AusLeisure

Australian owned and operated business Big Red Group, the parent company of Experience Oz, has developed partnerships with both Destination Cairns Marketing (also an Australian owned and operated business) and Destination NSW to reinvigorate tourism in the wake of COVID lockdown and restrictions.

The partnerships leverage Big Red Group’s state of the art technology, scale and marketing capabilities as the largest experience marketplace in Australia and New Zealand.

As North Queensland continues to face challenging trading conditions, with international inbound travel not anticipated to return to pre COVID-19 volumes within the foreseeable future, the joint venture leverages the reach of Big Red Group’s audience, combined with Destination Cairns Marketing’s 30+ years of local knowledge, deep industry relationships and strong ties with businesses within the region, to increase domestic volumes within the area.  

Under the agreement, Big Red Group’s leading domestic holiday brand Experience Oz, with more than 15 years’ experience in the region, will generate demand via branded tour desks underpinned by a significant marketing investment. Its B2B platform, Experience Oz Local Agent will supply the technology to support activity bookings across the 130+ hotels currently working with Destination Cairns Marketing (DCM), providing more advanced capabilities such as in-room activity booking via QR codes and lobby booking kiosks.  

It’s a win-win partnership set to drive much needed growth across the sector, with hotels, guests, tour and experience providers all set to benefit under the landmark partnership. Operations will be vastly streamlined, while hotel guests will have access to a more extensive range of experiences across the region, with tour and activity suppliers currently listed with Experience Oz to be introduced into the hotels.  

Since acquiring Experience Oz and Experience Oz Local Agent in late 2021, Big Red Group has begun to invest significantly in scaling the brands, as done successfully with other brands in its portfolio such as RedBalloon and Adrenaline. As Big Red Group grows Experience Oz into a household name, it is anticipated that consumer uptake on Experience Oz offerings at hotel concierge desks will also increase.   

David Anderson, Chief Executive of Big Red Group enthused “we’re absolutely delighted to have forged this agreement with DCM, a well-known and highly respected family owned and operated business which has embedded itself within the North Queensland tourism sector since 1986. We know how tough it has been for the tourism industry as a whole, with Cairns and surrounds being particularly hard hit.

“Despite Experience Oz and DCM having been respectful, if fierce competitors in the past, we recognise that we are better together, pooling our resources and expertise which will ultimately deliver much better outcomes for all stakeholders. We have established a fantastic working rapport with DCM owners Denis Donaghy, Sam and Greg Ferguson, and have every confidence in their capabilities to execute this on the ground.”

DCM will continue to champion and grow local tourism, while working closely with Regional Tourism bodies and Cairns based Experience Oz representatives. Meanwhile, Big Red Group continues to proactively strengthen relationships with State and Federal Government, committed to centrally representing more than 2500 experience suppliers that it partners with, ensuring they have a voice at the table.  

Sam Ferguson, General Manager Commercial for DCM adds “this is an incredibly exciting partnership which will bring a significant boost of momentum and generate new demand for the area. We are a team of locals, who have always prided ourselves on delivering exceptional outcomes to our partners. Big Red Group has an impeccable record in building trusted brands and long-term mutually beneficial partnerships. We are looking forward to working collaboratively to bring this new venture to life, and aim to play a key role in driving tourism recovery within the region.” Ferguson has been appointed Chief Executive of the joint venture which will come into effect on 1^st April, and he will continue to lead day-to-day operations for DCM.

Big Red Group‘s Red Balloon has also partnered with Destination NSW on a campaign to reinvigorate the state’s tourism with campaign leveraging the positioning ‘Feel New, Renew Yourself’, to encourage Australians to refresh for 2022 by exploring the array of locations and experiences available in NSW. The campaign follows increased demand for Red Balloon experiences across many parts of Australia since the easing of lockdowns in late 2021.

The campaign includes five iterations featuring different destination experiences across NSW, including high tea and helicopter rides in Sydney and five star resorts and star gazing in the Blue Mountains. For each iteration the creative includes a six second video clip as well as static version. A 15 second clip compiling three of the destinations will also feature in the campaign.

Matthew Cavalier, chief growth officer at Big Red Group advises “as an Australian owned and operated company with more than 2500 tours and experience businesses listed across our sites, these high impact / highly visual partnerships are incredibly important. This campaign will bring great momentum to the tourism sector, through promoting the incredible range of experiences Australians can do in their own backyard.

“Following on from some very successful campaigns executed with Destination NSW in the past, I’m excited to see the ‘Feel New, Renew Yourself’ campaign come to life. With the peak of summer upon us, I’m confident this campaign will inspire Australians to get out and explore the huge array of activities NSW has on offer, providing much needed economic benefit to the travel, tours and experience sector right across NSW.”

In December 2021 Big Red Group appointed We Are Different to head PR for its brands including Red Balloon, managing creative campaigns, media relations and influencer activity for the company.

The campaign was rolled out across owned channels, paid social, high impact display, online video and search on the 17th of January and will run through until mid February.

Images from top: Cairns Skypark; David Anderson (Chief Executive of Big Red Group) and Sam Ferguson (General Manager Commercial for DCM); Big Red Group and Destination NSW campaign.

Related Articles

10th November 2021 - Big Red Group acquires Experience Oz and hospitality booking platform Local Agent

8th July 2021 - Three-day Big Red Bash music festival sees record attendance

3rd June 2019 - The Big Red Group launches experiences brand in Australia 

4th December 2018 - Midnight Oil to perform at  Birdsville Big Red Bash Music Festival

26th October 2021 - Destination NSW launches $10 million campaign promoting post-pandemic travel

8th March 2021 - Destination NSW appoints Christine McLoughlin as new Chair

15th June 2020 - Destination NSW announces 1,000 COVIDSafe gigs to be staged from November

7th February 2020 - New Chief Executive named for Destination NSW

17th March 2021 - Queensland Government extends fee relief for Cairns reef operators

23rd February 2021 - Cairns ZOOM and Wildlife Dome names new koala joey

7th January 2021 - Cairns’ Tjapukai Aboriginal Cultural Park to close as COVID-19 hits tourism business

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