Tourism Australia’s new Holiday Here This Year campaign encourages Australians to support tourism operators and communities around the country by booking and planning a domestic holiday. The campaign supports business owners by raising awareness, offering travel incentives and creating buzz around the idea of holidaying at home.
What is Holiday Here This Year?
Perhaps no other industry has been hit as hard by the COVID-19 pandemic as tourism. Many Australian regions are heavily dependent on tourism, and the lack of international visitors has wide ranging effects. It isn’t just the hotels, airlines and tour operators who are feeling the pinch. Cafes, retailers and other service providers are also affected.
Australia has done an amazing job of containing the pandemic within our borders. However, the government has signaled that those borders will remain shut for some time to come. This means that the Australian tourism industry can’t rely on international visitors any time soon.
Enter domestic tourism. The flip side of the border closure is that Australians can’t holiday overseas. The Holiday Here This Year campaign, therefore, encourages us all to look local and help our own tourism industry. Featuring personalities Hamish Blake and Zoe Foster-Blake, the campaign highlights the incredible opportunities here in Australia.
The campaign is rolling out over several stages. These include half-off fares to particular destinations, with marketing assets to support the push. The latest iteration, introduced in March, is the City Escapes campaign. It’s supported by partners including Qantas, Mastercard and Ticketek.
How individuals can get involved
Tourism Australia wants as many people as possible booking domestic holidays. As part of the campaign, the Australian Government is partnering with airlines to create the Tourism Aviation Network Support (TANS) program.
The TANS program offers half-price fares to selected destinations between 1 April and 31 July 2021 or until sold out. The focus is on regions which are heavily dependent on tourism and/or heavily affected by the COVID-19 lockdowns: for example, Kangaroo Island in South Australia and the Whitsundays in Queensland.
Tourism Australia is also partnering with Helloworld and Flight Centre to promote holiday packages. If you’re planning to get away, it’s worth having a chat with a travel agent to see what specials are out there.
How businesses can get involved
If your business services the tourism industry, you can access the Holiday Here This Year toolkit at the official Tourism Australia webpage. This gives you access to campaign logos, slogans and imagery to try and raise awareness.
Tourism Australia also recommends posting on your social media channels and aligning internal marketing activity with the campaign goals.
You can also help allay any fears about COVID-19 by:
1. Making your COVID-safe policies transparent and easily accessible.
2. Allowing flexible booking procedures, so that anyone who is feeling unwell or has been in a recently-declared hot spot can rebook with minimal penalty.
3. Ensuring that your approach complies with the latest COVID-19 health advice and any government directives.
For more information on Holiday Here This Year, check the official website at Tourism Australia.