TOURISM Australia wants to whet the world’s appetite for travel to Australia with its latest campaign focusing on the country’s gastronomic offerings and culinary experiences, and is calling on the industry to help.
Called Restaurant Australia, the multimillion dollar blitz comes under the NTO’s international There’s nothing like Australia campaign and will be rolled out in 12 key international markets in the coming months. Restaurant Australia was officially launched last week.
Tourism Australia’s managing director, John O’Sullivan, explained: “Restaurant Australia is all about bringing together the incredible stories of our people, place and produce to demonstrate to the world that every day, unique and exceptional food and wine experiences are being served – up in remarkable locations, and then sharing these stories through the creation of rich and compelling content.”
“When we originally launched There’s nothing like Australia, we did it by asking Australians to talk about their ‘nothing like’ experiences. This time our rally cry is to industry, with Tourism Australia providing the platforms to help show the world Restaurant Australia.”
Businesses, operators and those involved in Australia’s food, wine, tourism and hospitality industries can submit their F&B-related stories to www.australia.com/restaurantaustralia to be listed on the site. The NTO will use its social media platforms to amplify content gathered there.
Tourism Australia will also run an international media fam programme for Restaurant Australia in November this year. “The Restaurant Australia familiarisation will bring together up to 80 media and key influencers, who will travel to different parts of the country to cover the food and wine experiences on offer in every state and territory during a week-long visit and capture their experiences through their media and online networks internationally,” said O’Sullivan.
“Their visit will conclude with all participants coming together for a special Invite the World to Dinner gala event, which will see produce from around Australia prepared and served on-site at MONA in Tasmania on November 14,” he added.
Other consumer-facing promotions include new advertising creative including broadcast and print ads; strong focus on using digital channels, social media and advocacy; and consumer promotions in a dozen key international markets.
Tourism Australia chief marketing officer, Nick Baker, revealed: “The concept of Restaurant Australia has been built based on consumer research which identified food and wine as a key factor in holiday decision-making and the most important emotive trigger, ahead of world-class beauty, for influencing people’s destination choice.
“For people who’ve never visited Australia, awareness of our food and wine offering is low. However, once they visit, people realise the variety and quality of our food and wine experiences is world‐class and Australia moves to the top of the rankings as a one of the world’s best culinary destinations.”
