Welcome to the Off Season: How Tasmania made winter cool

There’s something special taking place in Tasmania. Yes, it’s cold - bitterly cold. It’s also dark by 5pm. The city is intentionally moody, there’s a smell of woodfired heaters almost everywhere you go and red lights bathe Hobart’s skyline in a festival glow. But that’s exactly the point.

In a nation where tourism campaigns often sell sunshine and surf, Tasmania has flipped the script and owned the cold.

From wood-fired saunas and icy plunges to wombat walkers and all-night art festivals, Australia’s island state has rebranded the cold months as a time of indulgence, mystery and emotional connection.

At the centre of it all is Tourism Tasmania’s long-running "Off Season" campaign - now in its fifth year - and an approach to destination branding that favours authenticity over aesthetic perfection and depth over volume.

“We’re onto something that works,” Lindene Cleary, chief marketing officer at Tourism Tasmania told Marketing-Interactive from her office on Hobart’s Murray Street. “It’s not your typical tourism montage of beaches and sunshine - this is a very different way of doing destination comms. It’s true emotion. Not telling people what to do or how to feel - just inviting them to experience it.”

A different kind of destination

Born in 2021, the Off Season campaign was initially designed to help address Tasmania’s highly seasonal tourism flow. While summer has long drawn solid visitor numbers, winter had remained quiet.

"It wasn't just about a campaign to get people here," Cleary explains. "It was also a call to action for the tourism industry to get behind something that could make winter not just viable, but valuable."

Tourism operators across the state were encouraged to offer something they didn’t provide in any other season - unique, only-in-winter experiences. This year saw more than 700 offers and events created under the Off Season umbrella.

The state has aligned under a shared strategy, with everyone from local publishers and retailers to F&B operators seemingly working from the same winter playbook. It’s a coordinated effort that extends beyond tourism operators and reflects a unified vision of what Tasmania in winter should feel like.

And, it worked. Tasmania is now punching well above its weight in brand awareness. According to the latest figures, total brand communication awareness among Australian travellers hit 35% in 2024, behind only Queensland and New Zealand (an entire country). Not bad for a campaign anchored in moody skies and fireplaces instead of sunshine and surf.

Cleary says the strength and authenticity of Off Season would fall flat if it weren’t embraced by Tasmanians themselves. Instead, it has become something of a movement.

"If Tasmanians weren't into it, it wouldn't work anywhere near as well," she says. "They are often part of the experience for visitors. A little bar will put on a Dark Mofo cocktail, a donut shop will do a chilli-glazed special. Even the bridge and casino get lit up red. The whole city gets behind it."

This local pride and participation feeds into the success of flagship events like Dark Mofo, which returned to full programming in 2025 after a “period of renewal” and quickly became one of the most talked-about festivals in the country.

SEE MORE: Tourism Tasmania retains BMF for creative strategy and execution

The Off Season’s strength is its emotional core. It doesn’t sell a checklist of activities. It invites you to feel something: a sense of place, a change of pace, a reconnection with the small things.

"We own the cold," Cleary says. "Yes, it might be hard or unpredictable. But that’s what makes it beautiful. That feeling of being outside in the elements all day and then coming in to a warm whisky or a crackling fire - that’s what we lean into."

Crucially, the campaign was built on the trust established by its predecessor, the award-winning "Come Down For Air" platform. That brand narrative has provided a long-term foundation for Tourism Tasmania's distinctive, emotionally intelligent creative direction.

That emotional depth is no accident. The campaign was developed with creative agency BMF, known for its commitment to long ideas and building both brand and business through creativity. Their reappointment this year speaks to the value of consistency - and the belief that great tourism marketing doesn’t just follow seasons, it builds across them.

Longevity by design

While most tourism campaigns run hot and fade fast, the Off Season has been designed for the long game. Now in its fifth year, it has continually evolved without abandoning its core message.

"A lot of marketers want the shiny new thing," Cleary says. "But we're committed to the longevity of this idea. We've balanced that long-term message with momentary spikes in awareness - like Odd Jobs and Winternships."

The Winternship program, launched in 2024, offers immersive winter experiences like oyster shucking, sauna rituals and mountain hikes. Odd Jobs, a 2023 campaign fronted by comedian Josh Thomas, playfully encouraged burnt-out professionals to swap their day job for a unique Tasmanian work stint. That campaign alone generated more than 1.2 billion global media impressions.

Tourism Tasmania has leaned heavily on PR, influencers and social to amplify its message. "There’s only so much we can achieve with paid media," Cleary admits. "So we invest in earned."

Their strategy includes targeted media famils, influencer partnerships and even tactical brand acts - such as a rapid-response campaign around Princess Mary’s Denmark connection in early 2024.

International testing has also begun. A version of the Winternship program was launched in Singapore this year, in partnership with Trip.com. While smaller in numbers, the campaign saw significantly higher conversion rates than the domestic market.

Cold is the new cool

Tourism Tasmania may not have the dollars of Destination NSW or Visit Victoria – its annual report says Tassie spent around AU$27.2 million on marketing in the previous year. But what it lacks in budget it makes up for in unity and purpose.

With a total marketing team of 45 inside a 70-person agency, it still delivered 1.3 million visitors in the year to June 2024, while achieving a brand awareness level most larger states would envy. Cleary says early indications for this year are already tracking very well.

"We make every dollar work as hard as it can," Cleary says.

“The amazing thing about working at Tourism Tasmania is the genuine passion for what we do. I know everyone says that, but here it's 1,000% true, because everyone who works here either grew up in Tasmania, or moved away and came back - or they've made the call to make Tasmania their home.

At a time when global tourism is saturated with sameness, Tasmania has chosen a harder, slower, more emotionally resonant path. It has redefined winter as an asset, not a barrier.

And in doing so, it hasn’t just captured attention. It has built something rare: a tourism brand with depth, longevity and soul.

“Even before my time in this role, there's always been a philosophy of we're not going to cut through by doing the same thing, so it has to be different. It has to make people feel something.

“There's something very special about spending your days carefully making decisions about how to spread the word about your home state. That comes with huge amount of love and care for the work that we do, which I think is rare. There’s a genuine passion here. And I think it shows."