Australia’s largest regional accommodation provider, the G’DAY Group, has partnered with Tourism Australia in an emotive domestic self-drive campaign to help revive regional tourism.

With the strapline of ‘Here is where the heart is’, the $500,000 campaign is an iteration of Tourism Australia’s ‘Holiday here this year’ campaign.

The campaign calls on Australians to re-visit destinations that have their heart, discover the heart of our regions, and find new connections with people and places across Australia.

For every $1 spent on regional accommodation, nearly $2 is generated within wider regional communities, which means that a rise in regional road trip holidays will provide much needed support for Australia’s tourism industry.

The G’DAY Group is the largest network of holiday parks in Australia, with over 280 properties under both the G'day Parks and Discovery Holiday Parks brands.

G’DAY Group Chief Executive, Grant Wilckens, said that while the industry has been hurting, campaigns like this provide an opportunity to deliver a silver lining for operators.

“For quite a few of our properties, including those owned by regional locals, the majority of the year’s revenue is earnt in January. With parts of Australia impacted by bushfires, floods and cyclones - and now the corona virus - the impact to revenue, infrastructure and our people has been immense.”

“However, the support shown by Governments around the country, and by everyday Australians, has been incredibly heartening,” said Grant.

“Never before has there been such a spotlight on visiting our regions, and there is a real opportunity to see ‘road trips with heart’ become a travel trend for 2020, strengthening our regional communities beyond our expectations.”

Research shows that post disaster, people are 4-5x more likely to travel back to a destination that they already have an affinity with.

“We think that the emotive call to action of this campaign will resonate with our existing customer base, and encourage those who might ordinarily jet off to Bali or Europe to instead consider a glamping experience at Byron Bay, a camping road trip to Kangaroo Island or a peaceful cabin holiday at Pambula Beach,” said Grant.

Tourism Australia Managing Director, Phillipa Harrison welcomed the support of the G’DAY Group, as a key partner for the Holiday Here This Year domestic tourism campaign.

“As largest accommodation provider in regional Australia and with the caravan and camping sector becoming ever more popular for travellers, the G’DAY Group is a fantastic partner to be working with as we look to encourage more Australians to holiday in Australia this year,” Ms Harrison said.

“An Australian road trip is like no other. It’s the perfect way to connect with our country, explore some of Australia’s stunning regional areas and, importantly, help our tourism industry and local communities get back on their feet after what has been a very challenging summer.”

The campaign is digitally-led, with some outdoor components. It will run until 30 June 2020 and will promote travel over the Easter school holiday period targeting families, and over the northern summer targeting nomads.

The G’DAY Group will release regionally specific versions of the creative and plans to engage with State and Regional Tourism Offices to help disseminate the call to action.

Media enquiries: Brittany Harmer, Corporate Communications Manager | 0415 655 191, brittany.harmer@discoveryparks.com.au.

About G’day Group

Founded in 2004 with three caravan parks in WA, G’day Group is now Australia’s leader in regional accommodation experiences with more than 340 properties across the country.

G’day Group operates more than 90 holiday parks and resorts under the Discovery Parks and Resorts brand, with properties in iconic regional destinations, including Kings Canyon, Rottnest Island and the world famous El Questro. The Group is also home to G’day Parks, a network of 240+ independently owned, licensed parks and the G’day Rewards loyalty program, which has 260,000 paid members.

Beyond holiday parks and resorts, the Group owns Wikicamps, Australia’s largest regional travel community and the #1 paid app in the App Store with more than 300k monthly active users, as well as Bookeasy, a specialist provider of booking management systems and technology solutions to leading destination management authorities in Australia and New Zealand (operating as BookIt).

G’day Group has property assets valued at $2 billion and is on track to become a $2.5 billion business by 2026. The company is majority owned by Australian Retirement Trust and founder and CEO Grant Wilckens is a Board Director of the South Australian Tourism Commission and former Chair of the Caravan Industry Association of Australia.