 |
MARCH 2009 E-NEWS - Wednesday, 4 March 2009 |
 |
|
FROM THE MANAGERS
DESK
Welcome
to Autumn.
Whilst the new season heralds the changing of
colours here in the Southern Highlands it also
represents one of our busiest tourism periods with
Easter & School Holidays providing great
opportunities to showcase our area to potential
visitors.
Autumn is the return of major events such as
Brigadoon, Burrawang Easter Markets and the harvest
season for our Wine Industry. It is also sees
the introduction of two new draw card events with the
exciting Highlands Harvest Hunt, the states BIGGEST
Easter Egg Hunt set down for Centennial Vineyards &
the welcoming of international Polocrosse teams
competing in the Quadrangle International Polocrosse
Tournament.
Here's to a successful Autumn tourism
season.
Steve
Photo above shows Steve and
Debbie Bonett (Ex Tulip Time Co-ordinator) sharing
their 50th birthday.
|
 |
|
NEW PRODUCT &
PARTNERS
This
month, Tourism Southern
Highlands (TSH) has seen more new
tourism product coming on board, all providing more
reasons for visitors to come to our region.
|
 |
|
EVENTS – A NEW ERA – IT’S ALL
ONLINE!
Do
you have an event which you would like included in the
Southern Highlands Coming Event Calendar on the TSH
Website?
Well, TSH have introduced a new procedure which
will ensure that your event information will become
visible on the website more quickly and more
accurately. Simply
complete the form, which appears on our website,
ensuring that all of the detail, you provide is
forwarded to TSH at the flick of a button, and that all
details are provided in the first instance. Check out the de tails
here,
and note that there are strict cut off dates for the
provision of information which will be forwarded onto
the Southern
Highlands Visitors Guide each
quarter.
|
 |
|
SPECIAL
EVENTS
The
March 2009
Tourism After Hours (TAH) is set down for
Tuesday 10
March and will be held at the Fitz Roy Iron Works
Historic Site, at the Highlands
Marketplace in Mittagong. Thanks to all
those who have already RSVP’d. If you haven’t
and would like to come along, please just give us a call
at the VIC on 4871 2888.
Are
you interested in hosting one of our future TAH
events? If so contact Trish Bow on 4871 2888 or
email: trish.bow@wsc.nsw.gov.au.
The LAUNCH of our
2009 Southern Highlands Holiday Planner & Map AND
the new Southern
Highlands DVD & Stimulus
Package, will be held at the Empire Cinema
on Tuesday 21 April at 6pm. Look out for
your invitations.
|
 |
|
PROMOTIONS &
OPPORTUNITIES
“GO LOCAL”
TSH
has further developed and will be re-launching its local
community Ambassador Rewards Program, under the banner
of "My Southern
Highlands". The Promotional
Campaign is the first and most important promotional
opportunity for 2009. The new 2009 Ambassador
Rewards Program will
be launched on Tuesday 21 April. All Wingecarri
bee Shire residents will receive a loyalty card in the
mail outlining the 2009/10 program. The new Ambassador Rewards
Program card will introduce local residents
& their family and friends to a great range of local
offers and deals presented by our TSH Partners. It’s
FREE
to have your special offer/s included and a great
opportunity to showcase your product/business to our
local community and their visiting friends and
relatives.
If you have not already provided us with details
of your offer, here is the information again – Don’t Miss
Out!
Deadline for offers is Wednesday 18
March!
·
Ambassador Rewards Program
Details
·
Participation
Form
If
you're not in it you will miss out on marketing your
busiess to over 40,000 local residents and potentially
500,000 visitors!
|
 |
|
MEDIA & INDUSTRY
PROMOTION
This month will see two separate media
familiarisations into the Southern Highlands as part of
the Tourism NSW Visiting Journalist
Programme.
- The
Sunday Telegraph
will visit Moss Vale & Heronswood House B&B on
22 & 23 March.
- Ruth
Duncan, travel writer for The Sun
Herald will visit Mittagong and the Fitzroy
Inn on from 27 to 29
March.
- Agents
from the prestigious Travel
Maestro, (a key Indian inbound operator based
in Sydney) will
undertake a self drive familiarisation into the
Southern Highlands on Sunday 15 March, visiting key
products &
experiences.
|
 |
|
REVISED
TOURIST SIGNPOSTING MANUAL
Tourism
NSW and the Roads and Traffic Authority have released
the revised Tourist Signposting
Manual. The
tourism industry recently reviewed the Manual resulting
in the easing of the eligibility criteria for tourist
signposting and inclusion of a new touring route signage
option. The
Manual is designed to assist tourism operators who wish
to apply for signpos ting and includes information on:
eligibility; sign types and sites; assessment of
applications; funding and maintenance.
The
Tourist Attraction Signposting Assessment Committee
(TASAC) has overall responsibility for tourist
signposting in NSW.
|
 |
|
OF INTEREST
In adition to the Ambassador
Program and overall stimulus package, there are also
individual promtional, learning and grant opportunities
available to TSH Partners through Tourism NSW, ITEC and
Capital Country Tourism. Check out their latest
newsletters and notes
below:
|
 |
|
BENEFIT OF THE
MONTH
Press
Release distribution - who knows your business better
than you?
No-one!
So, let us know if you are doing anything new or
different, have won any awards or simply want to
highlight a unique part of your business. Then forward
your press release to Trish Bow by email: trish.bow@wsc.nsw.gov.au
where we will reformat, brand and
send out via email to our large media
distribution network. We have recently seen WIN TV
cover a number of our Partners new products and services
as a result of our Press Release Service, it costs
nothing and th e coverage is
fantastic!
|
 |
|
TULIP TIME
UPDATE
New
Events Co-ordinator Position - Unfortunately TSH have
been unable to successfully fill the new position. As a result it
will be readvertised. In the interim
Harriett Goodall has been contracted for three months to
manage the day to day development of 2009 Tulip Time
Festival.
|
| | |
