Destination Gold Coast appoints In Marketing We Trust as new digital marketing agency

Membership-based destination marketing organisation, Destination Gold Coast, has appointed In Marketing We Trust as its digital marketing agency.

This is the latest in a new client surge for In Marketing We Trust, with Destination Gold Coast following the likes of Koala, The Motley Fool and SAI Global among others.

Says Paul Hewett, commercial partner at In Marketing We Trust: “We are excited to be working with Destination Gold Coast as well as a number of new clients. We are seeing early market signals of a strong market recovery after a difficult start to the year, especially in the travel sector. We look forward to helping Destination Gold Coast refocus and rebuild to capture more of the visitor market.”

Travel is an important industry for In Marketing We Trust, with many travel clients including Expedia, Globus Family of Brands and working closely with Skyscanner and Kayak. With Destination Gold Coast coming on board the agency continues to invest in the future of travel.

Says Carla Anderson, executive director of marketing, Destination Gold Coast: “Re-establishing our partnership with In Marketing We Trust will assist Destination Gold Coast to further optimise its online performance. The rigorous tender process was awarded to In Marketing We Trust based on their ability to provide sound tactical and strategic solutions for some of our key digital challenges, and we are thrilled to successfully appoint them to help Destination Gold Coast achieve its digital objectives for FY21.”

Last year, the Gold Coast attracted a record 14.2 million visitors, however, COVID-19 travel restrictions have derailed its largest economic driver in tourism, worth almost $6 billion.

Anderson said that while recovery would take some time, the Gold Coast is focussed on regaining its domestic share, while also capturing outbound demand before international borders open.

Says Anderson: “We’ve already seen green shoots from intrastate and South Australian visitors and once Queensland’s border reopens, we will turn our attention as planned to recapture the Gold Coast’s core visitor fly markets, starting with New South Wales.”

In the financial year 2018-19 Australia generated $60.8 billion in direct tourism gross domestic product (GDP) which was a growth of 3.5 percent over the previous year and faster than the national GDP growth. While it will take time to recover, In Marketing We Trust is confident that with the race back to travel, domestic tourism will see early wins.

Says Hewett: “Travel is an important sector for us. It is a sector we want to continue to invest in, even during the hard times and there are significant opportunities on the horizon for destination marketing, specifically for the domestic market.”

In Marketing We Trust will be assisting Destination Gold Coast with a website rebuild and a new search strategy during the coming months.