Fuel costs are biting. People are cancelling their trips. What can a Destination Marketing Organisation do?
As if the last decade hasn’t been hard enough for the tourism industry, we’ve just been dealt another blow ahead of what should have been our busiest season – Easter school holidays.
While travel research points to strong demand for domestic travel, what we’re hearing from the frontline tells a different story.
Operators are reporting more cancellations than ever, driven by rising fuel costs and uncertainty around supply at the visitors’ end destination.
People aren’t burning unnecessary fuel or venturing further afield – and that’s a major problem for Australian tourism, which is driven (pun intended) by drive market visitors and sees 44 cents of every visitor-dollar go into the regions.
Our DMO clients are rightly concerned, their operators weary from resilience fatigue and our governing bodies – already busy advocating.
The question we’re hearing from DMOs is simple: is there more we should be doing?
If you’ve still got the proverbial gas in your own tank, here are a few ideas destination marketing organisations could be putting into practice right now. It won’t stop the cancellations, but it might slow them.
Pin to your social media that you are open for business this Easter
I’ve never met a form of transparent communication I didn’t like – and in times of crisis, the consumer doesn’t just ask for it – they expect it. If your destination has fuel, a pinned social media post assuring visitors they can still fill up in your town is now a baseline expectation ahead of the school holidays. Keep this post updated so people know your socials are a trusted source of truth. This sort of information is even more important for regional towns where there may only be 1-2 petrol stations. A clear understanding of current supply will go a long way to ease the minds of those still thinking about travelling.
Prioritise promoting public transport options
As an Australian Regional Tourism Ambassador, I am well aware this isn’t possible for half of the country – but for those marketing destinations with bus and rail options, it’s time to double down on a public transport approach. Most itineraries we’ve created for clients in the last decade all focus on fly / drive – in fact, I don’t think we’ve ever received a brief to create a piece of content where the travellers take public transport to region. Perhaps now is the time? We’re recommending vertical videos to show how easy it is to take a train or bus to region departing from your major source centres.
Showcase your EV points and how to use them
Creating a map of EV points has sat on many Destination Marketing Plans I’ve read, and yet I’ve seldom seen in circulation. A stylistic mud map of EV points whipped up in Canva could give the consumer the confidence they need to travel right now. While you’re there, pin this to social media too – it might be all the convincing a traveller needs to encourage an Easter escape. Share the map with industry so they can share with their audiences too.
Optimise your website for GEO, writing with customer pain points in mind
We know AI search hasn’t just changed the website traffic game, it’s fundamentally shifted it. As AI-powered tools and answer engines replace traditional search journeys, destinations are losing visibility in places they once dominated. Traffic is no longer guaranteed by ranking first on Google. The new reality is this – AI doesn’t rank your page. It selects your answer, completely bypassing your website in the process. We’d suggest you spend time auditing your content to ensure your answering consumer queries – to ensure you can be found. Consumers will be searching around pain points e.g. is there fuel in Dalby?, Is it safe to travel to Goondiwindi?, Where can I go without driving far? This is the perfect time to be leaning into these so your answer is first. There’s no need to rebuild your content or website, simply update pages – speed is going to be your advantage here.
Opt for ‘closer than you think’ messaging
Right now, perceived distance is just as much of a barrier as actual fuel cost. Many destinations we work with, might only be 60-90 minutes away but in the minds of consumer can feel a world away. Leading with drive times in content is going to become an increasingly important element for destinations within easy reach of their source-markets to help potential visitors feel a trip is achievable, without overthinking the fuel consumption. While normally we advocate for regional dispersal in itineraries, now is the time to cluster stops and create logical routes – one trip to one part of your region is going to be more important than no trips to all of it.
Rally the demand for later travel
Not all travellers will be ready to convert in H1 2026 – and frankly, they never were. Between fuel, rising cost of living and uncertainty around interest rates – we can probably expect a slower year for travel numbers across the board. For destinations, we’d suggest focusing on those longer term plays and booking markets – those who typically take four to six months to convince anyway. These markets can become your priority with content that serves the dreaming and planning stages of the travel cycle. Events, particularly regional events can be used as the ‘hook to book’ with messaging centred around the need to plan now, experience later.
While clear marketing can’t solve a fuel crisis, it can reduce uncertainty, rebuild confidence and help travellers make the decision to go now and in the future.
The biggest risk destinations have right now is doing nothing. A sensible presence in market is critical – even if conversion is seen down the track.
What we know for sure is this: crisis creates both challenge and opportunity. And if the last decade has taught us anything, it’s that the comeback can outpace the setback. We also know it’s hard to feel that way right now.