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Tourism Australia launches new ad to lure international visitors ahead of borders opening

By Lucia Hawley | 2 years ago

Tourism Australia has launched a major international campaign to entice tourists back ahead of border openings.

The ad marks the first big international tourism campaign in two years and is set to the catchy slogan "Don't go small. Go Australia".

Phillipa Harrison, managing director of Tourism Australia, discussed the move on Weekend Today, calling it "a moment we have been waiting for for two years."

READ MORE: Everything you need to know about Australia's reopening to international travellers

Harrison reflected on the strain COVID-19 had put on people's lives and, more specifically, on international tourism, saying, "People have been living smaller lives during the pandemic."

The campaign slogan was quipped off that — aiming to attract visitors back to Australia — with Harrison remarking, "What better way to go big than go to Australia?"

The ad showcases a slew of beautiful Aussie travel destinations including the Northern Territory, Sydney Harbour and the Great Barrier Reef.

"It's about showcasing the incredible diversity and the incredible experiences that are here in Australian," Harrison says, jokingly adding the "hardest part" of her job was deciding on which destinations to include as there are so many to choose from.

READ NEXT: Bali is back! But should you travel there?

Since the pandemic placed travel plans on pause, there has been a pent-up demand from tourists who are busting to get back into Australia. Harrison said employees within Tourism Australia have reported call volumes have tripled.

The Australian Government has announced borders will finally be opening up to the world this month, with fully-vaccinated international arrivals allowed to enter Australia from February 21, 2022.

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Tourism Australia release new $125 million ad with unicorn inclusion

One of Australia’s most famous exports has jumped into character and brought a souvenir kangaroo to life as part of an international tourism campaign.

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Australian actress Rose Byrne has jumped into character to voice an animated souvenir kangaroo as part of an international tourism campaign.

As the first world-wide tourism campaign in six years, Tourism Australia has gone all out with the $125 million advert – which features an animated kangaroo called Ruby (voiced by Byrne) and a little unicorn called Louie, voiced by Canadian-American actor Will Arnett

The premise of the advert is about the stuffed roo named Ruby going on an Australia-wide search to find Uluru. The coast to country adventure hopes to inspire international visitors to plan their own Outback escape.

With majority of the filming taking place in the Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, the televised ad shows off some of the most recognisable locations around the country.

“This global tourism campaign is a critical step to rebuilding our visitor economy and supporting our tourism industry, which has been through the most challenging period in recent years,” Minister for Trade and Tourism, Senator Don Farrell, said.

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“Come and Say G’day is an iconic Australian welcome, and the use of some of the most recognisable and stunning scenery will remind the world why Australia is the best place to take a holiday.”

Tourism Australia’s managing director, Phillipa Harrison, said it’s been such a challenging time for the industry and the new $125 million campaign brings an “uplifting take” to the world stage.

“After a challenging time around the world, our uplifting and joyful campaign will stand out in what is a highly competitive international tourism market,” she added of the campaign. which will be officially launched in New York on Thursday.

The teaser for the campaign, which was released last week, initially received some criticism.

“We just need to continue to innovate and be more and more creative to cut through with consumers,” chief marketing officer of Tourism Australia, Susan Coghill, told Mumbrella of the new animated brand ambassadors.

“We know that our consumers in market are engaging with this. We know that things like animals and believe it or not, animated characters actually do pull through as very strong devices.

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“We know the interaction between the two characters is working really well, and they come back saying the potential for turning them into longer-term brand characters is really high.

“As much as I know that in Australia we have 25 million stakeholders with an opinion, the best thing I could do really is also to focus on our international high-yielding travellers who we need to get to come to Australia and ultimately spend, because that is what helps our tourism industry, which helps the economies around them and our national economy.”

The film will be playing on YouTube and international media channels from this week.

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Australia’s New Ad Campaign Spotlights Indigenous Peoples, Not Aussie Stars

Samantha Shankman, Skift

December 7th, 2022 at 1:00 AM EST

Australia has finally launched a new tourism campaign, and it's taking the much overdue steps of encouraging visitors to travel to lesser-known destinations and invest in local communities.

Tourism Australia’s new global campaign is, unlike its previous efforts, not focused on showcasing Australian celebrities . It’s instead addressing issues pertaining to overtourism and the country’s Indigenous communities through a film highlighting its attractions.

The $125 million campaign, created in collaboration with marketing agency M&C Saatchi, is a major part of the organization’s strategy to rebuild Australia’s tourism industry coming out of the pandemic, with inbound tourism still hitting only 34 percent of pre-Covid levels .

The film, titled G’day, stars a computer-generated kangaroo named Ruby voiced by Australian actress Rose Byrne and toy unicorn named Louie voiced by actor Will Arnett. It starts with Ruby stuck in a box — a nod to the restrictions that rendered many travelers unable to explore their backyards . Ruby and Louie then go on to explore Australia’s most popular tourist destinations, including the Great Barrier Reef, Sydney Opera House, downtown Melbourne, and the Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park.

The video also touches on overtourism, a subject Skift has thoroughly examined in recent years. Australian authorities had expressed concerns, prior to the pandemic, that the country might be at risk of suffering from overtourism .

But the most powerful part of the video features an Indigenous Aboriginal whose people are native to the region surrounding Uluru, speaking in her local language. “The stories live through the people,” Ruby said. Indigenous tourism was growing exponentially in Australia pre-pandemic , with the number of indigenous cultural tourism visitors — defined as those who participate in at least one indigenous tourism activity during their trip — increasing on average 9 percent annually from 2013 to 2019.

And as countries seek to disperse tourism’s financial benefits to regions outside of major cities — such as Sydney and Melbourne, both featured in the video — industry executives need to plan intelligently to ensure that money is invested back into the communities tourists travel so far to see.

“This global tourism campaign is a critical step to rebuilding our visitor economy and supporting our tourism industry, which has been through the most challenging period in recent years,” Australia’s tourism minister Don Farrell said about the campaign, which also includes a 60-second TV commercial and advertisements in print.

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Tags: australia , destination marketing , marketing , marketing strategy , overtourism , tourism campaigns , tourism marketing

Photo credit: Uluru is featured prominently in Australia's latest tourism campaign. Tourism Australia

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Fun, effective or ‘very bland’? Advertising experts split on Australia’s tourism mascot Ruby the Roo

Some say the CGI kangaroo ‘looks fantastic’ and will cut through internationally, but critics believe Tourism Australia could have aimed higher

• Australia unveils new tourism ambassador Ruby the Roo
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Very bland or a bit of much-needed fun? Advertising experts are divided on Tourism Australia’s first unofficial brand ambassador since the pandemic, disputing whether the computer-generated kangaroo at the centre of the ads could help revive the country’s ailing international tourism sector.

Andrew Hughes, a marketing lecturer at the Australian National University, said a bigger splash was needed to encourage international tourists to fork out the cash for a visit to Australia.

Ruby the Roo , a cartoon creature voiced by the Australian actor Rose Byrne, was unveiled to the world on a major digital billboard in Tokyo on Tuesday.

The kangaroo and her tagline “Come and say ‘G’day” are part of the next instalment of Tourism Australia’s There’s Nothing Like Australia brand platform, its first global campaign since 2016.

“Nearly all successful global [Tourism Australia] campaigns have had global celebrities,” Hughes said, citing Chris Hemsworth’s 2018 Super Bowl advert and Paul Hogan’s much-loved “shrimp on the barbie” moment.

“Travel figures are down 50% in the US market, you don’t just have to get the awareness up, you’ve got to get interest.”

Hughes said he would have opted for a story campaign that wove a more complex narrative to sustain attention.

“If you just have Ruby the Roo and leave it at that … I’m going to put myself in the very bland corner,” he said.

“What’s the campaign about, really? It seems to run true to form from previous campaigns that just use stereotypes. The audience is more mature.”

Nathan Hodges, managing director at marketing consulting company TrinityP3, said Australians might have a “right old poke” at Ruby for failing to reflect how they saw themselves.

But he said the CGI kangaroo “looks fantastic” and was likely to cut through to an international audience.

“We have this collective madness every time these campaigns turn up,” he said.

“It’s not aimed at anyone in Australia or any of the advertising marketing experts in Australia. It’s not a mirror to us, it’s aimed at getting people here.

“There’s advertising that makes Australia feel good but there’s also advertising that works. It’s not about representing our country – we have ambassadors and politicians to do that.”

Hodges said the campaign “carries through a lot of messages already latent around Australia”.

“We have kangaroos, we’re friendly and it’s telling us ‘why don’t you come on down and have a bit of fun?’”

Dee Madigan, a creative director and a panellist on the ABC’s Gruen Transfer, agreed.

“I really like it,” she said. “I think we’ve disappeared too far up our backside in some of our overseas ads – they’ve been too highbrow.

“This is just fun and people are looking for fun. We’ve wanted to talk about everything else but the things people want to see – which is kangaroos, the harbour bridge – why not lead on our best foot?”

Madigan said the buoyant optimism of the campaign was a “smart” move as tourists emerged from the pandemic, particularly as its message could be translated without audio and capture a bilingual audience.

“Nothing gets lost in translation,” she said.

“Campaigns like ‘ where the bloody hell are you? ’ were only going to work on Australian audiences. Overseas tourists think we say ‘G’day’. Maybe we do, maybe we don’t, it doesn’t matter.”

Meanwhile, kangaroo advocates have lashed out at Tourism Australia for using the national icon to drum up tourism amid concerns about the commercial killing of kangaroos.

The former Australian Test cricketer Jason Gillespie, who is an ambassador for the advocacy group Kangaroos Alive, said it was hypocritical for Ruby the Roo to be touted on billboards around the world after revelations of the species’ treatment.

A New South Wales parliamentary report into the management of the commercial kangaroo industry found evidence there was inadequate monitoring of how the animals were culled, and recommended greater transparency of management practices.

“Tourism Australia even said we’re so lucky to have a globally recognisable and adorable icon in the kangaroo,” Gillespie said.

“We need to learn to value these international icons and acknowledge that they are worth much more to Australia alive. Our tourist industry relies on them.”

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Money blog: Nationwide adverts starring Dominic West banned

Nationwide ads featuring actor Dominic West have been banned over claims the bank would not be closing branches. Read this and more in the Money blog, your place for personal finance news. Leave a comment on stories we've covered, or a question for our experts, in the form below.

Wednesday 3 April 2024 10:28, UK

• Nationwide's 'not closing our branches' ads banned by watchdog
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• 650,000 pensioners warned they're being dragged into paying tax this week
• The top 10 richest people in the world
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• All the places kids can eat cheap or free this Easter

Ask a question or make a comment

Revolution Bars shares were suspended from the London Stock Exchange yesterday as the bar chain mulled its restructuring plans.

The suspension on the AIM index came after the group said it was unable to publish its interim results for the second half of last year by the end of March.

The news comes after an exclusive report by City editor Mark Kleinman found Revolution was considering a plan to closure around 20 bars out of its 80 venues.

Revolution said it continues to "evaluate all the options available to it", including engaging with key stakeholders and potential investors over a possible fundraise.

Their struggles are part of wider difficulties in the night-time economy, which Money team reporter Emily Mee examined earlier this year...

By Daniel Binns, business reporter

London's FTSE 100 is down around -0.5% this morning after temporarily breaking the 8,000-point barrier yesterday.

There had been expectations that the index could this week break its highest-ever record of 8,012.53 points, which was set in February last year.

However, it looks like the wait will go on - for today at least. It's at around 7,890 points this morning.

The performance echoes a weaker close on Wall Street yesterday, following concerns from some investors that the US Federal Reserve may not cut interest rates by as much as previously expected this year.

Among the firms experiencing a slump on Wednesday is Topps Tiles. Its shares are down almost 3%.

It comes after the company warned of "subdued demand" in a trading update. The firm also said sales had fallen in the second quarter due to lower footfall.

In contrast, Dr Martens opened the day brightly and climbed more than 5% following a report that the footwear brand might explore a possible sale. However, those early gains have since fallen back.

Meanwhile, oil prices have been steadily climbing, with the cost of a barrel of Brent crude hovering around $89 (£71) this morning - a six-month high.

This follows a Ukrainian drone attack on a Russian refinery, coupled with ongoing tensions in the Middle East.

The currency markets are pretty flat - £1 will buy $1.26 and €1.17, similar to yesterday.

Gumtree has revealed the most common items for scam listings.

The online marketplace says smartphones, games consoles, digital cameras, headphones, dogs, collectables and guitars are the most common scam items.

There are also seasonal trends. At the start of the year job posting fraud and gym items for sale are more prevalent, while bikes tend to pop up in spring as people look to get outdoors.

During hot weather, you are likely to see more high-value outdoor items such as non-permanent swimming pools, jacuzzis, trampolines, air conditioning units and campervans.

New vehicle registrations in March and September always see a spike in bad listings, while rental fraud tends to increase when students look for accommodation for the year ahead – normally early summer through to September. 

This data comes as Santander saw cases of purchase scams jump by nearly a third (32%) in 2023.

80% of these started on online selling platforms.

Santander has teamed up with Gumtree to warn shoppers about what to look out for:

• An item priced more cheaply than expected, or using generic images that could have been taken from an online search, could be warning signs of a scam.
• Items for sale can often be filtered depending on postcode and location. Shop local, and make sure you see the item in person first.
• Use secure payment methods where you can. PayPal and debit and credit cards may offer more protection than a bank transfer.
• Attempts to communicate outside an official website should also be treated with suspicion.
• Check how long the seller has been a member of the selling website for and look at their profile, including reviews from other buyers. If the seller has been posting from multiple locations within a short timeframe, that could be another reason to be cautious.

Gumtree says it removed 1,177,292 listings for failing to meet its standards and policies in 2023.

42,725 of these raised suspicions of fraud, a decrease of 31% annually - credited by Gumtree on an improved safety infrastructure.

Taxpayers could pay millions to dismantle Shell oil rigs in the North Sea.

Marine pollution regulators have said thousands of tonnes of waste from decommissioned oil platforms must be removed.

Shell has lobbied to keep three platforms in its Brent oil and gas field in place, arguing removing waste will hurt the taxpayer on the basis that the Treasury will have to refund the company for the cost, the Telegraph reports .

But Dominic Pattinson, executive secretary of the Ospar Commission, said Shell was obliged to remove the waste.

The commission is part of the Ospar Convention, an international agreement that includes the UK to protect the environment in the northeast Atlantic.

Removing waste from Shell's rigs could cost more than £400m, according to estimates.

Every Wednesday we get Michelin chefs, top bloggers or critics, to pick their favourite cheap eats where they live and at home. 

This week we've got the owner of London institution Pied à Terre, the legendary David Moore, whose Fitzrovia restaurant has held at least one Michelin star for pretty much forever.

Hi David, can you tell us your favourite places in London where you can get a meal for two for less than £40?

Fitzrovia, and especially Charlotte Street, are so well known for restaurants, fine dining and Michelin stars. There are no less than five Michelin stars on Charlotte Street alone and a gaggle more on adjoining streets. But, where will you spot the Michelin-starred restaurateur having a cheeky bite on his own turf… man can't live on tasting menus alone. A curry, a soup or a sandwich is much needed. So...

Tongue and Brisket (Goodge Street):  Bring your appetite as portions are generous. I have a large salt beef on rye, pickles and mustard, £10 take away, a bit more to eat in. If dining in, try the Latka, fish balls and an excellent chopped liver, cucumber salad on side. No licence for booze… not a bad thing.

Shoop (Tottenham Street):  This tiny, hole-in-the-wall spot serves up some of the tastiest soups you will find this side of Tel Aviv, but it doesn't stop there. Falafel, £8.20; shakshuka, £8.20; and chicken schnitzel, £9.00, are my firm favourites. Everything is cooked fresh on the premises. I don't know how they make it work, but I'm thrilled that they do. There is very limited seating so I grab and go and sit in Fitzroy Square, Goodge Park, Crabtree Gardens, or the new urban gardens on Alfred Street.

Palms of Goa (Charlotte Street):  If I'm going to blow the whole budget of £40 for two, I would head to see Eugiene at Palms of Goa, 12 Charlotte Street.  They have been on Charlotte Street close to 30 years, you don't do that without solid regulars and good food. My favourite is king prawn masala, £15.95, or lamb biryani, £15.95 - plus a couple of naans at £2.95 each and some tap water just to stay on budget. I have to say I usually need a snooze after an Indian lunch… there are worse problems to have.

What's your go-to cheap eat for a night at home?

My go-to easy, cheap eat at home is the dish everyone knows but no one cooks, an omelette. I do a three-egg omelette and put whatever cheese, herbs, ham is in the fridge. Buy some frozen herbs, parsley and chive would be my preference.

Ingredients:

• salt/pepper
• generous knob of cold butter - chopped in several cubes 
• herbs - grated cheese - ham

Crack your eggs into a bowl, season with salt, pepper and herbs - whisk lightly, don't over whisk at this stage as it will get mixed further in the pan when cooking.

Using a non stick pan, heat until smoking hot, move off the heat and add in the cubes of butter, swirl around the pan to coat evenly with the butter. 

When fully melted and lightly browning, add in the eggs, with a fork move the eggs around lifting from the bottom of the pan, repeat several times, and then leave to crust, add fillings to the centre or one side, cook for a further minute or to your desired consistency, fold and serve.

Read all our Cheap Eats recommendations around the UK here ...

Ads for Nationwide featuring actor Dominic West have been banned for misleading consumers into thinking that the bank – unlike its rivals – would not be closing its branches.

After 282 complaints, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) investigated the TV, radio and press ads, in which West plays the boss of a fictional rival of Nationwide.

One of those complaints was from Santander, who said Nationwide had recently closed or reduced opening hours at a number of branches.

A voiceover at the end of the TV advert said: "Unlike the big banks, we're not closing our branches."

The same slogan was used in the press ad, with small print at the bottom saying: "If we have a branch in your town or city, we'll still be there until at least 2026."

The date referred to Nationwide's "Branch Promise" campaign, which last year was strengthened to guarantee it would not close any of its branches until 2026.

The ASA said Nationwide had closed 20% of their estate over 10 years, 152 branches - including two in 2023 - and "we considered that was a significant number".

"Because we considered that consumers would understand from the ads that Nationwide would not be closing branches in the long-term future and that they had not recently closed branches, we concluded that the ads were misleading."

In the 12 months before the ad campaign, Santander had closed fewer branches than Nationwide, the ASA noted.

A Nationwide spokesman said: "We recognise the ASA's decision and are delighted to have the opportunity to make even clearer our now extended branch promise to keep every branch open until the start of 2028."

Separately, an Instagram post by Katie Price promoting a 755-calorie diet has also been banned. Read about that here ...

Google has agreed to delete billions of records containing personal information collected from millions of people using "Incognito" mode.

The action will be taken as part of a settlement agreement in a lawsuit in the US, but applies outside the country too.

The lawsuit accused Google of tracking Chrome users' internet activity even when they had switched the browser to "Incognito".

Google disputed the claims as "meritless" and said the agreement was only required to "delete old personal technical data that was never associated with an individual and was never used for any form of personalisation".

Shares in Donald Trump's Truth Social platform have plunged more than 20% - wiping out gains made following its stock market debut last week.

The tumble came after Trump Media & Technology Group reported losses of more than $58m (£46m) in 2023.

The company also warned it would struggle to meet its financial liabilities going forward.

Royal Mail has appointed a senior Heathrow Airport executive as the group's new boss.

Emma Gilthorpe will join the postal service on 1 May, before succeeding Martin Seidenberg as chief executive in the summer, said owner International Distributions Services.

Her appointment comes at a critical juncture, with Ofcom considering options that could see Royal Mail cut its six-days-a-week service or extend how long it takes to deliver letters.

Annual shop price inflation almost halved in March to its lowest since December 2021, according to industry figures.

Food costs and competition between retailers drove the down rate from 2.5% in February to 1.3% in March, the British Retail Consortium (BRC)-NielsenIQ Shop Price Index found.

Food prices were 3.7% higher than a year ago, down from 5% in February, the slowest rate since April 2022.

Fresh food inflation slowed to 2.6% from 3.4% a month earlier.

Inflation on products other than food fell to 0.2% in March, down from 1.3%.

Promotional offers were to thank in part, with supermarkets trying to draw in customers for Mother's Day and Easter, said Mike Watkins, head of retailer and business insight at NielsenIQ.

Deals were also being offered on electricals, clothing and footwear, said BRC chief executive Helen Dickinson, adding that dairy prices were falling too.

Forbes has released its annual list of the richest people in the world, as the number of billionaires reaches record highs.

Some 2,781 people are worth a collective $14.2trn - with the top 20 adding $700bn to their wealth since this time last year, according to the news site.

Below are the top 10 of Forbes' 200 richest people in the world , as of 8 March.

1. Bernard Arnault and family: The 75-year-old is the richest person on Earth, with a net worth of $233bn. From France he oversees an empire of 75 fashion and cosmetic brands, including Louis Vuitton and Sephora, under the umbrella LVMH.

2. Elon Musk: Dropping from the top spot, the Tesla and SpaceX CEO, 52, is worth $195bn. 

3. Jeff Bezos: Close behind is the 60-year-old founder of Amazon, worth $194bn.

4. Mark Zuckerberg: Another familiar name in the top 10 is the founder of Facebook - now Meta - with a net worth of $177bn at the age of 39.

5. Larry Ellison: The founder of software giant Oracle, used by businesses to store and retrieve information, is worth £141bn.

6. Warren Buffett: The investor and CEO of multinational conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway, 93, is worth $133bn.

7. Bill Gates: Co-founder of Microsoft, Gates, 68, has a net worth of $128bn.

8. Steve Ballmer: A former CEO at Microsoft under Gates, Ballmer is worth $121bn.

9. Mukesh Ambani:  His company, Reliance Industries, is the largest private sector corporation in India, with interests in retail, financial services, oil and gas, petrochemicals, telecommunications and financial services, making him worth $116bn.

10. Larry Page: Worth $114bn, the 51-year-old remains a controlling shareholder at Google's parent company, Alphabet, where he stepped down as CEO in 2019.

One notable entry this year is Taylor Swift, with a fortune of $1.1bn.

Campaign group Tax Justice UK said those on the super-rich list should be taxed more by world governments to tackle inequality and climate change.

"We're living through incredibly unequal times, lurching from one crisis to the next," said executive director Robert Palmer.

"World leaders need to ensure the super-rich are paying their fair share, for example through introducing wealth taxes."

The government will commission an independent study into the impact of brighter headlights on road users.

Insurance company RAC has said dazzling headlights are causing "significant problems" on the road.

Approximately nine in 10 drivers told an RAC survey that some car headlights were too bright, while 14% of drivers over the age of 65 said they have stopped their vehicles as a result.

"Brighter headlights, while giving drivers a better view of the road ahead, are clearly causing other road users significant problems," said RAC road safety spokesperson Rod Dennis.

"The topic has undoubtedly struck a chord with motorists up and down the country, with many people contacting us directly to call for something to be done."

House of Lords member Baroness Dianne Hayter called the study a "victory for all those drivers affected by glare" and anyone who has "sought help from an optometrist – only to discover the problem was with headlights, and not their eyes". 

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On 5 February 2018 at the Super Bowl, the most watched television broadcast in the United States, Tourism Australia kicked off a $36 million marketing push 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.

Campaign results as at June 2018:

• 102M+ video views on social media
• 14K+ media articles
• $85M+ equivalent advertising value
• 367K+ total leads generated from australia.com
• 103.3M television commercial ratings - 10th most-watched program in the USA, ever
• 9.2B audience reached through articles
• 30% increase in sales to the trade
• 8 Cannes Lions coveted advertising awards

Dundee Movie: Visit The Set

In October 2018 Tourism Australia launched the next phase of the campaign with a series of videos inviting Americans to book a trip Down Under and visit the ‘set’ of the movie.

Starring Aussie actor Luke Hemsworth, the videos take US travellers on an exclusive behind the scenes tour of the Dundee movie backlot, showcasing the breadth of spectacular and unique experiences on offer across Australia.

Campaign marketplace

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.

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