Blue Mountains featured in new national tourism campaign

The Blue Mountains tourism and small business sector has been given another boost, with a new national marketing campaign putting some of the Mountains’ best experiences under the spotlight.

Launched by Tourism Australia, the $8 million dollar blitz is the latest instalment of the successful ‘Holiday Here This Year’ campaign featuring Hamish Blake and Zoe Foster-Blake and encourages Australians to buy travel-related Christmas presents this year. The campaign is being rolled out across a range of channels, including TV, social media and print.

Liberal Senator for Western Sydney, Senator the Hon Marise Payne, said boosting tourism in the Blue Mountains and Hawkesbury region would support Australia’s economic recovery. 

“This new national campaign is great news for the Blue Mountains because we know that tourism is a critical driver of local economic activity,” Senator Payne said. 

“Last year, Australians spent, on average, $770 on gifts during the holiday season, equating to $16 billion in total, so if we can encourage people to spend just a fraction of that on travel instead it would be a multi-billion dollar boost for the tourism industry.

“This is especially welcome news for tourism operators like Jason Cronshaw, whose Fantastic Aussie Tours bus fleet was very unfortunately vandalised last week.

“It’s also great to see well-known local places, like Glenbrook’s Cafe 2273, being featured on Tourism Australia’s interactive website which promotes overnight stays and experiences from one end of the Mountains to the other.”

Blue Mountains Tourism president Jason Cronshaw thanked Tourism Australia for its ongoing support of the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area.

“This campaign is ideally timed to help us re-launch the Blue Mountains and build awareness among consumers,” Mr Cronshaw said.

“Importantly, this builds on the work being undertaken by Blue Mountains Tourism, in partnership with Blue Mountains City Council, as part of the more than $2 million we received under round 1 of the Bushfire Local Economic Recovery Funding to help reinstate the Blue Mountains as a key tourist destination in NSW, and Australia.

“There are plenty of new experiences to be had here, so we’re encouraging everyones to `go blue’ this Summer.”

Tourism Australia Managing Director Phillipa Harrison said the ‘The Gift of Travel’ campaign was sure to get people excited and thinking about visiting new places, trying new things and visiting friends and family.

“The pandemic has left people wanting to make up for lost time and giving a travel experience will help people do just that,” Ms Harrison said.

“The Gift of Travel is about encouraging Australians to give more meaningful gifts this holiday season and in doing so give back to tourism operators and communities who have been among the hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic.”

The federal government has invested in a range of initiatives to support the Blue Mountains tourism industry, including funding for the return of the Blue Mountains Writers Festival and for the new completed upgrade of Echo Point.

Australians can plan their next getaway at Tourism Australia’s interactive website https://www.australia.com/en.