Major events “Come to Life” on the Sunshine Coast

#Visitsunshinecoast Launch of new marketing campaign

Sunshine Coast Council and Visit Sunshine Coast, today (May 31) launched a new marketing campaign promoting the diverse range of major events hosted on the Sunshine Coast.

The campaign, Major Events 'Come to Life' on the Sunshine Coast, features television and radio ads, a 54 page major events guide with My Weekly Preview, digital and social media activation.

The joint campaign will be activated in the Sunshine Coast region, by Sunshine Coast Council and in key drive markets by Visit Sunshine Coast.

The campaign follows the successful 'World is Coming' marketing activation, which was a finalist in the Australian National Event Awards for best event marketing and which promoted the Sunshine Coast as Australia's regional events capital.

At the launch Mayor Mark Jamieson highlighted the importance of major events as an economic and tourism driver for the region.


"The economic impact of major events can be broad and far-reaching as our region benefits from increased visitation and also the localised expenditure associated with holding the event," Mayor Jamieson said.

"Event guests come to participate and often stay and play and enjoy everything that our region has to offer.

"Successful events are also strong motivators that encourage event participants and their guests to return for holidays or business.

"Major events also generate invaluable direct and indirect exposure, as our region's natural setting is showcased to a wide audience via traditional and social media.

"So it's for these reasons that we've partnered again with our colleagues at Visit Sunshine Coast to develop and activate a comprehensive marketing campaign which highlights the amazing calendar of major events."

Visit Sunshine Coast CEO Simon Latchford said the new events promotion completed the final theme of the 'Come to Life' national campaign launched by the regional tourism organisation earlier this year.

"Visit Sunshine Coast launched a new destination marketing campaign called 'Come to Life' building on the region's 'naturally refreshing' branding, earlier in the year. The campaign reflects the key brand pillars of contemporary beach culture; wonders of nature; innovative food and produce; immersive encounters, and now the final piece - exhilarating events.

"We know that events provide the perfect opportunity to not only showcase our region as a tourism destination but also position the Sunshine Coast as the regional events capital of Australia.

"Research indicates three-quarters of event attendees would not have gone to a destination, if not for an event. Also, for 57% of first-time visitors to the region, the event is the main reason for visiting and likewise for 69% of repeat visitors.

"We are pleased to again partner with Sunshine Coast Council to market the impressive events on offer throughout 2017, in order to drive interest and visitation from outside the region.

"The Sunshine Coast is highly regarded when it comes to premier sporting events, but we are also looking at raising the profile of music and cultural events. The Council is also looking to develop new events to continually diversify the portfolio and make it more aspirational to visit the region for an event."

Queensland Garden Expo Event Manager Marion Beazley said she was pleased to have the Garden Expo included in the new Come to Life campaign.

"We certainly appreciate the work that Sunshine Coast Council and Visit Sunshine Coast and do to promote major events like ours.

"The concerted effort to promote major events has resulted in heightened interest from local media and an increased appreciation of the importance of major events to our local economy.

Mooloolaba Business and Tourism Association President Bruce Ferguson said the Sunshine Coast seemed to be thriving and major events had contributed.

"Events and the tourism they bring are becoming a major industry and the events are going to keep coming," Mr Ferguson said.

"What is fantastic is that as a region we're becoming educated to the value of major events, how to leverage the benefits they bring and how to be good at hosting them.

"All of the national and international exposure from the visiting teams and guests is also invaluable to the long term positioning of the region as a tourist destination."

In 2017 the Sunshine Coast will welcome a large number of major events, reinforcing the region's reputation as the major events capital of regional Australia.

The Sunshine Coast will host more than 55 state, national and international, sporting, lifestyle and music events.  

These events are estimated to inject about $60 million into the local economy.

The region will welcome more than 130,000 guests, many of whom will stay on after the event and enjoy the beautiful surrounds.

The Major Events Come to Life campaign will run until November 2017 and will feature a diverse array of music, lifestyle and sporting events staged in the region.