Tourism attractions and operators from across the Riverina will be showcased in a new tourism marketing campaign, featuring many of the Cootamundra electorate’s favourite attractions.
Co-funded by the NSW Government, Destination Riverina Murray and a number of local councils, the Go with the Flow campaign launched this week.
Member for Cootamundra Steph Cooke said the $250,000 NSW Government funding injection for the campaign, delivered through the Regional Tourism Fund, would help put the Riverina on the map for potential visitors.
“The Cootamundra electorate offers a real opportunity for escape for tourists. On the one hand, there’s the chance to be immersed in nature and blissful isolation, and on the other, embraced by the warm country hospitality that typifies our small towns and villages,” Ms Cooke said.
“This is a government which knows how valuable regional NSW is and works hard to promote it. I’m sure our metropolitan cousins will find this stunning call to the Riverina very hard to resist!”
The campaign aims at increasing awareness and promoting overnight travel, and is primarily targeted at a domestic audience of couples aged 45 to 65 years. It will appear across various platforms including social media, display ads and YouTube.
Local destinations, tourism attractions and operators like Kimo Estate, Junee Liquorice and Chocolate Factory, Temora Aviation Museum, Coolamon Cheese and many more local businesses listed on www.visitnsw.com, will benefit from the increased exposure as a result of the campaign activity.
Minister for Tourism and Major Events Adam Marshall said the campaign celebrates unique food, agritourism and nature based experiences on offer in the region and would be in market until late April 2019.
“The NSW Government is committed to supporting tourism in the Riverina because when people visit overnight, they stay in local accommodation, visit local attractions, buy from local shops and eat at local restaurants and cafes, putting more tourist dollars in the pockets of local businesspeople and creating more jobs,” Mr Marshall said.
In the year ending September 2018 Riverina received nearly 1.2 million domestic overnight visitors (up 16.1 per cent) who stayed over 2.9 million nights in the region (up 11.1 per cent) and spent $479 million (up 56.6 per cent).
The marketing campaign has been shared widely with local stakeholders and tourism representatives through a series of workshops where an industry toolkit was provided to assist businesses with how they can use the new Riverina branding and get the most out of the campaign.
