With the bushfire crisis still threatening many areas of the High Country and a State of Disaster remaining in place across Victoria, the region is still very much in an emergency response phase. With the safety of industry and visitors paramount, TNE continues to comply with the Victorian Government directive requesting visitors not to travel to the region at this time. It is currently not known when this directive may be lifted.
TNE is working with government on a range of initiatives for the recovery phase, and is ready to activate these as soon as practicable once the threat of bushfires has subsided and it is deemed appropriate for campaign activity to commence.
Ahead of this recovery phase, there are several campaigns ranking highly on social media that businesses may want to participate in – they are outlined below for your consideration. These campaigns provide the ability to leverage broader activity and the current momentum building on social and mainstream media.
ROAD TRIP FOR GOOD
This online platform has been developed by Alpaca, a business working already with the tourism industry to provide interactive travel maps, trip planning and itineraries. Some elements of the site are still in development, but it allows users to create their own itineraries, share with others and download printable references. There is significant media exposure anticipated for the platform in coming days – adding your business will help create a strong High Country presence.
How to get involved:
- Visit their website roadtripforgood.org.au to add your own business listing
- Share the Instagram page @roadtripforgood and use the hashtag #roadtripforgood on your Instagram posts so consumers can find you when browsing that hashtag.
SPEND WITH THEM @spendwiththem
South Coast locals Turia Pitt and Grace McBride developed this Instagram page to help rebuild businesses affected by the fires, by profiling the individual businesses and linking to their own channels. Less than a week after its creation, the page has over 164,000 followers and growing by the day. Whilst based in NSW, the page profiles all bushfire-affected areas and has already featured Ringer Reef Winery in Porepunkah.
How to get involved:
- Submit your business for inclusion: the best way to reach this team is to email [email protected]. They have asked that you do not direct message them on Instagram – email is the best way to get in contact.
- Use the hashtag #spendwiththem on your Instagram posts so consumers can find you when browsing that hashtag.
EMPTY ESKY @emptyesky
Created by two Melbourne locals, this campaign encourages people to visit affected areas with an ‘empty esky’ – i.e. supporting retailers and producers by way of people hitting the road and spending money along the way. The Instagram page has over 10K followers and was created less than a week ago.
How to get involved:
- Send your information to [email protected] – whilst the site is still in development, the team is keen to receive information that you are happy for them to share on the platform (name, contact details, product offering, websites, social etc). Please note that they will not have a chance to check content with you prior to posting, so please send what you’re willing for them to share.
- Follow the @emptyesky Instagram page and share with your followers, friends and family, and post a social media pledge with their template. The team has some exciting plans in the pipeline, so the best thing you can do is share it so more people will hear about it.
- Use the hashtag #emptyesky on your Instagram posts so consumers can find you when browsing that hashtag.
In addition to the above initiatives, there are several other ways to use your channels to encourage support during this time:
- If you are a business that has an online store with product to sell, promote this via your social media, website and customer database to encourage sales from those people wanting to support affected businesses.
- Encourage the local community to eat, drink and shop locally wherever possible.
- TNE is aware of a number of other incredible initiatives happening across the region within individuals or groups of businesses which is wonderful to see, with many gaining momentum. Please get in touch if you are planning any events or initiatives so we can share that information.
- TNE will continue with work with government on further initiatives ahead of the recovery phase and will advise of any further developments.
