MEDIA FAMILS

Bundaberg Tourism’s PR strategy leverages our national and international media network to disperse positive promotion of the region through partnerships with trusted and influential traditional media and digital outlets.

WHAT IS A FAMIL?

Famil is a shortened term we use for familiarisation.

Bundaberg Tourism operator three types of famils - media famils, trade famils and local industry famils. This section refers to media famils.

Throughout the year Bundaberg Tourism, often in partnership with our Southern Great Barrier Reef partners, Tourism & Events Queensland and Tourism Australia, host famils into the region.

Famils offer media and influencers a taste of what’s on offer, and we use them strategically to educate and inspire the people who influence consumers in making their holiday decisions. If travel writers and influencers know our region and your product and like it, they can do a lot to sell it through their respective channels.

WHAT VALUE DOES A FAMIL DELIVER?

Famils deliver a very strong return on investment. We measure a famil's success through the AVE generated and/or the number of people reached.

WHAT IS THE FAMIL PROCESS?

Bundaberg Tourism will assess and accept media and influencers before putting together an itinerary to suit their needs as well as the priorities of the destination.  

Assessment

In order to be considered for a famil, media and influencers have to go through a stringent assessment process by ourselves and/or TEQ or TA.

Media need to come with at least one confirmed commission in a reputable publication.  In very special circumstances, media may be offered a famil without a commission, but must have a very strong network of editors and publications with a promise of delivering a story within a reasonable timeframe.

Influencers need offer strong engagement with their audiences for destination experiences to drive maximum visitation value for the region.  They must connect with the regions target audiences, and have the levels of reach and engagement to deliver the desired results.  Influencers prioritise distribution through their digital channels and other outcomes such as images and blogs.

Itinerary

The amount of time a famil guest spends in region and what they see depends very much on what they or their publication wishes them to write about, and how long they can spend out of the office.  Most media today are freelancers, so they are not being paid for the time they are on famil.  This means we try to balance the key attraction/s they are here to visit with a variety of other experiences we know they will enjoy and are interested in - not only are we showing them the depth and breadth of the experiences in region for this article and hopefully others in future, we're also ensuring they walk away feeling inspired.

Famil guests may choose to have a hosted, partially hosted, or unhosted famil, which refers to whether a member of Team BT is with them throughout their time in region or not. All three of these options require careful management to ensure they deliver strong outcomes.

HOW MUCH WORK GOES INTO A FAMIL?

Famils take between 5 –10 hours of planning dependent on the complexity, length and operators involved. During the famil, Bundaberg Tourism staff can spend up to 18 hours a day hosting, and afterwards there is reporting.

BT has a small annual budget to cover costs including including travel and transfers, some accommodation, meals, tickets and other expenses.  

If your business is included in a famil itinerary and we know you will be featured in the outcome, there is an expectation that participating operators contribute to the famil by providing their product free or at a reduced rate - BT's budget is modest so the contribution from industry, the more media we can host!

  MAKE THE MOST OF YOUR MEMBERSHIP

Let talk!
Media and influencers are usually looking for new products or experiences, so if you have something new coming up, let us know with as much notice as possible so we can consider it within our PR and famil program.

If you are interested in being part of a famil itinerary, reach out to our Marketing Team to discuss what this may look like.  

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