CASE STUDY: Positively Wellington Tourism introduces local cuisine in Sydney

Background

New Zealand is often stereotyped as an adventure travel destination. Domestically, Wellington is recognised as a cultural and culinary hub for New Zealanders due to the surrounding world-class vineyards, boutique food producers, large scale art events and exhibitions. The city is also regarded as the gateway to Marlborough and the South Island.

Aim

Positively Wellington Tourism in partnership with Hill & Knowlton (H&K) Sydney set out to boost awareness and position the city as an ideal short break destination and New Zealand’s ‘culinary capital’ by showcasing the best of Wellington’s dining scene.

Execution

Former Sydney restaurant The Bayswater Brasserie was transformed into eatery WLG, Wellington's postal code, and staffed by four of Wellington’s best chefs to create a temporary 'pop-up' restaurant as the base for the project.

WLG opened its doors to Sydney from 14 to 26 September, offering three courses for US$28 and wine at $7 per glass. Most of the cooking ingredients were sourced from Wellington and served with wine from the surrounding wine producing regions of Marlborough and Wairarapa.

Diners were also entertained with informative facts about the New Zealand capital and surrounding areas. 

Result

The pop-up restaurant received 1,500 bookings within four hours after it was released by media partner Time Out Sydney. A further 200 seats were made available and subsequently sold out in under 30 minutes.

Over the two-week period, 3,000 people dined at WLG.

Time Out magazine credited the restaurant as the “fastest selling event ever”. The event was also covered in the Sydney Morning Herald, Daily Telegraph, AAP, The Australian Financial Review, as well as a cooking segment on Channel 10’s morning show The Circle.

WLG’s Twitter page reaches over 33,000 people in seven days.

Credits:
Project WLG - Sydney Pop Up Restaurant
Client Positively Wellington Tourism
Public relations agency Hill & Knowlton Sydney
General manager Fergus Kibble
Senior account manager James Hale
Account executive Antony Pinshaw
Event producer Heath Felton of Felton Consulting
Exposure Online, on-ground