Fremantle a winner at WA Tourism Awards

The City of Fremantle’s efforts to attract more visitors and reinforce Fremantle’s status as a major tourism destination have been recognised at the 2021 WA Tourism Awards.

At a gala awards dinner on Saturday night, the City won the Excellence in Local Government Award for Tourism.

The City’s THIS IS FREMANTLE campaign took out second place for the Tourism Marketing and Campaigns category.

Fremantle Mayor Hannah Fitzhardinge said the THIS IS FREMANTLE campaign was a concerted effort to identify the qualities that made Fremantle such a unique destination and promote those qualities to a wider audience.

“People who live in Fremantle understand it’s a special place, but explaining just what makes it so special can be a tricky task,” Mayor Fitzhardinge said.

“That task fell to our Destination Marketing Working Group – a team of passionate and dedicated tourism and marketing experts chaired by Linda Wayman.

“They created our Destination Marketing Strategic Plan and delivered the THIS IS FREMANTLE brand, which captures Freo’s essential values of Spirit, Soul and Sea.

“The THIS IS FREMANTLE brand and the campaigns and activations associated with it have been really important in keeping Fremantle front of mind during COVID and supporting local businesses.

“We also greatly value our partnerships with organisations including Destination Perth, Tourism WA, Business Events Perth, Tourism Council of WA, Tourism Australia and Business Events Australia in supporting the brand and telling the world what a wonderful place Fremantle is to visit.

“This is such an exciting time for Freo with Walyalup Koort, FOMO and the new Walyalup Civic Centre set to open over the next few weeks, adding to the already amazing mix of boutique shops, hotels, restaurants, cafes, bars and attractions.

“With summer just around the corner, everyone is invited to come down and experience the new, revitalised Fremantle.”

Other Freo winners on the night included Fremantle Prison (Hall of Fame) winning the Cultural Tourism award and Fremantle’s ferry service SeaLink WA taking home silver in the Major Tour and Transport Operators category. Fremantle Prison also won silver and WA Maritime Museum won bronze in the Major Tourist Attractions category.

The City of Fremantle’s Destination Marketing Working Group was formed in 2018, with the THIS IS FREMANTLE brand launched the following year.

Since then THIS IS FREMANTLE campaign content has appeared on social media or in digital advertising more than 6 million times, while more than half a million people have watched campaign videos, almost 2 million people have heard the campaign on radio and more than 1.6 million have seen advertisements on commercial television.

Earlier this month the City launched a new and improved visitfremantle.com.au website and a new THIS IS FREMANTLE annual holiday planner publication, supported by a major digital marketing campaign.

Image: Fremantle Markets CEO Natasha Atkinson, the City’s Senior Economic Development Officer Wendy O’Shaughnessy, Fremantle Mayor Hannah Fitzhardinge, the City’s Acting CEO Glen Dougall, Fremantle Chamber of Commerce CEO Danicia Quinlan, the City’s Event Coordinator Aimee Sabbatino and Economic Development Officer Jessica Harford, and Fremantle Prison Director Paula Nelson.