AusLeisure

Big Red Group has commissioned a 10-passenger hot air balloon with Picture This Ballooning, adding significant capacity to the Melbourne-based attraction to help meet the demand for flying experiences.

Adrenaline and RedBalloon’s parent company, Big Red Group, has seen interest in flying experiences surge, with a 45.9% increase from 2019 to 2022 in key categories such as Hot Air Ballooning, Helicopter Rides and Skydiving. After pandemic fuelled lockdowns and disruptions, people are ready to explore and tick off their bucket-list style experiences.

Picture This Ballooning has been a long-standing supply partner of Big Red Group, working in partnership with its Adrenaline brand for more than 13 years. Similar to other businesses in the experience sector, the company faced operational and commercial challenges during 2020 and 2021, which has made expanding its fleet and catering for additional demand a significant issue.

Seeing the growth potential of Picture This Ballooning and keen to support its long-term partners, Big Red Group announced the commissioning of a 10-passenger hot air balloon. The initiative will add significant capacity to Picture This Ballooning’s Melbourne-based availability and shorten waiting times during peak periods.

Big Red Group Head of Supply, Stephen Blake notes “This agreement showcases both the power and practicalities of partnership, and how dual business objectives can be achieved and customer experiences enhanced. It really is a win-win. Ryan and the Picture This Ballooning team offer Big Red Group customer service that is second to none. Their professional, innovative and resilient business ethic makes Picture This Ballooning the perfect partner.”

Picture This Ballooning General Manager, Ryan Bromage adds “now well into the second decade of our supply partnership with Big Red Group, we are delighted at this initiative which exemplifies the mutual support that is the essence of our commercial collaboration. Big Red Group understands the once in a generation impact of the pandemic and this new aircraft which is planned to come online later this year will be a powerful demonstration of the alliance.”

As part of the arrangement, Big Red Group will brand the balloon, gaining valuable exposure as it orbits Melbourne’s CBD for 100+ days annually, for many years to come.

Amid the current economic landscape, and with full tourism industry recovery anticipated to take several years, deeper partnerships of this nature provide a viable way forward for many suppliers, and an avenue that Big Red Group will continue to invest in.

Big Red Group is the largest marketplace of experiences in Australia and New Zealand, and home to leading brands including Adrenaline, Experience Oz, Experience Oz Local Agent, and RedBalloon. Australian owned and operated, Big Red Group leads and grows the experience economy through its scale, expert marketing, state-of-the-art tech platforms, industry alliances and partnerships. Offering 14,000+ experiences across its brands, Big Red Group remains steadfast on its mission to shift the way people experience life, having served more than five million experiences to date.

More information on Big Red Group at https://www.thebigredgroup.com.au/

Support our industry news service
We hope that you value the news that we publish so while you're here can we ask for your support?

As an independent publisher, we need reader support for our industry news gathering so ask that - if you don't already do so - you back us by subscribing to the printed Australasian Leisure Management magazine and/or our online news.