting together packages allowing pensioners to use their annual free TransWA pass. Realising this has left a gap in the market; Kalgoorlie Pure Gold Visitor Centre has now developed three 4-day pensioner packages incorporating free Prospector, Kalgoorlie accommodation with a choice of undertaking tours, playing golf or car rental. These packages have so far been advertised in the Sunday Times travel pages and we thank Amy and her team at Kalgoorlie Pure Gold for developing this much needed product. Goldfields Tourism Network, funded by the Shires of Coolgardie, Menzies, Leonora, Laverton, Kalgoorlie-Boulder and Wiluna have now in conjunction with AGO commenced their press advertising campaign. Some six 15cm x 7cm column adverts will run weekly commencing 10 March highlighting the attractions and events in the Goldfields region AGO would like to thank Arianne Webb and the Goldfields Tourism Network for working closely with AGO to help promote the goldfields region. Extra Funds Extra AGO Domestic Campaigns Royalties for Regions through Tourism Western Australia have given the 5 state Regional Tourism Organisations an additional $75,000 per year, over two years, to assist with their domestic marketing campaigns. The funding contains a condition that it must attract substantial cooperative partnership funds and with TWA s assistance, AGO has entered into three cooperatively funded campaigns with Apollo Motorhomes, RAC Victoria and RAC WA. The Apollo campaign comprises of online digital advertising which will direct consumers to a dedicated Apollo AGO microsite, offering 40% off motorhome hire and includes a range of suggested AGO self drive touring routes

6 AGO has also funded a full page touring advert with RAC Victoria in the March edition of their members magazine, which has a monthly circulation of some 1.5 million readers. The advert contains APT touring packages for The Outback Way, wildflower tours to the Goldfields, Esperance and Hyden as well as a package on the Indian Pacific train. RAC WA will also be working with AGO in the provision of extensive editorial in their Horizons members magazine, electronic mail-outs, and a dedicated page on the RAC WA website. Magazine Advertising Australia's Golden Outback regularly undertakes advertising in various magazines, predominately aimed at our target market of self drive holiday makers. Over past months, advertising has been placed in number of magazines including the Motorhome Association Wanderer magazine and Tourism Western Australia s 2013 Wildflower Guide. Consumer Events Attended by AGO Attending targeted consumer shows has enormous potential for Australia's Golden Outback. The response to our regional display indicates a very high level of interest for future visitation. In recent weeks, AGO attended the following: S.A. Caravan & Camping Show, Feb AGO was part of the Tourism Western Australian stand at the South Australian Caravan and Camping Show. Many thanks to Amy Johnston from Kalgoorlie Boulder Pure Gold Visitor Centre who attended the AGO/Tourism WA stand on our behalf. VIC. Caravan & Camping Show, 7-10 Mar Many Thanks to Di Below from DriveWA who attended the AGO section of the Tourism WA stand at the VIC show. Upcoming Consumer Shows W.A. Caravan & Camping Show, March AGO and its regional operators will again have the biggest presence at the Perth Caravan and Camping Show. All up there will be some 11 booths side-by-side which will form the AGO promotional area. For more information about the upcoming Perth Caravan Show visit NSW. Caravan & Camping Show, April Many thanks to Robyn McCarthy from the Central Wheatbelt Visitor Centre who will attend the AGO section of the Tourism WA stand at the NSW show. QLD. Caravan & Camping Show, 5-10 June Many thanks to Arianne Webb from Goldfields Tourism Network who will attend the AGO section of the Tourism WA stand at the QLD show. AGO is always keen to have Visitor Centres and operators attend these interstate shows on our behalf. If you are perhaps interested in attending a future show in 2014, Shirley Tsao on marketing@goldenoutback.com - 6 -

7 Upcoming Trade Shows Australian Tourism Exchange, April The biggest annual travel trade event in the southern hemisphere is Australian Tourism Exchange (ATE), this year to be held in Sydney. Up to 600 senior travel wholesaler buyers and Aussie Specialist travel agents from western and eastern countries are brought to Australia by Qantas, Tourism Australia, Tourism Western Australia and other interstate tourism organisations, to meet with sellers such as AGO, who showcase their holiday products. Over 4 days, Jac Eerbeek will meet some 120 buyers over 13 minute appointments to kindle interest in promoting Outback holidays. Our intention is to gain extra space in overseas wholesalers programs, be they printed publications or online digital. Other News New 2013 T-QUAL Grants - Opened 15 March 2013 Today the Minister for Tourism opened the 2013 round of T-QUAL Grants Tourism Quality Projects and applications close at 5pm on Friday, 3 May T-QUAL Grants are an initiative to help tourism businesses boost visitation, by ensuring their products and experiences remain fresh and of a high standard. Grants from $15,000 - $100,000 (GST exclusive) will be offered on a matched funding basis and the 2013 Program Guidelines, application form, and explanatory material are now available at AGO appoints a Social Media Specialist Social media is increasingly becoming an essential communication tool for businesses to connect and engage with their customers and recently some members may have noticed increased activity across AGO s social media sites. This is a result of AGO appointing a social media specialist, Kate Hayes, to manage our social media pages which include Facebook, Twitter and Pintrest. Kate will devote 16 hours a week developing the sites and posting items of interest and increasing our likes. If you have an event, special deal or new product, perhaps send some details to Kate at digital@goldenoutback.com and she may be able to promote this on your behalf. To become a Facebook friend of Australia s Golden Outback just visit AGO undertakes Search Engine Optimisation Search Engine Optimisation or SEO is a process that makes website content more relevant to search engines. Early this year AGO engaged the services of a company to undertake a keyword search audit and they optimised the AGO website with a view to achieving higher rankings with the major search engines

8 Tourism WA s 1001 Extraordinary Experiences Campaign Tourism Western Australia s new 1001 Extraordinary Experiences, is an online campaign that will see Western Australians and fans of WA share their personal extraordinary experiences and pictures via a dedicated Facebook page By submitting your Extraordinary Experience, you'll go in the running to win 1 of 5 experiences in Western Australia, valued at $10,000 each. The best 1001 photographs will then be selected to create a short interactive online film. Can we strongly encourage all our stakeholders to be involved in the campaign by submitting their own Extraordinary Experiences and photos? To submit your own picture, visit but hurry as you only have until 28 March. New Experience Esperance Holiday Guide now available The new 2013 Experience Esperance Holiday Guide is now available. This 40 page brochure, produced by Tourism Esperance contains holiday information for Esperance, Eucla, Hopetoun, Munglinup, Norseman and Ravensthorpe, as well as information on walk trails and national parks in the area The Experience Esperance Holiday Guide is downloadable as an e-brochure from List your event for FREE on australiasgoldenoutback.com Don t forget, if you have a confirmed event for your town or region you can have it listed FREE on the homepage of To have your listing featured on the site simply visit and submit your event. For further information, please contact Shirley Tsao from Australia's Golden Outback on For further information on any of these articles, please contact Jac Eerbeek, ceo@goldenoutback.com or Shirley Tsao, marketing@goldenoutback.com Australia's Golden Outback is proudly supported by Tourism Western Australia