Rainbow Beach first again!

by Andrew Saunders, Destination Gympie Region

The Great Beach Drive was the first drive listed in a ‘Ten of the best Australian beach drives’ in Australian Traveller and syndicated across the Fairfax network, and the region has hosted more Instagram influencers and bloggers.

Some of the images posted have been fantastic. Everyone needs to keep working the social media and remember to tag #visitgympieregion.

Off the back of the successful ATE presence, DGR has been working with tourism partners and the New Zealand market and we are planning on attending a NZ roadshow with Visit Sunshine Coast.

The NZ market is very important to the whole region and the ease of access with flights coming directly into the Sunshine Coast Airport means this is a market we need to start getting more traction in.

Speaking of international exposure, Australia’s Nature Coast continues to be a very successful initiative for the region. A recent online promotion with Explorer Fernreisen in Germany had more interest than a similar campaign featuring the Great Barrier Reef.

The campaign also noted that due to recent international security issues and Queensland’s size, the role of the travel agent in selling the destination is very important.

DGR is also planning some collaborative marketing with Tourism Noosa and will leverage off their established trail network as well as their recent Country Drives campaign.

It is by establishing partnerships and working together that we will all benefit.

There is still work to do to position the region with regard to history and heritage, as well as indigenous storytelling. This is a work in progress and we are hopeful that some recent discussions will lead to more activity in this key area.