Problem: Australia’s country towns are slowly dying, with unemployment, drought, bushfires, xenophobia and waning tourism tearing communities apart. The local pub is often the only glue left holding these towns together, but even pubs are struggling to survive. Country pubs-and country towns-need more guests. Luckily, we know plenty.

Solution: A sustainable tourism campaign that puts small Australia back on the map. We partnered with six country towns to restore their pubs to their former glory. A new category of listings was featured on our platform, connecting rural communities with our Airbnb community of millions. The rest of Australia was encouraged to venture past their local pub, and find their ‘not so local instead.

Result: The whole of Australia got behind The Country Pub Project, with unprompted support from local communities, state tourism and national government. The initiative was such a success that we’re continuing to onboard country pubs, providing an economic boost to towns that need it most.

Phase One: Nominations

Airbnb asked Australians to nominate their favourite country pub or publican in need of a helping hand. To be eligible, pubs had to have an accommodation offering.

Phase Two: Restorations

Six pubs across Australia were chosen as recipients of a $50,000 grant, along with a team of design professionals who partnered with the community and publicans to restore the pub to its former glory (utilising all local businesses). Airbnb Superhosts helped publicans to publish eye-catching listings on the brand’s platform, connecting rural communities to the global Airbnb community of millions.

Phase Three: Spread the word

A nationwide integrated campaign encouraged Australians to venture past their local pub and find their ‘not so local’ instead. Each channel effectively captured the nuance of pub, town and community, allowing Airbnb to turn Australia’s tyranny of distance into the campaign’s biggest drawcard.

At all stages, Airbnb partnered with regional communities to ensure The Country Pub Project came to life as a sustainable tourism initiative, with scope to continue boosting local economies well beyond the initial campaign period.

Credits
Samyabrata Deb – Regional Creative Director, Airbnb APAC
Stephanie Low – Creative Lead, Design, Airbnb APAC
Shannon Crowe – Creative Lead, Copy
Henry Huang – Creative Production Lead, Airbnb APAC
Nick Sinclair – Regional Marketing Director, Airbnb APAC
Jess Martin – Sr Marketing Manager, Airbnb APAC
Daniel Gervais – Country Marketing Manager, Airbnb ANZ
Charlotte Kent – Marketing Specialist, Airbnb ANZ
Kevin Cheng – Social Media & Content, Airbnb ANZ
Rachel Bartholomeusz – Digital Lead, Public Policy, Airbnb APAC
Puja Bhargava – Media Activation Lead, Airbnb APAC
John Tan – Digital Media Manager, Airbnb APAC
Chloe Browne – Communications Lead, Airbnb ANZ
Jason Sukadana – Director, Versus Studio
Tanya Babic – Director, Versus Studio
Brad Jarrett – DoP, Versus Studio
Gemma Atkinson – Producer, Versus Studio
Pete Ward – Editor, Versus Studio
Sean McDermott – Editor, Versus Studio
Drew Wheeler – Photographer

This campaign is about:
Sustainable tourism, The Country Pub Project by Airbnb, Travel, Pub, Tourism, Digital Campaign, Advertising, Marketing