Uhm….Australia’s tourism eggs and budget all in one basket……is this a good strategy?

With another Aussie trade media this morning claiming an exclusive revelation that Tourism Australia’s new global advertising campaign will urge travellers to “come walkabout” in Australia, the ever-leaking sieve of Federal Government meant that one phone call this morning elicited the same information, that this would be the new strap or tag line to replace the controversial and very dead “Where the Bloody Hell Are You?’ with Tourism Australia placing all its bets and budget by spending $50 million on a advertising campaign, being launched in conjunction with the new Baz Luhrmann film Australia.

Produced in conjunction with DDB Worldwide, Tourism Australia’s new advertising agency, each ad will use the words “arrived” and “departed” with emphasis on replacing a stressful everyday life with a holiday that promises that a traveller will return home a new person, with TV ads including images from overseas, such as Shanghai and New York, before moving to the more relaxed environment of Australia.

With the campaign promising to “change the lives” of Australia’s international visitors, various media reports say that film director Baz Luhrmann’s Bazmark team has produced two new film advertisements to replace the Lara Bingle and Fran Bailey, highly controversial, ”Where the Bloody Hell Are You?”, with the new ad to be screened in 22 countries, with the first being shown in Britain today.

Reflecting some of the themes conveyed through the Luhrmann produced movie “Australia”, to premiere in November, to maintain the political balance and back the imagery 11 different ads will be shot in all states and territories, to be displayed online and in overseas print media.

Federal Tourism Minister Martin Ferguson said that the campaign will be the highest profile and most sophisticated campaign undertaken by Tourism Australia, adding, “Australia’s tourism industry is facing a difficult period and this significant change in direction from Tourism Australia comes at a very important time.”

He also said, “The ads unveiled today are the first instalment of a campaign which will take advantage of the massive publicity push around Luhrmann’s soon-to-be-released film Australia.”

“This campaign will remind people why holidays are important, and that an Australian holiday will give them an experience that will change them.”.

The Herald Sun says that Australia will be attempting to lure visits by an inner journey, with huge prawns and bikini babes are out and tourists to be lured to Australia by the promise of self-discovery and the new Baz Luhrmann-directed TV ads urging stressed-out travellers to “find themselves” here and return home transformed.

It is hoped the ads will erase memories of the $180 million “Where the Bloody Hell Are You?” campaign, which was dubbed a “rolled gold disaster” by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd.

The Herald Sun added that Tourism Australia is under serious pressure to lift its game after the last campaign, but that falling visitor numbers and the ailing global economy will make the task even harder.

The “Where the Bloody Hell Are You?” campaign was championed by former tourism minister Fran Bailey and starred model Lara Bingle, but it had to be pulled from key markets, including Japan, because the “ocker” invitation was deemed inappropriate, but it did create huge publicity for Australia, particular in the UK.

Although, Mr Rudd says the campaign had failed to deliver any significant tourism benefits to Australia, adding, “That campaign, every place I have visited in the world, has been basically described as an absolute rolled gold disaster”.  “This Government is now seeking to re-examine that because Australian tourism deserves better than that which Fran Bailey gave to us when she was minister for tourism.”

Well as The Mole and the industry says, the proof of the pudding will be in………………but in the true Aussie way, let’s give it a fair go!

A Report by The Mole