👏 It's great to see MidCoast Council is a finalist in the NSW Tourism Association NSW Tourism Awards, yet again, for their Marketing Campaign 'Whatever It Takes' for their destination brand Barrington Coast.
🌟 DMS' strategic and creative approach, with partners Fred&Co Digital and Leonards Advertising, have led to this 3-year campaign building exceptional brand equity and loyalty. Also highlighting the cost efficiencies of a campaign with longevity as the focus.
Keeping our fingers crossed 🤞 The winner will be announced on Thursday 28th November at the 2024 NSW Tourism Gala.
#DMS #destinationmarketingstore #nswtourismawards #northcoastnsw #tourismawards #marketingawards #destinationmarketing #visitoreconomy #marketing #tourism #midcoastcouncil #barringtoncoast
Port Macquarie - City Nation Place Awards Finalist
Kicking off the week with incredible news! We’re thrilled to announce that we’ve been selected as a finalist in the City Nation Place 2024 for Best Communication Strategy - Tourism with our Where Time Does Wonders Destination Brand and Campaign for the Port Macquarie Region on behalf of Port Macquarie Hastings Council.
Being recognised in such prestigious global place branding awards is HUGE! For Greater Port Macquarie to stand alongside incredible destinations like Travel Alaska, GreeceVisit, Destination Vancouver, and our fellow Aussie benchmark Discover Tasmania is an achievement we’re immensely proud of.
The winners will be revealed at the City Nation Place Global Conference in London on Thursday, 7th November. Carl was already heading to the place branding Conference. Who knows, he might be bringing an award home with him 🤞
A huge shoutout to our amazing partners who helped make this campaign and brand a reality – Swell Design Group, Fred&Co Digital, and Leonards Advertising.
#destinationmarketingstore #DMS #citynationplace #portmacquarie #WhereTimeDoesWonders #tourismmarketing #destinationbranding
'It's always exciting to hear from businesses, CEO's and business owners who are setting the trends, not just talking about them'. Charlotte wrapping up an insightful two days at Skift Global Forum in New York.
#DMS #skift #skiftnews #destinationmarketingstore #destinationmarketing #visitoreconomy #marketing #tourism
Port Macquarie - Where Time Does Wonders
Port Macquarie Hastings Council in partnership with DMS, Fred&Co Digital and Leonards Advertising recently launched the winter destination brand campaign Where Time Does Wonders.
Early results are exceptional. But this is no fluke. This is the tale of 3-years of collaborative work, building a new destination brand, taking industry along for the journey and creating a campaign strategy aimed at delivering results.
No sugar-hit. No short term mindset. This is about a destination brand that stands tall in a sea of sameness and one that will continue to deliver outcomes for the region for many years.
Let us know you what you think.
BLOG: Where Time Does Wonders - A Strategic Approach to Destination Branding
https://bit.ly/4aURYjD
Follow our work with Port Macquarie.
Facebook: Greater Port Macquarie
Instagram: instagram.com/portmacquarie/
TikTok: tiktok.com/@port_macquarie
#portmacquarie #wheretimedoeswonders #DMS #destinationmarketingstore #destinationmarketing #visitoreconomy #marketing #tourism
📢 Update: A limited number of seats have just become available for our unique networking experience Table for 20.
📅 When: Tue, 9 Apr 2024, 12.30pm - 3.30pm
📍 AEONA - Board Room Level 3, 1-9 Buckingham St, Surry Hills NSW
🎫 bit.ly/tablefor20
Have you ever been asked who you’d invite to the ultimate dinner party? It’s this philosophy that inspired us to create a Table for 20.
Due to some last minute cancellations there is a few spots left at our table and we are opening the invitation to our valued clients and colleagues to join us for an informative lunch to share some practical insights to inspire your work.
This time we will be joined by National Strategy Director from ACM, Jorge Maraima as he shares some of the findings from the ACM Heartbeat of Australia research study developed in partnership with University of Canberra.
With the housing priority reshaping regional Australia and its communities, it’s a crucial time to be sparking conversations on this topic. We will also be discussing living in an era where immersive and transformative experiences are paramount in a traveller's decision-making, and how communities play a vital role in inspiring, engaging, and shaping positive visitor experiences.
Why does this matter?
◾️ The VFR (Visiting Friends and Relatives) market thrives on a healthy, happy local community advocating for their hometowns, driving visitation.
◾️ Local government's ability to engage residents, build trust, inspire, and foster civic pride is critical.
Curious about Australian sentiment and community connection? Join us! Book your tickets now to this special event - https://bit.ly/tablefor20
Tickets close at 5 pm Monday 1 April 2024.
#DMS #networking #destinationmarketingstore #destinationmarketing #visitoreconomy #marketing #tourism
BEN 🗣 As well as giving me a chuckle, this clip reminded me of the sea of sameness we see in destination marketing. Like the flyers adorning New York Street walls and light polls, destination marketing is often lost in a sea of sameness. ‘Look at our pristine beaches’. ‘Have you heard about our food scene?’. ‘We have the friendliest locals’. We’ve all heard it, and we all ignore it. Or we don’t believe it because we’ve heard it before.
If only it was as easy as our masked graphic designer makes it look, with some font changes and pretty graphics to stand out from the crowd.
What makes a destination stand out is having a clear focus on their aspirational target market and ideal visitor. It’s finding an emotional territory and a positioning to resonate with this visitor, inspiring an emotional connection. It’s playing the long-game and building your destination brand over time instead of sugar-hit, instant gratification marketing. It’s about adopting a customer-centric approach and taking a walk in the shoes of your visitor.
The sea of sameness seems to be rising. Luckily, DMS can throw you a life-ring 🛟
Now who’s up for a game of Catan?
#DMS #destinationmarketingstore #destinationmarketing #visitoreconomy #marketing #tourism
📷 TikTok/cool_lookin_bug
Queensland's Sunshine Pantry
Welcome to Queensland’s Sunshine Pantry, a celebration of the Sunshine Coast's diverse and vibrant agritourism and culinary scene.
We teamed up with our good friends at Converge Marketing and Fred&Co Advertising and Web Design to deliver an Integrated Marketing and Industry Development Agritourism Program and unified brand for Visit Sunshine Coast and the Food Agribusiness Network FAN. The project is about taking a collaborative regional approach to the development of agritourism. Bringing together industry, Local Government and destination marketing, through a framework that aligns industry appetite for agritourism, provenance and identity and combining them with existing initiatives and campaigns.
Successful agritourism regions have a combination of agricultural diversity, accessibility, infrastructure, collaborative marketing, community involvement, and education that provide visitors with an authentic and memorable experience. Visit Sunshine Coast is delivering on this promise, benefiting not only its visitors but the regions producers and makers.
#DMS #destinationmarketingstore #destinationmarketing #visitoreconomy #marketing #tourism #agritourism #QLDSunshinePantry
City Nation Place Global - London
I’m back on home soil after a whirlwind journey to London for the City Nation Place Global conference. Despite the fatigue, I'm energised by a blend of caffeine and invigorating thoughts, concepts and insights. I’m glad I recorded this brief clip following one of the sessions to preserve a few of the insights, but this is merely a glimpse of the valuable ideas I've noted. I can’t wait to share these precious insights from what has been one of the most enlightening conferences I've attended. But first, coffee! ☕
Enjoy,
Charlotte
Finch Hatton MTB - Channel 7 Mackay
What a cracking good way to start the week, launching our new brand, FinchHattonMTB for the world-class, purpose-built mountain bike trails in Visit Mackay Isaac, Queensland, Australia 🚵♀️
Hats off and helmets on to an awesome client, Mackay Regional Council, and a truly welcoming and supportive community – from proactive and forward-thinking Councillors to a dedicated and hard-working project team, and local businesses who are already gearing up to harness the potential of ‘living the freedom of spirited adventure with a tropical vibe.’
A special shout out to our top-shelf partner in crime Swell Design Group, and the ever-enthusiastic, best-in-class trail creator, Glen J. and his amazing team at World Trail.
Saddle up. It’s time to ride FinchHattonMTB.
🖊 Carl
#FinchHattonMTB #FHMTB #DestinationMarketingStore #SwellDesignGroup #MackayRegionalCouncil #WorldTrail #MackayIssacTourism #Mackay #branding
Agritourism Forum - Liverpool Plains
It was my great pleasure to speak at yesterday’s Agritourism Forum at the spectacular Springfield Woolshed on the Liverpool Plains, hosted by Destination Country and Outback NSW (DNCO) and The Plains Inc.
An outstanding day spent with leaders of the industry talking about how to capture the growing demand for agritourism experiences. And so good to see so many seriously smart women taking the lead! A real stand out was Tania Hartigan of Art Shack at Wilgabah , Gamilaraay woman, artist, and a humble yet inspiring leader in agritourism, who talked about overcoming challenges to create remarkable experiences and sharing cracking good stories with her guests. No wonder they keep coming back for more!
A huge thanks to Lucy White at Destination Country and Outback NSW and Clare Lee and the team at The Plains for a truly memorable day.
#destinationmarketingstore #agritourism #destinationcountryoutbackNSW #ThePlains #springfieldwoolshed #artshackwilgabah
🎥 NBN News: Liverpool Plains hosts agritourism forum
We were lucky enough to spend an amazing three days in Hello Manly for the Local Government NSW Destination and Visitor Economy Conference hosted by the incredible Northern Beaches Council. We had a blast catching up with clients, both familiar faces and fresh connections, from all over the state and enjoyed some mind-blowing speakers that left us buzzing with inspiration.
A big congrats must go to City of Newcastle, Berry, South Coast NSW, and Visit Huskisson for clinching the coveted Top Tourism Town awards 👏👏👏
We were also there on a mission to spread the word about the Visiting Friends and Relatives (VFR) market and our groundbreaking solution, ComeVisit! It’s time to unleash the true power of destination residents as the ultimate VFR marketing force. Just ask Barrington Coast about their jaw-dropping results using our platform. Brace yourselves, because we’re about to launch in not one, but two new destinations. Stay tuned.
If you’re dying to know more about supercharging your VFR growth with ComeVisit!, don’t hesitate to hit us up.
#DMS #destinationmarketingstore #ComeVisit #VFR #visitingfriendsandrelatives #destinationmarketing #visitoreconomy #marketing #tourism
Is your destination ready to unlock the potential of the pet travel trend? As the demand for pet-friendly experiences soars, it’s time to cater to the needs of pet-loving travellers.
A whopping 78% of hotels in the United States are pet-friendly with Americans spending over $1.1 billion on pet travel expenses in 2020. While the numbers are less in Australia, they are certainly trending up. This reflects the importance of catering to this market segment and the incredible potential it holds.
It’s not just pet-friendly accommodation. Cafe menus dedicated to pets, pet specific events, walking services, dedicated playgroups and areas all create a welcoming environment that makes your destination a preferred choice for pet-loving travellers.
So when those product development opportunities arise, take a moment to “paws” and consider the rising travel segment of pet lovers 🐾
📍@dogppl - LA’s first canine social club. DOG PPL is a park, café, bar and lounge, all in one.
#DMS #destinationmarketingstore #destinationmarketing #visitoreconomy #marketing #tourism #petfriendly #dogsonholidays
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