Marketing
Marketing is one of the pillars of effective destination management and a significant activity for Bathurst Region Tourism. We work closely with Destination Network Central West, Destination NSW and industry to create cooperative marketing contributions and integrated promotional activities that will achieve maximum exposure and return on investment. At a more localised level the tourism staff based at the Bathurst Visitor Information Centre work with industry groups to promote market-led, place-based, niche experiences.
Our three-year Marketing Plan outlines a number of initiatives intended to activate the Bathurst Region Brand and develop a coherent messaging and asset base.
Research was commissioned by Bathurst Regional Council in 2016 (MyTravelResearch) which found that existing visitor information showed a domestic lifestyle segmentation weighting towards the Wanderers (couple typically aged 54+ seeking primarily observational experiences) and compatriots (family travellers seeking relaxation and with the experience of children a priority). Geographically Sydney and the Central West of NSW were identified as the key visitor catchments and as the focus for future marketing. Further to this the research noted the professional DINKs (Double Income No Kids) as being especially important to the short breaks market.
Bathurst Region Tourism has identified a Unique Selling Proposition (USP) for the Bathurst Region is its strength in providing compelling experiences for the short break families market, and much effort has been concentrated in this area particularly since the winding down of all COVID restrictions.
Bathurst Destination Brand
A brand is a holistic picture of a destination and includes strategy, messaging, content, storytelling, customer service, visitor and resident experience. Its combination of elements forms a destination’s sense of place. To successfully market the destination, the tourism experiences within the region must be applied to the most relevant brand messaging.
In 2017, a Bathurst region destination brand was developed in response to priorities outlined in the 2015 Destination Management Plan. The purpose of this is to develop a brand identity that more effectively captures, conveys and embeds the Bathurst experience in the mind of the customer. There is also a need to reach a broader consumer base without undermining the current strengths of the existing consumers. The brand creates a persona for the region, that of ‘The Creator’ and offers the invitation to consumers to “Step Beyond”, reflecting that Bathurst has always fostered innovation and creativity in a wonderfully rich heritage context.
The new brand strategy provides the platform to develop consistent and motivating messages which will drive destination development. The aim is to encourage visitors to increase their number of visits, stay longer, spend more money and influence others to do the same. This in turn will attract investment and stimulate the economy, providing broad reaching economic benefits across the entire region.
Public Relations Activity
Bathurst Region Tourism works with a number of specialist Public Relations Agencies in addition to in-house work to generate media placements and encourage travel writers and journalists to visit Bathurst. This work has included pop-up activations and media events in Sydney and the highly successful media boxes sent to journalists and influencers in 2021/22.
Public Relations is a long term proposition that requires constant engagement to generate increasing results. The work of Bathurst Region Tourism since 2018 is evident in the number of media placements and attraction of major media such as the live broadcasts of Weekend Sunrise, which which have an estimated equivalent advertising value (EAV) of $1.066M. Weekend Sunrise have chosen Bathurst five times to broadcast over the past 36 months which is a remarkable achievement.
Public Relations activity is currently focused upon campaigns supporting major events including the Archie 100 exhibition at BRAG and on generating activity in the locals and ‘Visiting Friends and Relatives’ (VFR) market through the ‘BX Marks the Spot campaign’. Additional PR around the Bathurst Heritage Trades Trail has also commenced.
Past Campaigns
Bathurst Region Tourism is most recent past campaign was “BX Marks the Spot” campaign, designed primarily for the local and VFR markets. The campaign’s objectives were to:
• Encourage local pride for the Bathurst Region.
• Showcase the Bathurst region offering for locals
• Encourage locals to ‘discover your own backyard’
• Encourage buy local spend and culture
• Promote Bathurst to VFRs
• Create user generated content
• Empower local businesses to leverage the campaign with campaign media kit.
Digital Marketing Channels
Bathurst Region Tourism is responsible for marketing the destination through dedicated digital channels.
The primary call to action is the destination website bathurstregion.com.au which had 371,210 pageviews between 1 July 2021 and 30 June 2022. This includes 141,152 NEW Users of the site. The site is continually updated and enhanced by the tourism team.
The official destination Facebook Page of @VisitBathurstNSW has grown by 9.5% YTD to have 17,494 fans and has achieved 2,134,224 Impressions and 94,436 engagements in the same period.
The hugely popular and influential Instagram platform is represented for the Destination by @visitbathurst has grown by 15.5% since 1 July 2022 to have 5,618 followers
These are tools used in all campaign marketing as well as to promote the regional events calendar and all tourism partners. Any content for these sites is welcome and should be sent to the team at BVIC.
