MySpace to change face of Aussie tourism

A news.com.au report says that the days of television advertising being the main tool for attracting tourists to our shores are long gone.

Travellers are more sophisticated than ever and the latest travel trends are just a click of a mouse away.

Before setting off on a big adventure, many travellers are now likely to book their trips online, checking out reviews from other holidaymakers, scrolling through accommodation and travel sites and then keeping friends up to date with their trip through social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace.

And now the impact of these sites is about to be put to the test.

From this week, the world’s largest social networking site, MySpace, owned by News Corporation, the parent company of NEWS.com.au, will be used to lure the lucrative youth market to Australia, from countries including Britain and the US.

Tourism Australia announced the campaign at a market briefing with local tourism operators in Adelaide last week.

Targeting the all-important 18 to 30-year-old market, the interactive campaign will aim to stimulate travel to Australia as well as promote Australia’s working holiday visa program run in Britain, the US, Canada and Ireland.

People in these countries will be able to designate Australia as a category on their web page and upload their own photographs from their Australian holiday to share with other users.

The campaign will run over 12 months and will be launched in Ireland and Britain this week and rolled out to the remaining markets early next month.

Tourism Australia managing director Geoff Buckley believes the way to reach the youth market is to “talk to them in their own language, and through the media they prefer”.

“Online communities like MySpace provide an authentic environment for young travellers to share their own stories,” he said.

As well as a new mode of communication, we could soon see a new tourism branding for our country. Not since Paul Hogan put a shrimp on a barbie in the famous ’80s tourism ads have we managed to brand Australia so well.

In 2004, local celebrities including cricket legend Richie Benaud and singer Delta Goodrem spearheaded a $360 million “See Australia in a different light” campaign. The strategy was to get away from the cliche landmarks and beaches from the Hogan era and show some culture and history. But it failed to attract extra visitors from the US, Europe and South-East Asia.

In March, 2005, a bikini-clad model named Lara Bingle helped launch the controversial “Where the bloody hell are you?” campaign.

Tenders are out for Tourism Australia’s global creative and media buying agencies. The results are expected to be known by August.

The future of the “Where the bloody hell are you?” campaign is expected to be decided around that time.

The new MySpace page will harness social networking by including interactive elements such as a “widget” that users can drop and drag their “top friends” into.

Friends of the profile will be able to upload their own photos and video content to the site, as well as being able to upload features from the Tourism Australia page on their own MySpace profiles.

According to Nielsen Online, nearly half the Australian population has social networking profiles and, in the next 12 months, half of the non-users indicated they would be signing up.

Tourism Australia’s general manager trade development, Matt Cameron-Smith, said social networking sites such as MySpace, Facebook and YouTube, could be valuable tools for marketing Australia as a tourism destination.

Speaking to local tourism operators at the Adelaide Convention Centre, he advised operators of the importance of word of mouth and using tools such as TripAdvisor.

“People believe other people more so than the brochure that tells you it has good service and food,” he said.

Don’t be afraid to start your own blog. Be aware of what is being said about you (your company) online”.

University of South Australia’s Professor of tourism management, Graham Brown, said Tourism Australia’s MySpace concept was a “sensible move” which could be quite effective.

“It is reflecting the kind of changes taking place and where people get their information from,” he said. “If you have people you relate to giving you their first-hand experience (it has a) high level of credibility.”

Mr Brown said the youth market was a valuable sector for the tourism industry as they “come for longer and potentially are going to return”.

Yesterday’s meeting also focused on the challenges and opportunities facing the tourism sector. Tourism Australia managing director Geoff Buckley said while there were a number of short and long-term challenges facing the tourism industry, Australia still had a great tourism product to offer the world.

“Australia continues to be a popular destination with travellers worldwide including Australians,” he said.

“However, we face strong competition from other destinations along with other ways that people can spend their leisure time and dollars.”

“To be able to compete in the current environment we need to offer highly compelling reasons why travellers should spend their leisure time and dollars on Australian holidays.”

A Report by The Mole from news.com.au