“Holiday Here this Year” – how to optimise, by looking through the eyes of the traveller
Yesterday saw the launch of Tourism’s Australia’s revival of the Holiday Here This Year campaign for tourists. Concurrently, the delivery of the Luxperience virtual event this week, sees the tourism industry cross into new virtual borders, becoming familiar with Tourism Australia’s new online resources.Ppanelists Robin Mack, Executive General Manager Commercial at Tourism Australia; Andrew Waddel, General Manager – Australia, Tourism New Zealand, and Quentin Long, Co-founder, Australian Traveller Media showcased the new campaign. Statistics mentioned in the panel sessions were impressive, with $80 billion being spent on domestic consumer spend annually. Whilst international borders remain closed, this figure will grow, to support domestic tourism. So how can tour operators optimise their offerings fully, alongside these resources?
- Think like an international traveller:
Tap into that desire for escapism the FIT (Family and Independent Traveller) and HVT (High Value Traveller) sector normally book their international travel for. Australian has a huge expanse, and stunning scenery changes with different personas in each region – tap into this – and promote what your region can give within an escapism realm. The emotion of escapism is one of the main four advertising realms of the Experience Economy, which will be covered in an upcoming ART article.
Robin Mack explained the goal of “The Holiday Here This Year” campaign is to inspire Australians to holiday again, and to travel as an international traveller would. “Australia has so many luxuries on offer and now is the time to tick off that ‘bucket list’ holiday”.
TA Managing Director Phillipa Harrison, explains in a Mumbrella industry article, this campaign is the first of a series that will be implemented over the coming months to continue to drive as much domestic demand as possible, particularly to those regions and operators that are typically popular with international visitors. “Our goal is to try and get Australians travelling differently by using the Holiday Here This Year campaign platform to urge them to start ticking off their holiday bucket list or heading interstate for a trip of a lifetime, and in turn provide a much need boost especially to those areas most affected by the bushfires and COVID-19.”
- Be Industry ready – for the new traveller
Travellers benefit from a combination of novelty (holidays away from home offer this) and security. People are going to be more safety conscious in the Covid era. They are likely to be more anxious about general health and mental wellbeing, and of being around other people in general, not just concerns around infection. As Robin and Andrew highlighted, it’s essential for the industry and travel advisors to really understand what the consumer wants and what they expect in the new normal.
A good idea is to ask a colleague or friend to be a ‘mystery shopper’ at your own business: from the first point of online contact, through to arriving and the service – what messaging is there to aid expectations, and to make the visitor feel comfortable with this new way of travel.
- Continue to be COVID-Safe
As travellers start stepping out their front doors, there’s still sensitivity around hygiene practices and social distancing. Be proud to show your responsible continuation with a COVID-safe plan and badge. This will also help as venue-finders, business events and DMO’s etc start referring business back to your region – they’ll only promote businesses who are COVID-safe.
Communicate with travellers prior to arrival on what they should expect, and reduce the risk of the unknown. Make it very visible and clear what steps are taken to reduce Covid-related risks, and spelling out any other measures that are taken to manage health risk will be reassuring to people.
4. Use all online resources available to tourism businesses, and be informed with what travellers use online
Alongside the ATDW database available for all tourism businesses, Tourism Australia has just gone live with an online portal, giving travellers advice on current COVID-19 restrictions related to the various locations across the country.
https://www.australia.com/en/facts-and-planning/useful-tips/coronavirus-travel-safety.html
5. Keep up to date with the coverage of the Holiday Here This Year campaign,
With the intent to attract a new type of traveller, keep in mind these 5 insights and resources available to tourism businesses. The Tourism Australia action plan has a multi-channel approach through industry and content partnerships, combined with content across all of Tourism Australia’s social media and digital channels. Dependant on local health advice, changing restrictions, and border movements, the campaign will be implemented differently in each state over the coming months. Alongside these, create and implement your own rolling strategy to promote your welcoming, safe tourism product and service to the new type of traveller.
Katrina Denoux is one of the Ambassadors for Australian Regional Tourism; a tourism practitioner with her own tourism business based in Europe and Australia, as well as a registered health practitioner. She specialises in wellness tourism, agri-tourism, academic insights; and is a post-graduate lecturer and speaker.
References:
https://www.australia.com/en/travel-inspiration/holiday-here-this-year.html
https://www.australia.com/en/facts-and-planning/useful-tips/coronavirus-travel-safety.html
https://www.instagram.com/hamishblakeshotz/?hl=en
Tourism Australia revives ‘Holiday Here This Year’ campaign with Hamish Blake and Zoe Foster-Blake