Tourism Ballina Postcard Update
Following our A.G.M. on the
Richmond Princess last week, we would like to take this opportunity to bring you up to date with some of the other reports and discussions made on the night.
Firstly the following Committee Member Nominations were received and all six duly elected.
The election of Officers will take place at our next Committee Meeting on 19th November 2008.
- Paul Ferguson (Ballina Colonial Motel)
- Dave Heggie (Digital and Virtual Environments)
- Col Rodrick (Ballina Byron Rental Cars)
- Gary Crane (Northern Rivers Trike and Bike Tours)
- Colin Gibson (Northern Rivers Mini Bus Hire)
- Mark Nancarrow (Zoom Coffee)
We really would like to have one more Committee Member on board. So if any Member is interested, please e-mail to Dave Heggie at
secretary@tourismballina.com.au
We can report that our Membership for 2008/9 has already reached 38. One Member was so keen that they paid twice and another has paid direct into the bank but not advised us who they are!
And remember, it is never too late
to join Tourism Ballina.
Our Membership Prospectus and Invoice can be downloaded from
our site here.
This is a very cheap and effective way of advertising your operation through the various Website Options, given that all our promotional activities use www.tourismballina.com.au as the call to action.
A positive from the above, is that half of those Members have taken out one or more of the Website Advertising Options. This is a very cheap and effective way to advertise your operation(s). As we said last week, unique visits to www.tourismballina.com.au are up 250% on last year and with all our promotional activities using the Website as the ‘call to action’, this can only improve.
On that note, we are extremely pleased to announce that Ballina Shire Council has come on board with our latest TV Advertising Campaign.
A BIG THANK YOU to Ballina Shire Council
We approached a number of eminent Shire Stakeholders, to match us $ for $ in our November 2008 and February 2009 TV Advertising Campaigns into Toowoomba and Tamworth.
Ballina….it will take your breath away…..
It was disappointing to note that not only did those Stakeholders feel that a $2,000 investment in promoting Ballina Shire & Hinterland was not worth while, but they did not even give us the courtesy of a reply to our Prospectus Invitation!
The Production of the TV Commercial and its’ first Broadcasting in July 2008, were solely finances by the Subscription Membership monies.
The TV Commercial will be aired 58 times over a two week period into Toowoomba from 2nd November 2008 and a similar coverage into Tamworth from 9th November 2008.
At a time when many Australian are looking to stay closer to home this Summer Holiday, whilst enjoying what the Coast has to offer, this campaign will be very effective. A repeat in February 2009 will be targeting the Easter vacation period.
For those of you who have forgotten what the TV Commercial looks like, it can be viewed on the ‘home’ page of www.tourismballina.com.au .
Councillor Elections. Although very hard work for a couple of weeks, if nothing else, it raised our profile and gave us a base to work with Councillors going forward. It was however disappointing that a few candidates did not see fit to supply written answers to our eight questions. Cnr. Jeff Johnson, who came along to our A.G.M. last week, got first prize for the most comprehensive response.
A thank you must also go to Cnr. Sharon Cadwallader who also attended our AGM and had some very interesting ideas for future directions.
Airport Interactivity. Thanks to Tony Gilding of Macadamia Castle, we got a Proposal in front of Council in August 2008, supported by Cnr Alan Brown, Tourism Ballina and Ballina Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Although the exact Proposal has not been adopted, it has spurred Council into getting something in place.
A plasma television screen is now in on the northern wall of the Arrival Lounge and a wall mounted Brochure Rack will soon appear on the Easternmost Wall. Protocols for ‘display’ are currently been developed by Council staff.
Northern Rivers Tourism Board Nomination. One of the Long Term Strategies in our Membership Prospectus, is to again seek representation on NRT’s Board. I please to say that our President, Paul Ferguson, has put his nomination forward for consideration.
TV Advertising Event Prospectus. We now have the option to add a ‘banner line’ to the foot of our TV Commercial, in order to promote Events in the Region.
An Events Prospectus has been prepared and will shortly be sent out to various Organisations for consideration.
This is a cost effective way to promote Events, as there is no production costs, only those associated with broadcasting and adding the ‘banner’.
Organisation’s contact details and or Logo, with a click through to their own website, would appear on the front page of www.tourismballina.com.au, leading up to the Event.
Launch & Distribution of Promotional DVD. As announced in our 2008/9 Membership Prospectus, the Commercial gave us a base for the production of a
Motivational and Promotional DVD, which would be
FREE to Members this year.
For those Members that did not attend the A.G.M., your copy of the DVD will be hand delivered over the next ten days.
Details on obtaining further copies will be issued shortly
Professionally produced and again paid for solely from Membership Subscriptions, this generic twelve minute montage of the entire Shire, both old and new will be available commercially to Non-Members.
This has already been offered to Ballina Shire Council for the Airport and VIC Interactivity.
We will shortly be contacting Conference Venues, with the option for them to offer it as a ‘Back-drop’ for Conference Holders, or as part of a ‘Delegate Pack’.
We will also be talking to Bus and Coach Companies for them to run as they near Ballina Coast & Hinterland and consideration is also been given to a Sponsored ‘Newspaper Insert Drop’, to name just two of the options we now have available to us.
As ever, the DVD can be viewed on www.tourismballina.com.au, in three segments for ease of viewing. Remember these have been optimised for viewing over the web, so their quality is down on what you see straight from the DVD
If you are interested in using the DVD or obtaining a copy, please contact Dave Heggie at secretary@tourismballina.com.au
Wow Gary really took these couples for a ride.
(and they sure were happy he did!)
As part of the
Sydney Weekender Television Promotion, Gary from
Northern Rivers Trike and Bike Tours took these couples on his
Trike for The Sea to Hinterland Tour.
Starting from Ballina, along the foreshores of Shaws Bay to the mouth of the Richmond river, then up the hill to the Lighthouse and tower lookout.
Back down to Shelly Beach following along the majestic coastal road to Pat Morgan Lookout.
After checking out the view and the surf they continued through the surfside town of Lennox Head to Lake Ainsworth, admiring the dark tea tree stained waters.
Now the coast is left behind and the couples progressed through the cane fields along Ross Lane up to the crest.
The tour proceeded along Tintenbar Rd passing through the macadamia and avocado farms on the plateau till arriving at the pretty village of Alstonville.
Then, it’s back down over the escarpment returning to Ballina.
All couples were amazed at the variety of landscapes that they were able to pass though in the tour which lasted approximately an hour in duration.
A Unique Idea from Amaze ‘n’ Place
Is it Time to book your Christmas Party / Get-together?
- Have it at a unique location – Amaze ‘n’ Place
- Puzzles, Maze Fun, Quizzes
- For Evening celebrations you can have the whole venue to yourself.
Contact Lisa, Francine or any of the staff by phone (6628 7518) or email (
info@amaze-n-place.com.au)
PS Not available Christmas Day
Our Television Marketing Campaign
is running this week in Toowoomba
and next week in Tamworth
We are proud to announce that one of Tourism Ballina’s members, Zoom Coffee has won 2 bronze medals in this year’s competition,
