August 7, 2018
The South Burnett Regional Council will consult on Wednesday with tourism operators about the recent release of its “Let’s Go South Burnett” tourist publication.
The 20-page newsprint magazine was released at Regional Flavours in Brisbane on July 21-22, and published as an insert in the Sunshine Coast Daily newspaper on July 26.
A second insertion is planned in the same newspaper on August 11.
On Tuesday, Council said it would seek feedback from tourism operators about the publication at its quarterly South Burnett Unpacked industry meeting, which will be held at the Wondai Diggers Club on Wednesday (August 8) between 10:00am and 3:00pm.
Tourism portfolio chair Cr Danita Potter said a workshop on “Let’s Go South Burnett” would be a valuable opportunity for Council to gain insight and feedback about the publication.
Cr Potter said “Let’s Go South Burnett” was part of the Council’s new destination marketing strategy, which began after the South Burnett Regional Council cut its long-standing ties with the Southern Queensland Country Regional Tourism Organisation (SQCT) last August.
At that time, the newly formed Visit South Burnett local tourism organisation proposed that Council use the $60,000 annual membership dues it had paid SQCT to fund four seasonal destination marketing campaigns. However, negotiations between Visit South Burnett and the Council fell apart in December 2017.
In March this year, Council adopted a three-page, three-year Economic Development Strategy proposed by Senior Economic Development Officer Craig Tunley.
This strategy had a goal of tripling regional tourism revenues from $84 million to $252 million a year by August 2020 as part of a total economic development goal for the region which also included creating 3000 jobs and registering 30 patents.
Council agreed to put $50,000 towards destination marketing in 2018.
Cr Potter said funds previously allocated to SQCT have now been channeled into three key destination marketing activities under the Discover South Burnett brand:
- A Discover South Burnett stand at the Sunshine Coast Caravan and Camping Show
- A three-month PR consultancy
- The “Let’s Go South Burnett” publication
Cr Potter said $54,510 had been expended from the SQCT funds.
“Let’s Go South Burnett” had the highest individual cost at $25,360.
“Since its release, ‘Let’s Go South Burnett’ has attracted a variety of comments and any further recommendations from the South Burnett Unpacked 4 Workshop will assist Council with future activities and campaigns,” she said.
Anyone who would like to attend South Burnett Unpacked 4 should RSVP by email to Stacey Perrett or Sarah Schloss for catering purposes.
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When you really care about doing a good job, you call for feedback before you spend $25,000.