April 30, 2020
A proposed marketing plan to encourage more tourists to visit the South Burnett has been shelved due to COVID-19.
The 2020 Marketing Plan was developed by the Council’s Economic Development department, the South Burnett Tourism Advisory Committee and Councillors late last year.
A draft copy was presented to tourist operators at a Regional Tourism Information night held at Wooroolin Hall in December, before being circulated to industry operators for comment.
The plan aimed to achieve a 3 per cent lift in annual tourism expenditure by exhibiting at four Queensland caravanning and camping expos, hosting a “famil” for journalists to generate news coverage about the region, and running some seasonal marketing campaigns.
Importantly, a large part of the plan aimed to capitalise on regional events.
However, nearly all of these have now been cancelled due to COVID-19 restrictions.
At Wednesday’s council meeting, Cr Kirstie Schumacher said she had been having discussions with the Tourism Advisory Committee this week about the impact COVID-19 restrictions were having on the region’s tourism operators.
There had also been talk about the opportunities that might arise once social distancing guidelines were relaxed.
In light of these recent developments, she recommended the report be received by council, but set aside for future review.
Councillors agreed.
- External link: South Burnett 2020 Marketing Plan (371kb PDF)
