February            Business, Educational, Tourism Newsletter          2002

 
Tweed Heads Lookout TV shoot 

Aussie Gateways has continued to grow in membership over the past three months and is about to embark on further media advertising of both the Northern Rivers and Southern Gold Coast regions.

The Northern Rivers television commercial has been scheduled to appear in both the Newcastle and Tamworth regions from mid February to early March. Any feedback in regard to both enquiries and bookings from people in these areas would be appreciated. 

If our members keep us up to date with records of the response we receive from advertising in specific areas, we will use this information to plan on-going, effective media campaigns. Both positive and negative feedback is essential for us to plan ahead and target specific groups at specific times of year so that the effectiveness of our Aussie Gateways campaigns is maximised. 


Southern Gold Coast TV Shoot

We enjoyed the company of all who attended the Aussie Gateways Workshops held in Tweed Heads, Lismore, Ballina and Yamba. These tourism industry operators have given us very valuable data which we are using as we plan media promotions of the region for 2002. The next Aussie Gateways workshop will be held at North Star Holiday Resort, Hastings Point, on February 14th, 2002. We are looking forward to meeting a new group of people there. We are also keen to try the Conference Room facilities at North Star which look to be very impressive. 

Please remember it is important for us to set up day trips and tour packages for the region. If you would like your establishment to be promoted as a recommended part of a day trip, please let us know and we’ll list suggested day trips for visitors on the web. We are also keen to set up regular tour packages to the natural and man-made attractions in the region with stop-overs (morning tea/lunch/afternoon tea/dinner) at various places. If you would like to be included in these please let us know. We will then contact you for specific details relating to your part of the tour.

The Southern Gold Coast television commercial (which also directs browsers to the Aussie Gateways portal) will be completed and put to air in the Toowoomba region in early March. After five days of shooting and re-scheduling due to bad weather, we feel we now have enough footage to produce the first series of Southern Gold Coast commercials.  Sincere thanks goes to all establishments that allowed us to shoot video footage on the premises. Please note that all footage taken was of a generic nature, featuring families enjoying holiday activities. Signage of individual establishments will not be included in the television commercial.

Special thanks must go to Charles and Colleen from Bella Mare Resort for organizing and cooking a barbecue for guests which we successfully captured on video. Also thanks to Tony (Jackie Chan) Ooi for “cooking up a storm” on camera;  Les Roughead from Tweed Coast Limousines for making a special guest appearance; Gary & Sue from Points North, Bob & Robyn from Rainbow Bay Resort, Michael & Dianne from Regency on the Beach, Palm Beach; and Paul, Fiona, Reg & Dianne from Columbia on Rainbow Bay for organizing talent and making their premises available on the day.
Charles cooking the BBQ

Others who have contributed to the cooperative campaign so far are Phil Villiers from Twin Towns who allowed us to use aerial footage of the Southern Gold Coast region, Louise from Currumbin Bird Sanctuary who also offered betacam footage,  Phillip Dark and Michelle Paine from the Tweed Heads Golf Club and Neil & Mary Pringle from Stella Maris Restaurant who allowed us to set up video shots on their premises. A final thankyou goes to Peter Stuart from the Gold Coast Airport and Ed Madigan from Qantas for assisting in our preparations to shoot video footage on the tarmac. Thanks to the support of all these people we are now ready to produce the first of the Southern Gold Coast commercials.

As mentioned above, all members are asked to give feedback (both positive and negative) after the commercials go to air. This will be used to assess the effectiveness of the campaigns and also to plan future directions for Aussie Gateways media schedules.

We will continue to book media advertising in accordance with our membership budget. Membership contributions from Northern Rivers will be used solely for Northern Rivers promotions and those from the Southern Gold Coast will be used solely to promote the Southern Gold Coast. Two totally separate accounts are being kept so that this is made easy and efficient. While bookings and accounts will be kept separate, promotions for both regions will strengthen each other by directing viewers to the Aussie Gateways portal. It is in this way that members benefit from widespread cooperative advertising campaigns.

A complete list of media promotions undertaken for each region will be kept on the Aussie Gateways portal. Access www.aussiegateways.com.au/promotions for a copy of this information.

We trust you all had a very successful Christmas and New Year period. We will keep in touch as the Aussie Gateways network grows and our media strategies widen. Don’t forget to let us know if you would like to be included in day trips and tour packages and send in any feedback relating to responses to our schedules in Newcastle, Tamworth, (NR) and Toowoomba (SGC) All the best for the fast-approaching Easter break.

Mark & Lisa Russell
Aussie Gateways Pty Ltd

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