Hamish Blake lends voice to latest Tourism Australia campaign via M&C Saatchi Sydney

A week-long tourism advertising blitz, developed by M&C Saatchi Sydney, will kick off across the country today, aimed at getting Australians to book their next domestic holiday and boost visitation to those regions that need it the most.

The $5 million marketing push is the first major activation of Tourism Australia’s ‘Holiday Here This Year’ campaign for 2021 and aims to inspire people to take a well-deserved break and in doing so, provide much-needed support to tourism operators and communities around the country.

Minister for trade, tourism and investment Dan Tehan said the campaign was part of the Morrison Government’s ongoing support for the tourism industry: “We want Australians to get excited about holidaying in Australia. Our country is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world and this year is an opportunity for Australians to discover why. This nation-wide advertising blitz will inspire Australians to plan and book their next domestic getaway in the weeks and months ahead.

“Domestic tourism is worth $100 billion to the Australian economy and our tourism industry supports more than 621,000 local jobs.

“My message to every Australian is do yourself a favour and start planning your next holiday in Australia because you’ll have the time of your life and you’ll also be supporting a lot of Australian jobs and businesses.”

Tourism Australian managing director Phillipa Harrison said that with many Australians returning to work, now was the perfect time to provide them with the inspiration and ideas to book their next holiday: “Summer is typically the busiest time for our tourism industry, with many operators relying on the revenue generated during this period to support them throughout the year. But as a result of the challenges that we’ve continued to face across the country, for many tourism businesses this holiday season unfortunately hasn’t gone to plan so far.

“Despite the recent disruptions, consumer confidence remains high with many Australians keen to take a break and get out and explore their own backyard. This campaign is all about capitalising on this pent-up demand by providing those people with all the content and inspiration they need to convert this desire and yearning for a holiday into actual bookings.

“We’re calling on people to make the most of the remaining weeks of summer and experience some of our incredible tourism offerings and in doing so, help give back to operators and communities across the country who need our support more than ever.”

Says Susan Coghill, CMO, Tourism Australia: “With this latest burst of ‘Holiday Here This Year’ campaign activity we’re really looking to keep Australia’s tourism experiences front of mind and tap into the strong consumer sentiment to travel domestically.

“Even though there have been some disruptions to travel during the summer holiday period, which is typically the busiest time of year for so many tourism businesses, we know Australians are still keen to travel with more than half planning to take a domestic trip in the next six months.

“This week-long marketing push is aimed at inspiring Australians to take a well-deserved break by reminding them of all the incredible tourism experiences Australia has to offer across multiple media channels and in turn provide much needed support to tourism businesses across the country.”

The campaign, which runs from 31 January to 6 February 2021, is the latest burst of activity as part of Tourism Australia’s ongoing domestic marketing initiative ‘Holiday Here This Year’, which aims to stimulate demand throughout the sector by getting Australians travelling safely across the country and booking holiday experiences.

It will feature Australian destinations, tourism products and experiences, including areas impacted by last summer’s bushfires. The week of activity combines event sponsorships, publisher created content and in-program editorial integration as well as national advertising running across key television programs, online and print, and 2,500 outdoor ads.

As part of the nation-wide initiative, Tourism Australia is also encouraging the industry to coordinate an aligned advertising push across their own marketing and social media channels during the same period.

Australians looking for further inspiration to plan their next Australian holiday should visit australia.com or talk to their local travel agent.