Keep on Camping initiative supporting Australia’s regional tourism
The ‘Keep on Camping’ initiative is a dedicated digital marketing platform designed to put consumers back in parks and in affected communities without delay.
The ‘Keep on Camping’ marketing initiative is designed ultimately as a consumer platform that is adapted to ensure our industry in disaster affected areas have a strategy which can be adapted and rolled out to ensure that campers return. This will ensure the caravan parks and other affected businesses can be supported by their State Association and national industry body without delay.
As an emergency affected area moves through its message cycle of 1. We are affected, 2. We are preparing to reopen and 3 finally we are open for business, the digital platform will quickly adapt. The ‘Re-Open’ for business stage is critical. This will include camping road trip drive itineraries, demographic targeted campaigns e.g. family market during school holidays, grey nomad off-peak, weekend cabin getaways, lifestyle themed collateral such as surfing, fishing, hill walking, dog friendly, calendar of events, destination focuses and calls to action (bookings). This will be supported by broader marketing and communication activities, which will be formed in due cause as part of the Help a Mate Campaign.
The aims of the initiative are:
- To get campers back in affected area
- To ensure the sustainability of the area, with messaging and media designed to encourage repeat visitation over an extended period e.g. school holidays, key holidays, weekend escapes, itinerary and lifestyle focused ‘calls to action’
- Provide PR assets for media related stimulation activity
- A permanent Consumer Marketing platform designed to support disaster affected without delay
The website has two separate phases that it will evolve through. In the first phase, the website acts as an informational website focused on providing consumers on the operating status of caravan parks within areas impacted by disaster and in the second phase evolves into a ‘call to action’ to consumers to return and repopulate these caravan parks and tourist-based communities.
If you would like to be involved, this is what we need from you:
- Take photos of your park – showing people there and enjoying their stay; even if there are no visitors in your park as yet, but everything looks great and you are ready for them,
- Take photos to show your surrounding areas – what’s still there and how it looks
- More photos of any local key attractions that are open, such as local restaurants, shops, coffee shops and bakeries – all the things that people will want to experience when they come and stay with you
- And then POST all these up with a note saying – “this is us at XYZ park as of today (date) – we are ready and waiting to welcome you”.
- Tag the post with the #keeponcamping tag and @LetsGoCaravanCamping Facebook page (following over 163,000) so that we can capture and reuse this content in our channels to consumers, and other campaigns such as the national association #helpamate
This initiative continues to evolve and will be guided by the industry and communities impacted. It is evident that with the increase in natural disasters occurring throughout the country, there is a need for a call to action and information website/initiative that can be enabled in times of crisis. The Keep on Camping initiative will be this platform; long after the communities currently impacted by fire have recovered, the platform can be enabled across the country in time of need.
This initiative could not have been achieved without the incredible support of our State Associations and industry businesses currently impacted.
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