If I see one more tourism promotion where some overseas production company has been paid a million or three to fly their drone down the coast at sunset then mix this footage with gorgeous images of sunlight streaming through vineyards and people frolicking on a beach somewhere – I think I’ll puke.
The psychology behind this is pretty simple. You can spruik attributes as much as you like. Talk about the things to do and the places to see , and you will only reach one person at a time. If you are bad storyteller? You won’t even reach that person. If you’ve got lots of money? You are just making that mistake millions of times over eg: The $180 million spent on ‘Where the the bloody hell are you?’ that saw a subsequent decline in visitor numbers to Australia.
Give people a story to tell though, and something different happens. People love telling stories. A good yarn has been shown to release oxytocin in the brain – it makes us feel warm, safe and connected. Telling stories is how we bond.
There is more to Australia than beach resorts. It has a heartland rich with stories. I was glad to be able to tell some of them for the Premier Mill Hotel in Katanning, and the Farmers Home Hotel in Northam.
Kingsley Flett 