Tourism Australia launches a $36M campaign to attract US market

The $36 million marketing push is aimed at supercharging the value of American tourism Down Under.

Supported by Qantas, American Airlines and Wine Australia and featuring appearances from some of Australia’s biggest celebrities, the campaign is the largest Tourism Australia has run in the United States since Paul Hogan’s famous Come Say G’Day ads more than 30 years ago.

Celebrities featured include Chris and Liam Hemsworth, Hugh Jackman, Paul Hogan, Margot Robbie, Ruby Rose and Russell Crowe as well as American actor Danny McBride.

Australia’s Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment, the Hon Steven Ciobo MP said 2018 presented the perfect opportunity to ‘aggressively target’ the US market.

“The United States is a critical market for Australia, with close to 780,000 American visitors spending A$3.7 billion per year. A favourable exchange rate and strong aviation capacity leading to highly competitive airfares makes this the right time to increase our investment in the United States,” he said.

“Whilst Australia ranks highly among Americans in terms of desirability and awareness of our tourism offerings, we lag behind our competitors when it comes to actual bookings. This new campaign will address this conversion challenge.

“This is the single largest investment Tourism Australia has ever made in the US market and one we believe will grow annual spend by American visitors to A$6 billion by the year 2020.

“It’s amazing to have Australia’s stars come together for their country and support this campaign. Aussie icons like Chris Hemsworth, Margot Robbie and Hugh Jackman are huge in the US, their popularity will help showcase Australia and get the message out to visit Australia,” he said.

The campaign was officially kick started with a new broadcast ad, unveiled to a TV audience of more than 100 million Americans during the Big Game.

Initially giving the appearance of an official film trailer for a new Crocodile Dundee movie, the 60 second ad then switched into a showcase for Australian tourism.

The ‘new’ 2018 movie, Dundee: The Son of a Legend Returns Home, was first flagged in mid-January, with a series of short teaser films taking the form of a traditional studio promotional campaign.

Released through social media, the clips introduced the film’s two main characters: Danny McBride playing Brian Dundee, the long-lost son of Mick Dundee, and Chris Hemsworth as his sidekick, Wally Jr.

A special cameo film featured the rest of the cast with an impressive roll-call of Hollywood heavyweights and homegrown talent, including Hugh Jackman, Margot Robbie, Russell Crowe, Ruby Rose, Liam Hemsworth, Isla Fisher, Luke Bracey and Jessica Mauboy.

Tourism Australia Managing Director John O’Sullivan said the promotional power of the Crocodile Dundee franchise today was as a strong as when the original movie was released in 1986.

“Crocodile Dundee put Australia on the map for Americans in the ’80s. The film helped shape their view of Australia, showing them our country’s natural beauty and Australians’ friendly and welcoming nature. And it remains relevant today, with our research showing that Mick ‘Crocodile’ Dundee is still a character Americans believe warmly represents the Australian way of life.

“Chris and Danny, along with the cameo appearances in the teasers from so many well-known Australian stars, has given us real star power to capture America’s attention again. The Big Game has the largest reach of any advertising platform in the US, with more than 100 million Americans tuning in and many more millions globally. It’s the perfect platform to begin rolling out our biggest tourism push in the US in over 30 years, with more than 20 commercial partners primed to start converting the huge interest we’ve generated into bookings,” he said.

To convert interest into bookings, Tourism Australia has also published tailored travel itineraries and inspiring destination information on Australia.com supported with a dedicated campaign ‘marketplace’ which includes airfare and tailored holiday offers from 20 campaign partners, all aimed at encouraging Americans to book a trip Down Under.

All of Australia’s states and territories are featured in the campaign with locations, products and experiences carefully chosen to resonate most strongly with high value American travellers looking to experience Australia.

Click here for more information or to view the trailer.

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Source: hotelmanagement.com.au