By Danielle Kutchel
The City of Casey has moved to cement its reputation as a tourist destination in the growing Chinese traveller market through a video for Chinese viewers.
Broadcast in July on a Beijing television station, the video featured Moonlit Sanctuary and MPD Steak Kitchen and aimed to put Casey on the map as part of a global tourism push.
The video promoted Casey as a great weekend family getaway destination, and highlighted the two local attractions as part of its theme: “Fun Casey, feed animal, enjoy gourmet food”.
Having been open for three years and with plans to be around for a lot longer still, MPD manager Marcus Fabian says the restaurant saw an opportunity through the video to mark their presence in the City of Casey.
“The benefit for us is to expand our presence, not just to people in Beijing and China but to within the Chinese community in the City of Casey who also might watch the footage or be told by friends back home,” Mr Fabian explained.
Michael Johnson, director at Moonlit Sanctuary, said the sanctuary had been looking to develop links with China through the City of Casey, and jumped at this opportunity.
“We were surprised at how widely it was distributed and how it turned out,” he admitted.
He said the Chinese tourism market was changing, with increasing numbers of independent travellers rather than tour groups, and that the sanctuary’s tourism strategy involved working with these independent travellers.
“International tourism is very good for us and the community, because people spend their money in the community and come all year round,” he said.
The video also featured a brief look at Bunjil Place as an entertainment precinct.
