Nelson will be the next target for Destination Manawatu as it launches a new campaign to encourage travel to the region. The campaign was launched on October 3 to support Originair's services between Nelson and Palmerston North, with the hopes of luring visitors from the top of the South Island to Manawatu. Destination Manawatu chief executive Lance Bickford said there would be a focus on the weekend of November 20-22. "That weekend we will have Big Boys Toys here, in what is their first [event] outside of Auckland. "More than that though, there is also Cross Hills Garden's Country Fair, Centrepoint's new show Boys at the Beach, speedway and Te Manawa's Dust Devils exhibition. "We have so much going on in our region, people just need to know about it." The campaign was described as "multimedia", largely advertised through social media. It would be based around giving people the chance to win a weekend for two to Palmerston North City and Manawatu, including flights with Originair , accommodation, rental car and double passes to the main events. They simply needed to sign up to Destination Manawatu's online newsletter, which would then be used to further inform Nelson/Marlborough residents of upcoming events that would be of interest to them. A marketer from Destination Manawatu would also be in Nelson dropping campaign material, including the latest issue of The Page magazine. The Page was Originair's inflight magazine, which included Manawatu content and would be used to further boost Manawatu's presence to the top of the South Island. A travel editor from Wild Tomato, a popular Nelson publication, would also be hosted in Palmerston North. Bickford said Nelson and Marlborough were a great region to focus the campaign on. "With a catchment of more than 250,000 people, [it] is a good market for us, with many people having friends and relatives in Manawatu. "We want to work with Originair , the first of our two new carriers flying into Palmerston North, and our partners in Nelson, to ensure that this route is sustainable into the future. "Increasing the visiting friends and relatives from these regions will have a strong impact on retail and event spending by visitors. "We want to further support the significant tourism opportunities our region is experiencing, and encourage more people to utilise these air services for their weekend adventures here." Originair touched down into Palmerston North on August 12, with Jetstar also announcing in August it would be adding Palmerston North to its regional routes starting from February 2016.
Glad Vision Manawatu is making a good go of this - if it works it will ultimately be great for the region as well as the airline.
ReplyDeleteAlso nice that they didn't fall back on talking up the Rugby Museum as Palmy's main drawcard (though ironically now would seem the best time to be promoting it!)