Penrith City Council has launched a campaign to position the area as an exciting adventure capital.
Sitting on the outskirts of Sydney and at the foot of the Blue Mountains, Penrith is a bustling city brimming with natural beauty. Despite this, it can be overlooked by tourists – but not for much longer.
The launch of a new tourism website www.visitpenrith.com.au and an awareness campaign by Penrith City Council heralds a new era of marketing the city as a visitor destination and the Adventure Capital of New South Wales.
The website outlines the different types of adventures people can have in Penrith, as well as the places to stay and eat.
Penrith Mayor Councillor Karen McKeown said the site has been designed to deliver a personalised experience.
“It invites people to choose what sort of adventure they’re after or what location they want to visit and then provides tailored activities, events and attractions to them.
“The website also connects to new Visit Penrith Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube sites, encouraging visitors to upload their own photos or videos, post comments and share their adventures using the hashtag #visitpenrith.”
The closure of Penrith’s Visitor Information Centre in mid-2014 provided the catalyst for the move into digital marketing.
“We can’t just wait for people to come and visit us, we need to get to people when they are researching or planning their trip online,” Cr McKeown said.
A suite of new marketing materials, including a new Visitor Guide and several brochures are available at tourism operators and at the library.
Penrith City Council has also purchased the first of five mobile information kiosks, which provide access to the website at high-traffic locations and at major events around the city.
A three-month awareness campaign is running from September to November and aims to connect people to the different adventure experiences in Penrith.
This new way of marketing and promoting the city was identified in Penrith’s Destination Management Plan (DMP) as an opportunity to significantly boost the number of visitors to the area.
Penrith currently attracts 1.3 million visitors a year; 78 percent of this figure is made up of people visiting family and friends, or attending events.
Penrith City Council would like to see this figure double by 2025, the same year Sydney’s second airport at Badgerys Creek is scheduled to open.
Cr McKeown said the DMP aims to ensure the local visitor economy continues to grow and thrive over the next ten years, and importantly, is also a key requirement for accessing future investment from the State and Federal Government.
