Brief: Develop product and itineraries with key wholesale and tour operator partners in New Zealand and Australian on a limited budget.
Idea: When Travel Portland and Travel Oregon began in the Australia and New Zealand marketplace, they were in a unique situation. A situation where, as a City and State, they were sandwiched in between two great hubs for air service (YVR and SFO), however they had minimal product inclusion with any of the key wholesale or tour operator partners. Over and above that, their brand did not resonate with the end consumer, due to low awareness of the destination.
The success of the product awareness and relationships with key wholesale trade, lead to 23 wholesalers across AU and NZ increasing their current Oregon product (from 2-night city stays to 7 – 14 night statewide itineraries) or developing brand new Oregon programs and including these as brochured product.
In addition to the success of the product work completed with wholesale accounts, we were also able to leverage relationships with media partners to gain consumer exposure for the State of Oregon. During the period of product development, Canuckiwi were approached due to their relationship with APN (New Zealand Herald) for a contest opportunity to drive awareness to Oregon through wrapped covers of the New Zealand Herald distributed through New World Stores (New Zealand’s number one grocer). At the onset, APN requested a combination of cash contribution and prize package componentry.
Canuckiwi worked with the State of Oregon and their partners to generate a prize package that was so inclusive that APN was agreeable to have no cash contribution from our client to run the campaign. On top of this, Canuckiwi worked with Hawaiian Airlines and House of Travel to ensure a call to action was generated through the print, radio, and social media campaign, creating loyalty amongst those key air and retail partners in New Zealand and trackable results.
Results:
- 12 new itineraries created with wholesalers and tour operators
- 100% visitor growth in a five year period
- 35,000 competition entries to win prize package to Oregon
- Extensive PR coverage with an estimated value of over $290,000 USD
