June 29, 2013
The South Burnett Wine Industry Association and the South Burnett Tourism Association will join forces in October for the second annual “South Burnett On Show” festival in a bid to lure more tourists to the region.
The promotion, which centres on the October Labour Day weekend (October 5 to 7), will showcase the region and provide a welcome pre-Christmas boost to local businesses and community groups.
The idea is modelled on the successful Heathcote On Show festival held in Victoria’s Heathcote wine region each year over the Queen’s Birthday long weekend.
“October is one of the last peak tourism months in our region,” SBWIA President Jason Kinsella said.
“Once the really warm weather kicks in around November our tourist numbers begin to drop away.
“But the new Labour Day long weekend is also the last public holiday before Christmas, and it comes right at the time many people really want to get away for a break and enjoy the great spring weather.
“So it’s a perfect opportunity for our region to wave the flag and bring tourists here before the Christmas-New Year period sets in.”
Last year the Wine Industry Association kicked off the event and had a very positive response to it.
This year the South Burnett Tourism Association has also embraced the concept.
“This is a very simple, low-cost promotion that’s very suitable for many tourism operators and community groups,” SBTA President Bernie Cooper said.
“Anyone who wants to be part of South Burnett On Show just has to agree to put on an event during the October long weekend and pay $25 to be registered as part of the official program.
“Restaurants might put on a special lunch or dinner; a winery might launch a new release; a hotel might have a live band; a P&C might run a cent auction… it really doesn’t matter what the event is.
“The important thing is to create a long weekend full of activities for visitors to enjoy so they can experience as many different things around the South Burnett as possible.”
The two groups will use the $25 registration fees to print up a promotional flyer listing the dates, times and locations of all the different events on offer.
The flyer will be distributed through Visitor Information Centres and as widely as possible.
The weekend’s events will also be listed on the Internet through high-traffic websites to help reach potential visitors on the Sunshine Coast and in Brisbane.
“Many promotions are very expensive to take part in and require businesses to go to a lot of trouble to arrange,” Mr Cooper said.
“What’s very appealing about this idea is that it’s inexpensive and many people can take part without doing anything all that much different from what they’d planned to do on the October long weekend anyway.
“But by doing it all together under one banner, we can leverage the marketing impact in a big way.
“It’s worked for Heathcote. It can work for the South Burnett, too.”
Registrations for South Burnett On Show can be made to SBWIA Secretary Paula Greenwood by email.
The deadline for event registrations is Wednesday, July 31.
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