A joint initiative between the South West Development Commission and the Margaret River Busselton Tourism Association launched this week aimed at promoting the Margaret River region to Singapore.
The First Class in a Glass campaign will encourage residents of Singapore to share a ‘selfie’ or video clip on social media of themselves enjoying Margaret River wine using the hashtag #margaretriverfirstclass for the chance to win prizes.
Launched on Tuesday, the promotion will offer a major prize of a luxury holiday in the Margaret River wine region, including flights and accommodation, while fortnightly giveaways will offer cases of boutique wine.
Margaret River wines will also be stocked at venues across Singapore and a range of one-off special events will be held until February 2017. Singapore hotels and trade outlets that perform well during the campaign will be rewarded with a May 2017 visit to the South West.
SWDC acting CEO Anna Oades said the campaign was designed to promote local wine, increase trade and attract more Singaporeans to the South West.
“Singapore is WA’s second biggest international market in terms of visitor numbers, and third biggest in terms of spend,” Ms Oades said.
“In the 2015-16 financial year, WA welcomed 96,700 visitors from Singapore, a 15.8 per cent increase from the previous year.
“These visitors spent $210 million in WA, up 18.4 per cent on 2014-15.
“We want to make sure the South West captures as much of this potentially lucrative market as possible, and this campaign is designed to do just that.”
MRBTA CEO Pip Close said operators and businesses supporting the program would greatly contribute to the momentum and success of the campaign.
“This promotion is a first for the MRBTA and we have been blown away by the industry response to the campaign concept so far, both here in the Margaret River region and in Singapore,” Ms Close said.
“Our partnership with SWDC has enabled us to combine messaging around the region’s appeal as a holiday destination with incentives to enjoy a ‘taste’ of the region on the ground in Singapore through participating venues.
“We think this will prove to be a memorable campaign that will move the Margaret River region to the top of the bucket – and wine – lists of Singaporeans.”