Thursday, April 7, 2011

Selling A City

This past week I have been at the Australian Tourism Exchange. It is the annual gathering where international travel companies come to see what holiday experiences Australia offers global travelers.

Over 1500 Australian companies exhibit in the hope of attracting business. Their brochures are beautiful, their imagery is rich and they offer delegates first class hospitality To exhibit costs money, time and effort. It is an expensive undertaking.

I have been working with a smaller size exhibitor marketing Australia's national capital - Canberra - and its cultural attractions. We don't have the budget to match the efforts of big states and large corporate players. However I'd like to think we compensate by passion for our city and its tourism products And we use the ancient power of the story to sell the City.

While big bucks back the marketing that others do, our promotional efforts are fueled by people, passion and stories. Using that simple but proven mix we hope to strike through the clutter that must swamp international delegates.

It is international marketing on a modest budget: one delegate at a time, one story at a time, one conversion at a time.

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