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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2004 Week 04 Hansard (Thursday, 1 April 2004) . . Page.. 1639 ..

1. As the Leader of the Opposition is aware there are several components to a marketing strategy. The first component is to build and raise awareness of a product, which in this case is of Canberra as a tourism destination. Awareness, once created leads to the second component which influences a potential customer’s preference and intention to use the product. The final component of a marketing strategy is the conversion of that intention into action. The time lapse between building awareness and conversion could well be some 12 months to two years away. Therefore, it is premature to expect positive results from a campaign before stages one and two are concluded.

The marketing campaign, A Capital Summer focused on targeting the Visiting Friends and Relatives (VFR) market to create awareness of Canberra as a tourist destination. The campaign consisted of four elements, the other three being:

• the launch and distribution of 26,000 copies of A Capital Summer brochure

• a continuation of the campaign into the Adelaide market to increase awareness that commenced there during the spring campaign, and

• providing support for the Summer by the Lake campaign developed jointly by key national attractions.

Australian Capital Tourism (ACTC) commissioned Market Attitude Research Services (MARS) to conduct a survey in Canberra to determine awareness of the postcard campaign, which is the first component of the strategy. The results indicated that one in six of Canberra households recalled receiving the postcards with the majority of recipients expressing positive comments about the postcard concept. Around one in twenty households used the postcards to invite interstate friends and relatives to visit Canberra. MARS has concluded that the ‘household reach’ achieved by the postcard campaign during the busy Christmas period should be considered to be a relative success.

The number of telephone calls received from people to enter the competition associated with the postcard campaign amounted to 53. As explained above, this number considered in isolation is not indicative of the overall success of the postcard campaign as the main purpose of the campaign focused on raising awareness.

2. The Adelaide summer advertisements appeared in the Adelaide Advertiser on 5 December 2003. The advertisement promoted a shortbreak package to Canberra. The airfare component was not included in the package. Therefore, it is not possible to accurately monitor the number who booked packages as a result of the Adelaide campaign as people book their travel through their local travel agents direct to accommodation houses or through the internet. A total of 71 telephone calls were received as a result of the advertisement.

3. (a) The Adelaide campaign included the placement of advertisements in the Adelaide Advertiser on 5 December 2003 and the competition for a shortbreak trip which closed on 19 December 2003. The last element of the campaign was the drawing/selection of a winner, which was held on 29 December 2003. As stated before, the intention of the Adelaide campaign primarily was to capture awareness of Canberra in the Adelaide market. I would like to stress that although the Adelaide campaign has concluded our commitment to the Adelaide market remains with future promotions planned to gauge intentions and preferences.

(b) An awareness telephone survey was conducted in the Adelaide market in early summer to assess the effectiveness of the first Adelaide visitation campaign held as part of the Spring Marketing Campaign. Some 41% could recall advertising and promotional

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