Richie Benaud in a scene from the new tourism ads.Australia needed to work harder to alert tourists to its virtues because "we're the last stop on the bus route", the federal Minister for Small Business and Tourism, Joe Hockey, said at yesterday's launch of the nation's biggest ever push for visitors.
"We can't be just another theme park, we can't be another hotel room," he said. "We must provide visitors with a life-long experience."
Spearheading the $360 million campaign are six, one-minute ads that feature Australian celebrities - among them Delta Goodrem and Richie Benaud - recasting Australia in a different light. They will be shown both nationally and internationally in cinemas and on TV, with the first to be aired this month in Singapore, Italy, Britain and Australia.
Mr Hockey hoped the ads would entice new visitors who would become "life-time ambassadors" for Australia.
A total of $120 million has been earmarked for the campaign's international marketing, which tops up the Australian Tourist Commission's annual budget of $90 million.
[And absolutely no one is going to spoil that for the ruling class capitalists!!! accept the 2009 debt crunch! Thank God!]
The inbound and domestic tourism industry contributes $70 billion to the economy and employs 500,000.
[And the Australian ruling class will lock up and frame-up, for 'life', anyone for a crime against any 'backpacker or holiday maker from overseas' no matter whether they were 'guilty or not' and no matter whether they 'found any dead bodies' or whether they found any 'weapon that killed a tourist' and even if there is only 'flawed circumstantial evidence' and 'trial by media' to prove their case.
Chris Brown, the chief executive of the tourism industry lobby group, TTF, said he expected the industry, which had been urging the Government to increase funding for marketing, would now put more money into promotion. He described the ads as "sensational".
The theme of the campaign is "Australia: a different light", and is focused on emphasising the qualities that distinguish Australia from other destinations and encouraging broader perceptions of the country.
Gone are the images of barbecues and beaches, that typified previous campaigns, and in their place are snapshots of Australia's landscapes at their most stunning. Even the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge have been given supporting roles.
The Government hopes the images will resonate with those tourists in search of a richer experience.
The ATC's marketing chief, Stephen O'Neill, said: "We wanted to show a different side to Australia, not just the sun, the sea and the sand but the history and the culture of the place.
"Today's tourist is looking to learn more about the country rather than just enjoy some of its more obvious delights."
The domestic campaign will feature the slogan "See Australia in a different light".
The commercials cost $3 million to make and were shot over an 18-day period and took in every state and territory. They are Australia's response to the "100% Pure New Zealand" marketing campaign which has successfully branded New Zealand as the southern hemisphere's nature destination, lifting visitor numbers by 33 per cent in four years.
Organisations such as Fosters, RM Williams, Penfolds and the Australian Council for the Arts were consulted on their perceptions of Australia, the results of which formed the bedrock of the strategy behind the commercials.
Among the other identities to feature in the commercials are poet Les Murray, Aboriginal artist Barbara Weir, comedian Jonathan "Jono" Coleman and British TV presenter Michael Parkinson.
By Julian Lee and Anthony Dennis May 19, 2004
Related:
Tourist Industry Crime and Trial By Media Coincidences
Douglas Previte set-up for Stuttle murder
Australia: A 32-year-old man has been jailed for life for murdering British backpacker Caroline Stuttle in Bundaberg in south-east Queensland on alleged evidence possibly trumped up while he was in prison?
Day set aside for Falconio forensic evidence
More than a day has been set aside in the case of the man accused of murdering British backpacker Peter Falconio to hear evidence from a Northern Territory forensic scientist. Yesterday the Darwin Magistrates Court heard from mechanics and friends of the defendant Bradley John Murdoch.
Mr Bradley Murdoch to go on trial next year!
The alleged man is not the alleged Falconio killer in my book. He's alleged to have committed a crime but the Faloconio mystery remains a secret to be unlocked by time itself and more interestingly may never be unlocked at all.
Falconio magistrate closes court
THE hearing into the murder of British tourist Peter Falconio has been closed to the public. Magistrate Alasdair McGregor has closed the court for part of the testimony of Mr Falconio's girlfriend Joanne Lees.
Ch/9 News? Or Ch/9's Department of Public Prosecutions?
Bradley Murdoch committal, lawyer calls for fair hearing
The lawyer of the man accused of murdering British backpacker Peter Falconio has spoken to the media in Darwin.
Bradley Murdoch committal, lawyer calls for fair hearing
The lawyer of the man accused of murdering British backpacker Peter Falconio has spoken to the media in Darwin. Adelaide Barrister Grant Algie is urging the media to respect the judicial process and allow 45-year-old Bradley John Murdoch the right to a fair committal hearing.
Peter Beattie nominated as Australian of the year: Howard
Bradley Murdoch the man alleged to have murdered English tourist Peter Falconio who has been acquitted of rape and abduction charges in the South Australian District Court.
Tourist dollar drives set-up for crime
The man alleged to have murdered English tourist Peter Falconio has been acquitted of rape and abduction charges in the South Australian District Court. Bradley John Murdoch, 45, was charged with two counts of rape, two counts of false imprisonment and two counts of indecent assault after an alleged incident in South Australia's Riverland in August last year.
Supreme Court rejects Nine appeal
CHANNEL Nine lost a Supreme Court appeal today to have a suppression order on details of the case of missing backpacker Peter Falconio lifted. The Full Bench of the NT Supreme Court today ruled Magistrate Alasdair McGregor had the power to make the order banning from publication some details of the case.
Falconio magistrate closes court
THE hearing into the murder of British tourist Peter Falconio has been closed to the public. Magistrate Alasdair McGregor has closed the court for part of the testimony of Mr Falconio's girlfriend Joanne Lees.
Innocent until proven guilty? Not in Australia's outback!
There is no way that Bradley John Murdoch can get a fair trial in the Northern Territory. The entire jury pool is already contaminated, the general public have accepted the verdict of the Northern Territory News and the NT Police State has turned on the cone of silence. Maybe some of the reporters might want to ask Director of Public Prosecutions Rex Wilde QC just how he is going to secure a conviction when a body has not been found. Surely the NT bureaucracy learnt from the Lindy Chamberlain case that it is not a good idea to jail someone for murder when you haven't got a body. Maybe they have the same people working on the case. The NT Police forensic team certainly do.
Ivan Milat loses conviction appeal
Ivan Milat today lost an application in the High Court to appeal against his 1996 conviction for murdering seven backpackers. The 59-year-old had sought special leave to appeal the murder convictions and one count of detaining a person for advantage without legal representation, which includes Legal Aid.
MILAT WAS FRAMED FOR TOURISM $$$$$ AND THE WINNER IS? NOT IVAN MILAT!
The murders were headlines overseas. The State government's public relations machine swung into action. An unprecedented $500,000 reward was offered for the heads of the perpetrators. (Commonsense says there was more than one assailant). Head of the International Olympic Committee, Juan Samaranch, was questioning whether Australia was a safe place to visit.
Taken "A Dingo Took My Baby!"
They were the words that Lindy Chamberlain had screamed out into the blackness of the cold night in a camping ground close to Ayers Rock, Central Australia, on the night of August 17, when she discovered that her nearly ten-week-old baby, Azaria had been taken by a dingo.
Man Says He Shot Dingo That Snatched Baby SYDNEY, Australia (July 5) - A distraught mother's scream 24 years ago that a dingo snatched her baby from a camp site near Ayers Rock in the Australian Outback ignited one of Australia's most enduring mysteries. An elderly man's claim that he retrieved the infant's bloodied body from the jaws of the wild dog has revived the case and - if true - could finally lead to the discovery of Azaria Chamberlain's body.
Ten reports $76.9 million profit
The Ten television network has reported a full-year profit of $76.9 million. Even if it were down by half on the previous year they're still greedy self-interested people who care little about the real damage done, not just in Australia but the world. That profit is obviously on top of wages and expenses yet they're still greedy enough to turn the news upside down to suit the Howard government's investment in advertising.
