John and I are in Canberra, the national capital of Australia as part of a remarkable new marketing campaign to promote Canberra as a travel destination. Ian Hill, director of Australian Capital Tourism welcomed the first group of 250 (out of more than 30,000 applicants) at the Australian War Memorial last night.
He told us that we were on the edge of a shift in how marketing will evolve from traditional to trusted recommendations and that’s where we all fit in.
Today we’re off to Capital Wines. Who knew that wine has been made near Canberra for over 150 years? I certainly didn’t. I’m looking forward to some fantastic food paired with brilliant wines. I’ve been starving myself since breakfast a few minutes ago.
Once lunch is over, around 2 this afternoon, we’ll head to the Australian National Gallery of Art and more goodies. I will probably gain an extra 5 pounds over this weekend but honestly, it’s 5 pounds well earned. Everything has been so good.
Last night at the War Memorial we had mini pancakes topped with delicious caramelized onions, delicious lamb chops, perfectly cooked chicken satay sticks. I was so full by the time we got back to the hotel and in our room was a snack pack of energy bars, apples and two boxes of chocolates. Anyone on this trip who goes home hungry has no excuse!
There are 4 groups from different categories of interest. Obviously I’m in the food and wine group but there is an adventure group, family fun group and an arts and culture group.
Everyone was at the War Memorial last night and there wasn’t one kid who was a pain in the ass. Not one. Everyone was talking about what a beautiful experience it was to share with children.
If I don’t visit you until Monday, it’s because I just haven’t had time. Too much eating to do.
The only thing we’re asked to do for #humanbrochure is to let people know how we enjoyed Canberra. They haven’t asked us to be positive, only honest about our experience. There have been those pooh poohing this event saying nobody will be honest but I doubt anyone in this group would have any loyalty to anyone but their readers. John and I think it’s a really clever idea.
I hope they can keep the momentum growing after we go home so that this sort of marketing continues. What a great way to encourage others to include Canberra in their destination planning for Australia. I love Canberra. It was designed by an American, it’s brilliantly easy to find your way around, everything is as neat as a pin and people are incredibly friendly. There’s something for every human to enjoy and beautiful buildings.
You should visit. 🙂