Competition fuels Wairarapa popularity

A winter campaign that aimed to attract holidaying out-of-towners had been successful, according to Destination Wairarapa.

Wairarapa is a high-interest winter destination with more than 3500 entries received by Destination Wairarapa to win a Weekend of Wairarapa Winter Cool.

The campaign that ended last week has been a success for Destination Wairarapa, which has seen an increase in website traffic and social media engagement as a direct result of the competition.

Destination Wairarapa marketing manager Barb Hyde said the winter campaign, which was created to inspire out-of-towners to enjoy a winter break in the region, has been successful in a number of ways.

"This competition attracted over 3500 entries, 10 per cent of which are Aucklanders, which is a terrific result," she said.

"A key element of our Winter Campaign was for two people to win a Weekend of Wairarapa Winter Cool including return Air New Zealand flights to Palmerston North, car rental, accommodation at the Copthorne Hotel & Resort Solway Park in Masterton and a scenic flight over the Wairarapa valley with Amalgamated Helicopters New Zealand.

"It's been very encouraging to see revenue is up compared to bookings."

Accommodation bookings for June and July were up 111 per cent compared to last year and revenue generated through Destination Wairarapa's website was up 115 per cent.

Ms Hyde said the Destination Wairarapa revenue was additional to what was going direct to Wairarapa accommodation providers.

"Too often promotions rely on a reduced price to win business, however we did not discount at all.

"Instead we added a cheeky incentive of offering a tablet of Schoc Chocolate, a desirable product made here in Greytown and adored by chocolate lovers all around the world, that gave people an added incentive to stay here and clearly it worked."

Ms Hyde said the campaign was also successful thanks to Destination Wairarapa's partnerships with its members and Fly Palmy, the consumer brand of Palmerston North Airport. The organisation actively promoted Palmerston North as a place where people could fly in and out of to access the region. This included an installation at the airport inspiring people to visit the Wairarapa.