New look for Snowy Valleys Way touring route

The Snowy Valleys Way touring route, which offers a scenic alternative to the Hume Highway is set to receive a marketing makeover.

Snowy Valleys Council received funding to develop a new look for the Snowy Valleys Way including an overhaul of the promotional and marketing collateral.

Council’s Executive Director Community & Corporate Paul Holton said the re-vamp project included new look road signage, a new website and refreshed visual language for use in all collateral material related to the touring route.

“The new branding sets to position the route as a journey and appeal to a target audience seeking adventure and a slow travel experience,” Mr Holton said.

Along with signage, print and social media platforms, a new website will promote the natural beauty of the road trip, and provide details of campsites, dump points, fuel stops, and other services important to holiday travelers. It will also provide links to other regional tourism websites including Visit Snowy Valleys and Visit Upper Murray.

“We collaborated with Cootamundra Gundagai Regional Council, Towong Shire Council and Indigo Shire Council, who all have a stake in the touring route to ensure everyone was on board with the new look,” Mr Holton said.

Starting at Gundagai, the Snowy Valleys Way passes through Tumut, Batlow, Tumbarumba, Corryong, Yackandandah and Beechworth before re-joining the Hume Highway at Wangaratta.

Mr Holton said the new design collateral would be ready to roll out as visitors began returning to regional Australia following the pandemic restrictions.

“Drive tourism is set to become the preferred Australian holiday escape and is a very important part of our wider region’s visitor experience,” he said.

“Encouraging travelers to detour off the highway via the Snowy Valleys Way brings them into contact with our towns and villages which they would not otherwise be exposed to, helping to boost our local tourism economy,” he went on to say.

The new brand uses simple solid shapes to communicate detouring from the highway and helps to achieve recognition of the brand even when moving, and at a distance.

The website is expected to launch in June 2020, with new road signage installed, and print media available soon thereafter.

The original Snowy Valleys Way project was developed over a decade ago and was a collaboration between the former Councils of Gundagai, Tumut, Tumbarumba, Towong and Indigo and was backed by Federal Government funding. Snowy Valleys Council received a $50,000 grant under the NSW Government’s Stronger Communities Fund to update the branding and collateral.