Tourism Australia Debuts New Ad Campaign

Tourism Australia’s annual event, G’Day USA Australia Week, a celebration of Australian culture, food and travel, launched Jan. 13 in Los Angeles. The event also visited San Francisco and wrapped up on Jan. 24 in New York.

In conjunction with G’Day USA Australia Week, Tourism Australia also unveiled a new ad campaign and a series of themed packages at www.australia.com . The advertisements, part of a $2 million brand campaign, are running now through Feb. 14 and will appear online on MSN, Yahoo, various travel sites and on national television, including National Geographic, CNN, with spots scheduled to air during “Larry King Live” and “Anderson Cooper 360” and on ABC’s news programs, including “Good Morning America.”

This year, Australia will experience a 90 percent increase in air capacity, thanks to the introduction of Qantas’ new A380s; V Australia, which is Virgin’s new international airline; and, later this year, Delta’s entry into the Australian market. The additional air service has also led Tourism Australia to forecast a 1 percent increase in visitation in 2009, over 2008.

In the 12 months ending September 2008, there were 457,969 U.S. visitors to Australia, an increase of 0.6 percent compared with the previous year. The figure represents 8.1 percent of total international visitors to Australia.

Additionally, for the 12 months ending September 2008, the U.S. market was worth $2.1 billion in total inbound economic value, an increase of 6.1 percent compared to the previous year, and representing 8.6 percent of total tourism exports.

Source: CaribbeanNewsDigital