FREE WiFi service at south-west landmarks will turn snap-happy tourists into promoters after a bold $75,000 investment to increase the region’s online profile.
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By the end of the year, Great Ocean Road Regional Tourism will have 24 free WiFi hotspots available from Torquay to Port Fairy.
Half-an-hour of free browsing, or 40 megabytes worth of downloads, will be available daily in Port Fairy, Colac, Port Campbell, Timboon and Camperdown.
Warrnambool’s wireless hotspots are now operational at Flagstaff Hill, the Pavilion Café and Bar, Warrnambool Surf Life Saving Club and the Civic Green.
The joint partnership between councils, Tourism Victoria and the state government aims to encourage social media use among tourists, with research showing photos taken and uploaded by visitors are an effective way to market the region.
Great Ocean Road Regional Tourism general manager Liz Price said the campaign encouraged visitors to promote the diverse experiences of the region.
“The primary inspiration was trying to get a platform for people to use social media and push these images out,” she told The Standard.
“We know international visitors don’t use their data because it’s so expensive, so this provides another solution.”
Ms Price said connecting to the free WiFi would prompt users to input their postcode for marketing research.
“The region is blessed with high visitation; in fact, the highest in regional Victoria, but it also has the lowest yield.
“The reporting from the free WiFi will give very sound data on not only numbers, but ... we can track the movement patterns with people logging on in multiple places, which is great for us because we’re encouraging people to do more while they’re here.
“In the past this tracking was only possible through manual means, which was not reliable to inform strategic decisions.
“It’s a great opportunity for in-region relevant advertising and relative messaging.
“For example, we can encourage people in Port Campbell to go see the whales in Warrnambool.”
She said the connection would be five times faster than “normal internet” available on smartphones, with potential speeds of up to 20 megabytes per second regulated by overall usage.
The tourism campaign is not the only project boosting Warrnambool’s mobile connectivity, with Telstra wireless hotspots also starting to appear around Warrnambool. Telstra south-west area operations manager Bill Mundy said the first free WiFi hotspot was available on the corner of Liebig and Koroit streets, with plans to have two others enabled before Christmas in the CBD.
“It’s in a trial phase so anybody can use it right now,” he said.
“As we move into the new year and finish the trial period, non-Telstra customers can buy a guest pass for a small charge through the Fon network.
“Other sites we’re looking to enable in Warrnambool are opposite the post office, on the corners of Koroit and Lava streets and opposite the caravan park.”
Pavilion Cafe and Bar waitress Tess McDowell said customers often asked staff to take photos featuring the picturesque foreshore. “A lot of them staying at the caravan park come here for breakfast every day and they love it,” she said.
“We’re always taking photos for them so I think the free WiFi is a great idea.”