The Bundaberg Region has been identified as a top spot to visit after appearing on the Aussie Bucket List website which promotes Australia to the world.
The Aussie Bucket List Facebook page acts as a virtual tour guide for those wanting to discover Australia's hidden gems, with the aim to inspire adventure and encourage travellers to tick off experiences from a bucket list.
Samantha Porter is the founder behind the tourism movement and said the decision to feature Bundaberg on the Aussie Bucket List was an easy one to make.
“Bundaberg has such a diverse range of bucket list experiences, including taste testing tours at Bundaberg Brewed Drinks and the famous Bundaberg Rum distillery, hiking Mount Walsh and swimming in natural rockpools in Mount Walsh National Park, watching turtles nest and hatch with Mon Repos Turtle Centre,” she said.
“You can also take a steam train ride through the Bundaberg Botanic Gardens, take the kids on a free day out exploring the Alexandra Park, pick fresh strawberries and taste homemade strawberry ice-cream from Tinaberries.
“From visiting the breathtakingly beautiful islands off the coast and snorkelling the Southern Great Barrier Reef, there is so much to see and do in the Bundaberg Region, it is 100 per cent worthy of a spot on everyone’s Aussie Bucket List.”
What is Aussie Bucket List?
Samantha said she decided to start Aussie Bucket List after realising the need for a one-stop-shop of information for travellers.
“I envisioned the need for a smart-phone application and website which allows travellers to create their own digital bucket list account for Australian travel experiences,” she said.
“When going on holidays to a new destination, many travellers will want to know what the top things to see and do in that place are.
“Aussie Bucket List provides travellers with this information, inspires them to pre-plan their trip, make tour and event bookings, create their own personalised Aussie Bucket List account, share the bucket list with friends and start ticking it off sooner.”
Samantha said she first started posting about Australian bucket list experiences and destinations back in February 2015.
“Through engaging with our followers, we recognised an opportunity to develop an app and website which allows people to create their own digital bucket list of Australian experiences,” she said.
“We have received really positive feedback from our 23,000+ social media followers, who are anticipating the launch of our app.
“Our official website www.aussiebucketlist.com.au and app is due to launch in approximately six weeks.”
Samantha said promoting region's in Australia was especially important in keeping local tourism alive.
“Promoting bucket list experiences in each region across Australia inspires our audience to visit these destinations that potentially were not even on their radar before,” she said.
“Many of our audience tag their partners, friends and families on our posts with comments such as ‘let’s add this to our bucket list’ and ‘let’s visit here this weekend’.”
Aussie Bucket List a win for travellers and economy
With a social media reach of 100,000 to 250,000 impressions each week, Samantha said the Aussie Bucket List was not only helping travellers choose their next destination, it was also a win for local economy, especially when times were tough.
“Attracting visitors to regional communities has a significantly positive impact on the local economy, supporting small business and jobs,” she said.
“We are passionate about Australia and supporting small business, so we wanted to use our social media influence to help shine a light on regions all across Australia.
“We commenced a Virtual Lap of Oz after the terrible summer bushfires to help support these affected communities, and then before we new it, Australia was closing it’s borders and businesses due to the COVID-19 global pandemic.
“We then continued the Virtual Lap of Oz at the tip of Australia in Cape York, and are currently working our way down the east coast of Australia, around Tasmania, across the southern states, around WA, through the NT and then back up through the centre of the Eastern states.”
If you own a small business that would like to be featured on the Aussie Bucket List website and app or social media channels, email samantha@aussiebucketlist.com.au.
To be notified of when the app launches, visit www.aussiebucketlist.com.au and subscribe to the email list.
Thank you for the beautiful write up Ashley! We look forward to featuring more of your beautiful region in the future.