(TAN): Tourism Australia has launched a new domestic tourism campaign, encouraging citizens to support the areas affected by the bushfires by booking and travelling within the country, reports said.
The AUD 20 million (USD 13.47 million approximately) campaign, ‘Holiday Here This Year’, was rolled out after the government recently announced a AUD 76 million bushfire recovery grant, as per reports.
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Created by United Kingdom-based advertising agency M&C Saatchi, it is part of a nationwide marketing push to promote that the country is ready for business and visitors, reports said. The campaign will reportedly tap into the extensive goodwill shown by Aussies for local communities and wildlife charities impacted by the bushfires, by urging locals to share their holiday experiences with their friends and online using the hashtag #holidayherethisyear.
Tourism Australia Managing Director, Phillipa Harrison, reportedly said the campaign was intended to show Australians that the most effective way to help in the recovery from the bushfires was to travel within Australia.
“There is no doubt that Australian tourism has been hit hard by the recent bushfires. It’s critical that we help the industry get back on its feet as soon as possible. The desire from ordinary Australians to assist the communities impacted both directly and indirectly by the bushfires has been overwhelming. This campaign seeks to show them how they can directly support the recovery by simply holidaying here in Australia,” she was quoted by Travel Weekly as saying.
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“We are currently in the middle of the peak summer period and we’re already seeing an impact on tourism as people delay or cancel their travel plans, including to areas that haven’t been directly affected. That is why we are asking people to commit to holidaying in their own backyard this year – whether it’s a drive up the coast, taking a trip interstate, or ticking off a bucket list destination – and to spread the word that Australia is ready to welcome more travellers,” Harrison added.
She also said the ‘Holiday Here This Year’ campaign was a ‘practical way’ for helping ‘by filling hotel rooms, restaurants, caravan parks, beaches, and more’.
The campaign, which takes a grassroot approach, will reportedly be rolled out across social media, content partnerships, radio, print and outdoor media.
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“Given the enormity of the challenge in front of us, we’ve deliberately taken a bottom up, grassroots approach with this campaign. Holiday Here This Year is a simple but genuine rally cry which connects Australians to the true heroes of our industry, those thousands of tourism operators across the country who are doing it tough at the moment and desperately need our support,” Mumbrella quoted Chief Marketing Officer, Tourism Australia, Susan Coghill as saying.
The new campaign came after Tourism Australia reportedly put a hold on its ‘Matesong’ ad featuring Kylie Minogue in less than two weeks after its launch in light of the bushfires. The USD 15 million ad campaign was part of Tourism Australia’s recently launched ‘Come Alive Our Philausophy’ campaign to promote Australia in the United Kingdom.
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