Destination Gippsland is working with East Gippsland Shire Council and East Gippsland Marketing to develop and implement a tourism marketing campaign targeting Melbourne and interstate audiences to encourage people to holiday and spend in East Gippsland.

This is part of a broader effort supported by the Federal Government to help drought affected communities.

The campaign targets key visitor audiences that are known to love what East Gippsland has to offer, including travelling over-55s, families, adventurous outdoor enthusiasts and anyone who appreciates good food and wine.

The campaign will run until June 2020 and will encompass a wide range of media and activity to encourage maximum visitation to East Gippsland. Some examples include:

• Extensive feature articles, advertisements, direct email and social media coverage across several issues of print and digital publications catering to families, retirees and outdoor enthusiasts.
• A concurrent public relations campaign, which includes a media familiarisation tour of East Gippsland for key Melbourne print and digital publications and a broader program of pitching content to media contacts.
• Out of Home advertising on Metro trains.

“This is a great campaign and I hope East Gippsland businesses support it and use it as leverage to build their profile to metropolitan and interstate audiences,” East Gippsland Shire Council mayor, Cr Natalie O’ Connell, said.

“East Gippsland has all different types of experiences for all different types of visitors.

“Our visitor numbers are increasing and this campaign can only add to the work being done to promote our region as a great place to explore no matter what the season.

“I am looking forward to seeing increased visitation and tourism spend because of this campaign.”

East Gippsland Marketing, marketing manager, Hayley Hardy, said. Her organisation has worked hard with Destination Gippsland and East Gippsland Shire to come up with a plan that has far-reaching and long-term, positive outcomes for drought-affected communities.

“We look forward to welcoming visitors to our beautiful patch of the world,” she said.

East Gippsland experienced a 5.7 per cent increase in visitor numbers and an impressive 22.3 per cent increase in visitor nights in the most recent International Visitor Survey and National Visitor Survey statistics, year ending March 2019.

This campaign aims to enhance this growth and increase dispersal in the area by improving awareness of the wide variety of experiences on offer in East Gippsland.

How can East Gippsland businesses get involved?

East Gippsland businesses can maximise their exposure and support this campaign:

• Tourism-related businesses should register on the Australian Tourism Data Warehouse website. This will ensure that both Destination Gippsland and Visit Victoria can feature your businesses and provide you with opportunities as they arise.
• If a business has a special offer relevant to the campaign, now is the time to tell everyone about it. Use the hashtags when putting on social media.
• Think of some of East Gippsland’ s fantastic places to explore in your caravan, on foot, and with kids, and share them on your social media pages using the hashtags #loveeastgippsland #visitgippsland and #yourhappyspace and tag @loveeastgippsland,@visitgippsland and @visitmelbourne. This will let people find you more easily.