Tourism and Events Queensland says that with the school holidays complete, planning for the ‘next holiday’ begins in earnest and TEQ’s marketing team is in full swing to convert that dreaming and planning into booking, which is great news but I think are a couple of elements missing.
It is great that TEQ is undertaking domestic campaigns as they must have a fair amount of cash in the international budget that can be use, but the school holidays finished well over week ago, with from local anecdotal experience bookings and stays appear to have nosedived and right now so I suppose the question is why wasn’t this campaign in place a log time ago to even out the very well-known to the industry traditional February and March slump, with some operators saying business is dead and 50% down on last February even!
Another factor here on the Sunshine Coast appears to be that while most operators are backing driving domestic tourism, there also appears to have been a level of reputation damaging what one might call taking advantage, rorting or gouging going on over the Christmas and New Year period, with for example a quoted $1,000 a night for a room in a middle of the road 4* hotel in Noosa and $9,000 for an apartment for a week!
Plus when borders were opening and closing some operators refusing to give refunds – all anecdotal I know but potential customer listen to anecdotes and make decisions based on anecdotes, so those unprofessional operators need a talking to as they are damaging their businesses and the industry as a whole!
In the meantime TEQ is two undertaking [in my opinion rather late[ what they describe as a major burst of marketing activity, which they say is already under way in New South Wales and Victoria and that there’s also plenty more planned for intrastate travellers, as well as a showcase of events and significant retail partnership campaigns locked in through until June 2021, which is great news, but getting the product right and operators to behave professionally is key too!
They also say that despite intense competition from other states and destinations vying for the domestic market, as well as volatile consumer sentiment, TEQ has a clear plan to market Queensland over the next six months and attract visitation right across the state, which is also great news but again getting the product right and operators to behave professionally is key too!
Very conveniently to understand their key target markets, the creative approach they’ll use and the opportunities they’ll tap in to, TEQ has created an overview and to see the strategy in a simple one-pager CLICK HERE and also they have created short video clip with TEQ’s Group Executive Marketing, Michael Branagh, explaining their strategy and to view that CLICK HERE, with TEQ commenting that the strategy remains fluid and flexible pending health restrictions and market conditions.
So, Go Queensland but let’s all get our act together like I accept, most operators are with the words rotten apple coming to mind!
A report by John Alwyn-Jones
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