With tourism and hospitality organisations, and towns themselves, suffering over the last few months, armed with the knowledge of travel restrictions lifting Out of the Square wanted to do their bit to help. In just one week they created a self-funded initiative called Experience Hunter. This is supported by a video and accompanying webpage experiencehunter.com.au.

The video content is a result of days (and nights) of scouring the internet for the most relevant footage possible that represented the Hunter Region in all its diverse glory. When approached, so many organisations and individuals were only too happy to provide their videos given the spirit of the cause.

‘Initially I was pretty nervous that we may not get enough great stuff in such a short period of time to do this idea justice, however in the end we had so much powerful footage it was incredibly tough to narrow down the shots used in the final 2 minute video’ said Marty Adnum, Managing Director, Out of the Square Media

“Even with the video done we knew it would not be enough on its own, in a sense we were teasing people but then leaving them to their own devices. So, we knew we had to produce a webpage to close the loop. The whole OOTS team rallied and experiencehunter.com.au was created. Making it easy for people inspired by the video to follow up, do more research and book a getaway via the various links on the webpage”

The webpage offers a short description of each of the Hunter’s seven areas: Newcastle, Lake Macquarie, Port Stephens, Wine Country, Upper Hunter, Barrington Tops and Maitland / Lower Hunter. Plus, each area has direct links to the official local tourism site and Destination NSW site. Having everything in one place was critical to selling the experience of the Hunter as a whole and getting traction for those grass roots tourism operators doing it tough.

“Given our passion for the region we felt this is something we really needed to just do. We hadn’t seen anything else out there, so we went for it. The feedback to date and knowing that something as small as this can make such a big difference to those in need has been incredibly heart-warming” Marty.

‘Our region relies very much on visitors and we welcome them back after the last difficult 6 months, drought and fire threat, followed by the covid lock down.

Out of the Square's Experience Hunter initiative is delivering the right message at the right time Being part of it gives us an opportunity to showcase the wonderful natural attractions in our Dungog Region and positioning us in the diverse and spectacular Hunter.'

Marion Stuart - Board member Dungog Regional Tourism and Dungog District Chamber of Commerce

‘The last three months have been difficult for many businesses, tourism businesses in particular. When Out of The Square approached me to be part of a region-wide campaign promoting the Hunter as a destination to visit, I was absolutely delighted as I saw this as an opportunity to come together as a community! As travel restrictions begin to lift across NSW now is the perfect time to get out and safely explore nature!’

Dominic May - Founder Coast XP