When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, City of Armadale, Western Australia, had to act quickly to support its local tourism industry.
With a hard border around the state, the City’s Economic Development and Tourism Team tailored their marketing efforts to encourage Western Australians to rediscover their own backyard and view the Armadale region as a day-trip and weekend destination.
The Team worked collaboratively with the Perth Hills Tourism Alliance and Destination Perth to capture a wider audience and market share. They took a multi-pronged approach to develop new materials and platforms to target audiences.
The Team refocused and relaunched the Perth Hills Armadale Regional Guide to showcase local attractions and businesses, offering free advertising to 29 enterprises as part of COVID-19 business relief.
Exciting and engaging content formed the basis for six tourism videos to profile the best of Armadale’s attractions from walks and trails, the vibrant arts community, to wellness and food experiences. Content produced by Evergreen for the tourism videos shored up their value for future paid digital, social, and online campaigns.
During spring, a four month marketing campaign ran to highlight key events and experiences targeting both intrastate visitors and locals to encourage them to rediscover their own backyard.
A television segment, produced in collaboration with Destination WA, profiled each hills area and their unique selling points with the segment airing on Channel 9, 9 Life, 9 HD, and 9 Now.
The Team also worked with Tourism WA, to develop ‘Darling Days Out’, a self-guided dining and attraction trail, promoting places and local businesses in the region.
Mayor, Ruth Butterfield, said, “The team has done incredible work to promote our region as a weekend and day-trip destination.
“And it’s great to see some of the exciting initiatives they have developed. In collaboration with the Perth Hills Tourism Alliance, the team will soon be running a social media competition where people will have the chance to win a weekend stay in the Perth Hills.
“We’ll also be running an ‘instameet’ where Perth’s top bloggers will be invited to experience a day in the Perth Hills, providing them with opportunities to promote content and grow the social following for the ‘Experience Perth Hills’ brand.”
“The pandemic has certainly given us many challenges, but it’s been terrific to see the City’s Economic Development and Tourism Team adapt so quickly to the changing tourism landscape.”
