VISIT FREO NONSENSE AN EMBARRASSMENT!

More nonsense this morning on Facebook from the This is Fremantle VISIT FREMANTLE marketing people.

“Start your journey in the West End, then stroll to the Fishing Boat Harbour for fresh seafood restaurants, buzzing cafes & an internationally acclaimed brewery”

But the footage of the video that comes with the text has nothing about the Fishing Boat Harbour. It actually starts at Gesha cafe, which is in the East End of Fremantle. There are also no pictures of the historic High Street, or anything I could detect as being in the West End.

Who is producing this shit? Someone in Singapore who has never been to Fremantle? It’s embarrassing!

Roel Loopers

VISIT FREMANTLE AND SEE OUR BUST WITH LEGS

A bust with legs

The VISIT FREMANTLE social media tourism marketing of the City of Fremantle has not had a good weekend. Yesterday, only a couple of hours after reports of a fatal shark attack off Port Beach, Visit Fremantle posted on Twitter a drone shot of Leighton Beach, which is next to Port Beach, stating what a wonderful view the beach was.

Today on Facebook Visit Fremantle claimed that the statue of CY O’Connor in front of the Fremantle Ports building is a bust, when it fact it is a full figure life-size statue. Facts matter, even in tourism marketing.

Here the Facebook post which includes a photo of the Porcelli sculpture at Walyalup Koort:

Visit Fremantle

l4120no5cf69he0td  · Have you ever noticed this statue and wondered about its significance? Located in Walyalup Koort (formerly Kings Square), the statue is of Italian sculptor Pietro Giacomo Porcelli.Porcelli is responsible for many of the impressive sculptures located around Perth, including the C.Y. O’Connor bust at Fremantle Harbour. This artwork, by local sculptor Greg James Sculpture Studio Gallery, was commissioned by the Italian community in honour of his memory and his creative artistry.

Roel Loopers

WHERE IS THE FREMANTLE MARKETING FOR RETAILERS?

Some retailers in the Fremantle CBD are complaining about the This is Fremantle and Visit Fremantle social media marketing, which they claim concentrates on the hospitality industry.

All traders in Fremantle pay the differential rate, that was introduced to finance the now defunct BID(Business Improvement District), so why are retailers largely ignored in the marketing of our city?

I believe the retailers have a fair point, because most of what I see on my computer and TV screens is about pubs and bars and eating and drinking. The 30-second prime time TV promo, shot at North Freo’s Mojo’s annoys the hell out of me, because it is so uninspiring. What is so uniquely Fremantle about a small group of people in a dark bar, where one of them quickly appears to be eating nuts?

One only has to walk down historic High Street to see that we have quite a few unique and quirky retailers and some of them are very photogenic, e.g. the Bill Campbell second-hand bookshop, Remedy, Bodkins Bootery, the Record Finder, the Paper Bird children’s bookshop, and some of the stunning handmade furniture at Port Jarrah.

Fremantle is not just an after 6pm nightlife activity and retailers have the right to expect that when they are forced to pay the differential rate, like all other traders, that they also get their fair share of the marketing budget to promote their daytime businesses.

The feedback I am getting from the Fremantle community is that many people are worried that we are heading toward another Northbridge entertainment centre, where we will get all the booze and drug related crime and antisocial behaviour that area of Perth is getting every weekend night. Fremantle Council should be extremely careful what they wish for when they talk about wanting to re-activate our city.

Where is the marketing promotion to attract families to our city? It only seems to happen during school holidays. The Lego campaigns have been very popular, so keep those going, but Freo should also be promoted as a family and shopping destination on weekends, and that might just include, horror, horror, promoting the great maritime museums, Roundhouse and Fremantle Prison.

Freo is much more that one big boozery.

Roel Loopers

IS FREO’S SOUTH BEACH IN THE INNER HARBOUR?

The VISIT FREMANTLE Facebook marketing page published this lovely photo of South Beach this morning, accompanied by following text:

Visit Fremantle

With the weather warming up, South Beach is the perfect destination to enjoy a swim, a picnic or a barbecue. Located in Fremantle’s inner harbour, South Beach is just a two minute walk from cafes, restaurants and shops on South Terrace. Enjoy breakfast at Third Wheel or grab a coffee and delicious bread to go from Wild Bakery South Freo to start your morning off right.

I have only been living in Fremantle for just under 30 years, but was never aware that South Beach is in the Inner Harbour. Maybe Visit Fremantle had a few too many AFL Grand Final drinks last night? ; >))

Roel Loopers

THE GOOD OLD FREO PORT DAYS

 

 

VISIT FREMANTLE posted this lovely historic coloured-in photo by Colour Me Perth, so I want to share that here, because I love Freo’s working port.

The photo, originally in Black&White, was taken in the early 1900s of English mail arriving.

Roel Loopers

THIS IS FREMANTLE 2020

 

 

This is what Fremantle’s Bathers Beach looked like at midday on January 14, 2020. A big difference to the photo in the blog post below.

Roel Loopers

WHY USE OUT OF DATE PHOTO TO PROMOTE FREMANTLE?

 

There’s plenty to do in Fremantle these school holidays!

Spend the day popping in and out of the water at Bather’s Beach. If you need a break from the water and sun, visit the Round House, WA Shipwrecks Museum or hang at the Esplanade Youth Plaza. https://experienceperth.com/region/fremantle

 

Why is Fremantle Council spending tens of thousands of dollars on destination marketing, but are using out of date photos for the promotion of our city?

VISIT FREMANTLE put this promo by DESTINATION PERTH on Twitter, but on the right Bathers Beach House has been there for years, and there are beach chairs as part of the alfresco straight on the sand, and there is a large Tony Jones artwork as well. The photo must be five years old.

This is nonsense! and ….. there is no apostrophe in Bathers Beach!!!

Roel Loopers

 

VISIT FREMANTLE, EVEN WHEN IT IS MELVILLE

 

I thought I was pretty on the ball and well informed but I must have totally missed a more recent council amalgamation. On Facebook this morning VISIT FREMANTLE gushes about  the Top Dup Donuts shop in Willagee, but I believed Willagee was in the City of Melville.

Yesterday a letter writer from Palmyra complained in the Fremantle Herald, what is happening to our city. He meant Fremantle and is clearly not aware that he lives in Melville.

I am all for a bigger Fremantle and local government reform, but until that happens Visit Fremantle should really promote Freo businesses.

Roel Loopers

VISIT FREMANTLE AND EVERYTHING ELSE WEBSITE

I just had my first look at the new Visit Fremantle website: http://www.visitfremantle.com.au and I am flabbergasted why the home page has a photo of the Round House on the top, the second one is of Kings Park and the third one of the Perth CBD. Visit Fremantle?

When one clicks on ‘tours’ the top one on the list is for Mandurah Cruises. Visit Fremantle?

Listed among the top ten attractions is Tall Ships. Do they mean the Duyfken, because the Leeuwin is not normally open for tourists, or is it an old entry when all the tall ships were in Fremantle port some two years ago?

Roel Loopers