Christchurch launches first campaign since the earthquake to win back Australian visitors

The campaign follows a successful pitch in July. The city has seen a significant decline in holidaymakers since the February 2011 earthquake. Christchurch and Canterbury Tourism is launching the two-phase campaign to lure visitors from Australia, the city’s largest international visitor market.

The first phase of the campaign, which launched yesterday, is designed to get Australians talking about Christchurch again in a positive way.

Over a series of three video episodes (Episode 1 is above, see the others at the campaign microsite), Parker and his fictional assistant “Keith” take a whirlwind tour of Australia to borrow cult-iconic "big things", including the Big Merino sheep in Goulburn, the Big Chook in Mount Vernon, the Big Pineapple on the Sunshine Coast, and the Big Macadamia and Cow in Nambour. The launch has print support in the form of an "open letter" advertisement in Sydney and Melbourne newspapers.

“Australians got used to seeing Mayor Bob Parker as the face of the Christchurch earthquake disaster in 2011," said Tom Hoskins, creative director for iris Sydney. "We decided to flip that, making him the face of the good news in 2012, taking advantage of some Aussie Kiwi banter whilst we're at it.”

The second phase, the Discovery Stream, will launch in October to showcase the actual ‘big things’ that are happening in Christchurch. The Discovery Stream, which will be found at the same microsite will incorporate real-time content from visitors and residents documenting what they are seeing in the city. People will be encouraged to take photos of Christchurch, tag them with the hashtag #chch, and share them on Twitter and Instagram in addition to uploading images on Facebook.

A grassroots campaign will be launched simultaneously in the city through tourism operators to encourage visitors to share their images.

“This campaign sets out to address Australia's misconceptions of Christchurch as a tourist destination, by providing a lens into the ever-evolving city and replacing the images of the earthquake that visitors have previously held onto," Hoskins said. "The Discovery Stream provides Christchurch with a world first—a platform that crowd-sources and broadcasts the visitor experience in real-time, showing all the big things happening in and around the city."