24 November 2008

Australia creating world-wide buzz about Australian holidays

Baz LuhrmannÃ¢â¬â¢s latest big screen epic Australia has created a world-wide buzz about the country, with stories and endorsements for holidaying in Australia becoming big news internationally.

Tourism Australia Managing Director Geoff Buckley said the level of destinational publicity that Australia had received so far had already exceeded expectations.

Ã¢â¬ÅâœAustralia as a holiday destination is riding a huge wave of publicity at the moment which has been generated by Baz LuhrmannÃ¢â¬â¢s new film,Ã¢â¬~ Mr Buckley said.

Ã¢â¬ÅâœWhen we partnered with Twentieth Century Fox we knew there would be enormous opportunities to generate global exposure for our country and our public relations teams have been working hard to maximise these opportunities."

Ã¢â¬ÅâœHowever, the level of publicity already received before the movie has opened at the box office has been quite phenomenal."

Ã¢â¬ÅâœAround the world, more than 100 million people have already heard about Australia the movie and been given a taste of the country via 20th Century FoxÃ¢â¬â¢s, and Tourism AustraliaÃ¢â¬â¢s public relations efforts, with stories running on Oprah, Good Morning America and Entertainment Tonight in the US and on BBC television and radio in the UK."

Ã¢â¬ÅâœNew figures also indicate that more than half a million people have already watched Tourism AustraliaÃ¢â¬â¢s new campaign online, via Australia.com, Ninemsn, YouTube and MySpace."

Ã¢â¬ÅâœAs the momentum of the campaign and buzz around Australia the movie continues to build we want more people to feel inspired about what an Australian holiday has to offer - whether itÃ¢â¬â¢s in the outback, by the coast, or in the cities,Ã¢â¬~ Mr Buckley said.

Today, Tourism Australia will hold a special pre release screening of Australia the movie for travel media and industry partners. A number of Australian and international celebrities will also attend this event. They have been invited as part of Tourism AustraliaÃ¢â¬â¢s new advocacy strategy Ã¢â¬' an outreach program that is aimed at creating a bank of local and foreign opinion leaders who can help drive word-of-mouth Ã¢â¬ÅâœbuzzÃ¢â¬~ by communicating their Australian experiences to their own networks....The Mole will be there!

Mr Buckley said Tourism AustraliaÃ¢â¬â¢s publicity and advertising efforts would continue over the coming months as Australia the movie is rolled out around the world.

Ã¢â¬ÅâœOur primary focus is to harness the excitement about Australia, generated by the movie publicity and promotions, and to create a sense to urgency visit now,Ã¢â¬~ Mr Buckley said.

Ã¢â¬ÅâœThrough our marketing efforts we hope that as people get caught up in the romance and adventure of the movie that they will fall in love with the idea of holidaying in AustraliaÃ¢â¬~.

Highlights of the destination coverage on Australia internationally include:

Oprah special 1 hour Ã¢â¬ËœAustraliaÃ¢â¬â¢ episode (USA), 10 November 2008 Ã¢â¬' 7.4 million US viewers

Good Morning America (USA), 10 November 2008 Ã¢â¬' 4.4 million

Entertainment Tonight (USA), 7 November 2008 Ã¢â¬' 7.7 million

Conde Nast Traveler (USA), November 2008 Ã¢â¬' 2 million

Travel + Leisure (USA), November 2008 Ã¢â¬' 4.7 million

Parade (USA), November 2008 Ã¢â¬' 32.4 million

Los Angeles Times (USA), November 2008 Ã¢â¬' 2.1 million

San Francisco Chronicle (USA), November 2008 Ã¢â¬' 9 million unique visitors online

Associated Press, November 2008 Ã¢â¬' destination story picked up extensively in US daily press

Reuters, November 2008 - destination story picked up extensively in daily press

The Guardian (UK), November 2008 Ã¢â¬' 1.2 million