Goldfields Tourism has been working closely with Tourism Victoria to rollout an exciting new brand campaign.  Three bold and eye catching print ads were produced and linked with a new line The Goldfields. Leave a little richer.  The Campaign is designed to showcase the diversity, depth and more contemporary offering of the Goldfields region. 

The campaign, being run in South Australia and southern NSW, including Canberra is designed to increase awareness of the region in these important interstate markets. 

The campaign comprises a range of activities including print, radio, online, PR and a competition.

Print adverts will run in a range of publications including Good Weekend, Adelaide Sunday Mail and the Canberra Times, plus an eight page insert in the Adelaide Magazine and a four page insert in the Canberra Times.  Online activity involves advertorials and electronic direct mailouts to targeted databases.

22 different operators are participating in the campaign, promoting their business and providing special deals for consumers.  The campaign running from mid-May until mid-July provides a strong combination of marketing activities to ensure maximum penetration of the Goldfields message into the interstate markets.

The entire campaign is being supported by a public relations campaign and a competition on visitgoldfields.com.au, Goldfields own consumer website.  The public relations campaign will be run in Adelaide and will focus on a competition managed via an additional radio campaign.  Consumers will have the chance to win a 3 day holiday to the Goldfields. 

Goldfields Tourism is eagerly awaiting the first round of results from this exciting new campaign.

Many of you would be aware of a fantastic natural asset running through our region – the Great Dividing Trail.  Goldfields Tourism in conjunction with the Great Dividing Trail Association and their mountainbiking sub-committee, Parks Victoria, Conservation Volunteers Australia and People and Parks Foundation have formed a project committee to rebrand and improve the section of the Trail that links Ballarat to Bendigo. 

To be known as the Goldfields Track, this exciting and very large project will deliver a significant natural asset for mountainbike riders and bushwalkers. 

The Track will deliver a “European” type experience for visitors, as many parts of the Track are in close proximity to towns and villages offering all the necessary supporting tourism needs such as accommodation, wining and dining.  Visitors can enjoy the magnificent bush setting but with the comfort and convenience of quality supporting tourism infrastructure close by.  The project will work through a number of activities including a recently completed research project to gauge current use and needs and extensive audit of Track infrastructure and upgrade needs (such as signage, bridges, accessibility etc).  Other activities will include a training program for indentified operators, Track upgrades and improvements and marketing campaign.

Goldfields Tourism is currently working closely with the online team at Tourism Victoria to develop an integrated eMap.

You may have seen similar types of travel planner maps on other tourism websites.  These maps assist visitors with planning their trip to a region.  The key difference with the Goldfields eMap is it will be built around overlays of experiences and provide a fully integrated marketing tool to communicate the depth and diversity of product available across the Goldfields region.  The map will provide an effective method for consumers to build their awareness of the region and at the same time plan a trip that will ensure they enjoy a holiday that best suits their own tastes.

The map will sit within www.visitgoldfields.com.au and will allow consumers to indicated their preferred experiences for a trip to the region –style of accommodation, galleries, artists, bookshops, walking tracks, wineries, retail, attractions, local produce and more.  Once a consumer has indicated their preferences a map will be displayed with icons indicating the location of their experiences. 

Supported by Tourism Victoria a journalist familiarisation visit took place in February this year.  The group of 6 journalists were hosted in the region by Tourism Victoria’s public relations unit and over 4 days visited numerous sites and operators in Heathcote, Bendigo, Maldon, Harcourt, Castlemaine, Maryborough, Talbot, Clunes and Ballarat. 

Everyone thoroughly enjoyed their trip in the region and to date a number of excellent stories have run as a result of this visit.  During March there was a “Day Tripper” feature in the Sunday Age M Magazine, a double page ran in the Border Mail and a one page story in Western Australia’s Sunday Times.  More recently a two page story ran in the May 13 edition of New Idea.

Journalist famils are not only a great way to showcase the region and the many benefits and offerings but also an effective method of delivering extended promotional campaigns.  From this one visit the Goldfields to date has benefited from stories in highly read publications over a 3 month period.

Read the stories published:

WA Sunday Times

Sunday Age M Magazine

For the latest details of forthcoming events in the Goldfields region please click on the following local government area links to access events calendars:

Questions or comments? Email us at Goldfields Tourism

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