Promoting walking in Queensland National Parks

Image credit: Greg Cartwright © Queensland Government

Action 3.9, Action Plan for Walking 2019–2021

Status: Complete

Promote new and existing walks in Queensland National Parks as part of the Life’s Best Moments campaign.

Achievements

Due to Queensland’s unprecedented fire season and the COVID-19 pandemic, the Life’s Best Moments campaign was changed to Think outside and launched in June 2020 to broaden audience reach. Think Outside promotes active experiences in Queensland National Parks such as walking, hiking and camping to Queenslanders and visitors to the state.

A new communications channel was introduced in June 2020: a monthly e-newsletter, Naturally Queensland, to drive visitation to the refreshed campaign and departmental websites. This channel has been performing strongly to a database of over 100,000 subscribers, achieving an above-industry standard open rate. It is part of a multi-channel strategy utilising web, social media, electronic direct mail, and stakeholder cross promotions.

There continues to be a strong focus on walking content, from promoting family-friendly walks to multi-day hikes in Queensland National Parks. Twenty new walking and hiking blogs and videos were developed and released from July 2020. Some of these focused on the physical and mental health benefits of walking, within the context of Healthy Parks Healthy People. The campaign website’s feature articles also promoted walking.

The Department of Environment and Science also collaborated with Queensland Walks and the 10,000 Steps Program for Queensland Walks Walk Week in August 2020, with several promotional posts on Queensland National Parks social media channels attaining an average audience reach of 10,000. Participants took part in a week-long celebration of walking, sharing walking stories through images, video, audio and social media on Queensland Walks channels. The department will also collaborate with the 10,000 Steps Program on a Queensland National Parks-focused monthly challenge in 2021.

Next steps

Think outside will continue to run as an 'always-on' campaign. The Queensland National Parks social media channels and Naturally Queensland e-newsletter will be used to drive visitation to the departmental and campaign website for more information about parks, camping and recreational activities such as walking.

Stakeholder support continues to be a vital way of sharing relevant content and the campaign has been supported by Outdoors Queensland, Queensland Health, Health and Wellbeing Queensland, National Parks Association of Queensland, Nature Play QLD, Scouts Queensland, regional tourism organisations and other government agencies.

Lead agency

Department of Environment and Science

More information

Subscribe to the monthly Naturally Queensland e-newsletter for inspiration and ideas on how to explore and enjoy our parks and forests.