16 July 2008

Tourism Australia appeals to world youth

As Australia welcomes the 125,000 international visitors expected for World Youth Day, Tourism Australia has been helping pilgrims plan their Australian travels via two successful online campaigns with global networking sites Facebook and MySpace, encouraging pilgrims to extend their visits to Australia.

The Facebook Ã¢â¬ËœAustralia fan pageÃ¢â¬â¢ has more than 10,000 official friends from around the world and was designed specifically to assist World Youth Day pilgrims in planning their visit.

It features hundreds of enthusiastic comments from pilgrims about their travels to Australia, interspersed with helpful suggestions from friendly locals and Tourism Australia.

Another campaign with MySpace has been promoting the Australian Working Holiday Visa program throughout English speaking markets. The campaign aims to highlight the myriad of opportunities available to young experience seekers aged 18 Ã¢â¬' 30, interested in extending their holiday to Australia by supplementing their stay with short term employment, to experience closer contact with local communities.

Ã¢â¬ÅâœTourism Australia has embraced social networking communities to appeal to young travellers via the digital landscape,Ã¢â¬~ said Geoff Buckley, Managing Director of Tourism Australia.

Ã¢â¬ÅâœTo ensure Australia continues to attract young travellers from around the world, weÃ¢â¬â¢re committed to establishing opportunities to encourage authentic advocates of Australia to share their real life travel experiences online.

Ã¢â¬ÅâœFor many pilgrims, World Youth Day will be their first visit to Australia and we hope that the same adventurous spirit that has led them half way around the world will entice them to extend their stay and see more of Australia, once the events in Sydney come to end.Ã¢â¬~

Figures from Harvest Tours, the official World Youth Day tour operator reflect the trend of pilgrims extending their visit, reporting that 17,400 international travellers have booked pre and post touring through their company, to locations such as Brisbane, Melbourne, Cairns, Alice Springs, Uluru, Kings Canyon and the Blue Mountains. Over the past week, the Ã¢â¬ËœDays in the DioceseÃ¢â¬â¢ program has also helped to showcase regional Australia, with 50,000 international visitors, attending pilgrim events in Adelaide, Bathurst, Brisbane, Broken Bay, Lismore, Newcastle, Melbourne and Wollongong.

Mr Buckley continued, Ã¢â¬ÅâœWorld Youth Day will boost tourism figures in what is traditionally a quieter month for visitor arrivals and has provided a considerable opportunity for the Australian tourism industry. To leverage this, Tourism Australia has made a dedicated effort to communicate with young travellers in ways that will appeal to them most.Ã¢â¬~

For further information, please visit www.australia.com/wyd08

A Report by The Mole