Experience Eumundi - Destination Marketing

Brand Story

Experience Eumundi is the tourism body for Eumundi, a hinterland town on Kabi Kabi Country on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast. It represents the whole town... its businesses, makers, community groups and events.

At the heart of the town sits the Eumundi Markets, which welcomes around 1.2 million visitors a year. Around 600 stalls trade twice a week, every week of the year.

The markets generate an estimated $54 million in visitor spending, support more than 1,300 jobs and drive around 30,000 room nights a year across the Sunshine Coast and Noosa.

Every visit gives back. Around $7.5 million flows to local community organisations, initiatives and services each year, from sponsorships and charity fundraising to a free weekly shopping bus for elderly residents.

“Experience the magic of Eumundi”

In 2026, Eumundi Markets was named a Queensland Tourism Awards finalist in the Major Festivals and Events category .

Goal

In 2020, COVID brought Eumundi to a standstill. The markets and much of the main street closed for around eight weeks. When the town reopened in June, it needed more than open doors... it needed people back.

The objectives were to:

• Bring life, activity and visitors back to the town and the markets
• Build a brand that represented all of Eumundi, beyond the markets
• Grow an owned audience the town could reach directly
• Give locals and visitors more reasons to come back

Solution

Optimised Digital founder Bamik Baker has led marketing for Experience Eumundi since 2020. The reactivation campaign started with one question... what makes Eumundi feel like Eumundi?

The answer was its people. The strategy included:

• A new brand platform. “Experience the magic of Eumundi” became the umbrella for everything the town offers: the colour, the craft, the food, the stories and the fun.
• The faces and stories of Eumundi. An ongoing content series profiled the makers, business owners and local characters who make the town what it is. Locals and visitors were still sharing it 18 months after launch.
• Paid media built from scratch. Meta awareness campaigns were set up from zero, targeting the South East Queensland drive market, and drove link clicks for as little as 9c.
• An owned audience. Every campaign and event fed the email database, which grew from around 2,000 to more than 10,000 subscribers.
• Free community events. Outdoor movie nights at the Eumundi Amphitheatre, music events and Kids Sunday activations were all created from scratch, with moments honouring Kabi Kabi culture woven through the program.
• Grants and sponsorship. More than $200k in Queensland Government and council grants funded events, activities, content and support for local businesses. A community sponsorship program, now in its fifth round, funds local not-for-profits each year.
• Regional partnerships. Projects were delivered with Visit Sunshine Coast, Visit Noosa, Sunshine Coast Council, Noosa Council and the Eumundi Chamber of Commerce, positioning Eumundi within the wider Sunshine Coast story.

Results

1. The email database grew 5x, from around 2,000 to more than 10,000 subscribers.
2. Link clicks cost as little as 9c on Meta, well under a fifth of the travel industry median.
3. The reactivation content was still being shared 18 months after launch, lifting social following, email sign-ups and visitation to the town and markets.
4. More than $200k in grant funding was secured to reinvest in the town.
5. A free events calendar was built from scratch, giving locals and visitors new reasons to come back outside market days.
6. Eumundi Markets became a 2026 Queensland Tourism Awards finalist.

Key Takeaway

Eumundi’s people were always its biggest drawcard. Putting their faces and stories at the centre of the brand, then backing them with paid media, free events and an owned audience, brought a quiet post-COVID town back to life and gave visitors a reason to return.