Project Overview
My capstone project is a Sydney tourism campaign which offers walking tours and advertising opportunities to small businesses. The walking tours offered all focus on the path untravelled and provide opportunities to give back to the community by visiting small business's along the tour. The campaign also provides an online platform where small businesses will be advertised along side the walking tours. Advertising small businesses that travellers may not usually visit will increase their revenue and help to keep them open. Combining Sydney tourism and advertising creates a unique point of difference which will help to keep companies on their feet during and after Covid-19.
Inspiration
The inspiration for my campaign came from my own personal experience visiting Sydney. I noticed that most of the brochures at hotels focused on tour companies for the big attractions or ghost tours. After visiting Sydney several times, I wanted to explore further and wasn’t able to find a tour company which provided what I was looking for. Due to this I took the initiative to seek out some of Sydney’s hidden gems and make my own path. For this campaign I wanted to create a tour company which would fill this gap in the market whilst also providing a free service to help businesses struggling due to Covid-19.
Aim
My aim for this project is to help keep tourism and small businesses alive and thriving during and after Covid-19. The company will offer tours which stop at a small business whilst also exploring beautiful locations on the path untravelled. In order to continue the support of small businesses, their will also be an online presence which provides free advertising.
Covid-19
Due to Covid-19 there have been many restrictions put into place, including travel restrictions and safety plans.
In the travel campaign, I have taken these restrictions into account and aim to have an online presence which emerges the consumers into the environment and lets them experience the tours online.
In order to cater for small businesses I plan on linking there socials to our website, Instagram and application. This allows consumers to purchase from small businesses online or plan a trip to visit the business after Covid-19.
Audience
The target audience are social and adventurous 20-26 year olds who are either from Sydney or are an Australian Tourist. They have a passion for giving back to the community and enjoy eating at cafe's and restaurants whilst they socialise with others.
Problem
During Covid-19 tourism has fallen to an all time low and the income of small businesses has been directly effected. Overseas travel has been suspended, borders are closed and restrictions have been put in place, for businesses this means no more income from tourists.
In order to keep tourism and small businesses alive, this campaign will focus on bringing tourism to the hidden gems of Sydney and offering free advertising opportunities to small businesses.
Statistics
Most Popular Destination
In 2019, Sydney had approximately 12million domestic and 4million international visitors. As it is the most visited destination, it is also the most viable place for a tourism campaign to start.
Source - Tourism Research Australia: International Visitor Survey, 2019, National Visitor Survey 2019
Top Activity
The top activity undertaken by tourists when visiting Sydney is eating out at restaurants and cafes. Promoting and incorporating these types of businesses into the tours ensures the needs of the target market are met.
Source - Tourism Research Australia: National and International Visitor Surveys.
The Solution
In order to increase tourism and bring revenue back to small businesses, I will be creating a walking tours, tourism company. Hidden Gem Tours will provide unique tours through Sydney whilst also giving small businesses a platform to advertise free of charge.
The tours offered will all involve a local restaurant in order to appeal to the target audience whilst giving back to the community. These tours and the organisations involved will all be displayed online on the website and social media account. The website will have a section dedicated to all the small businesses in Sydney, which will link to their social media accounts.
Competition
Live from Aus created a virtual travel campaign for Australia through videos online and a T.V special which aired on Network 10. They also made their logo free to download on their website for companies within Australia to use. Their unique way of connecting travellers and emerging them in Australia virtually before they visit made for a successful campaign.
The Brand
Hidden Gem Tours is a young, fun, energetic brand based on the path untravelled.
The goal is to support small businesses and get young people adventuring to places they never thought to go.
Style Guide
Web/Mobile Deliverables
Application
The application uses similar tabs to the website to ensure the products link. When consumers go from using the website online to book, to using the app on the tour it will feel familiar and make them comfortable with the process. The app does have one unique difference to the website, which is a built in map of all 3 tours provided by the company. The map has the ability to zoom in and out in order to be readable for every user. Including this feature allows people to retrace their steps and visit these locations again once the tour has finished. This ensures customers will revisit the small businesses located in these areas.
Instagram
The Instagram account uses a combination of graphics and photography. This ensures that people can envision themselves going on a tour whilst keeping the overall look young and minimal. Using the orange tiles as a colour pop on the account draws attention to the page and the designs.
Website
For the website I decided to have moving graphic elements throughout to ensure the youthfulness came through in the design and attracted the correct audience. I also decided to have a section for the tours and a separate section for the small businesses to advertise. Having the advertising on its own page makes it easier to locate and lets businesses have their own section to promote themselves rather than being a pop up on the side of a different page.
Print Deliverables
For my printed deliverables I decided to make a travel pack for clients to purchase on it’s own or with the tour. This pack includes a keyring in box, hand sanitiser, pen, drink bottle and map all kept in a tote bag. Not only would this promote the tourism company, it would also have the possibility for small businesses to contribute and advertise through their own product in the travel pack.
Reflection
Hidden Gem Tours is a viable and unique company with its combination of tourism and advertising.
The concept of bringing small business advertising and walking tours together in one site offers a lot of different opportunities for all industries. If travellers don't find interest in booking a tour they would be able to connect with small businesses and give back to the community in a different way. There is also the option to expand the company to other cities in order to promote tourism and give back to a wider range of small businesses.
Overall, the combination of both the advertising and tourism industry would open a wide range of opportunities both during Covid-19 and after.
