Photo courtesy of Tourism Australia
Tourism Australia has tried many methods to get more visitors to finally act on the widespread desire to visit the land down under, now they're inviting people to come to dinner. Tourism Australia's "Restaurant Australia" is yet another branch in the overarching three-year $175 million "There's nothing like Australia" campaign. The idea is to promote the entire country as one of the world's great restaurants.
The new $10 million Restaurant Australia campaign was launched in Sydney at the Quay Restaurant and will include advertising creative for print, TV, cinema and online; a dedicated online hub for Australian businesses to broadcast their food and wine experiences; a focus on digital channels, social media and advocacy; consumer promotions in a dozen international markets; and an "Invite the World to Dinner" gala event at Museum of Old and New Art (MONA) in Tasmania.
"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," said TA Managing Director John O'Sullivan.
A big part of the campaign will lie in rallying Australian operators with a food and wine focus to get involved ahead of consumer promotions in international markets and culminating in a spectacular "Invite the World" gala dinner in Tasmania in November.
"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." By submitting stories, businesses, operators or people directly involved in Australia's food, wine, tourism and hospitality industries can be listed on the new campaign website for the world to see.
It shouldn't be too much of a stretch for Australia's food industry to see their stake in the promotion. International visitors spent more than $4 billion enjoying Australia's food, wine and culinary experiences in 2013.
"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," said TA Chief Marketing Officer Nick Baker.
"For people who've never visited Australia, awareness of our food and wine offering is low. However, once they visit, people realize 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," said Baker.
For people who have never visited Australia only 26 percent associate the destination with a good food and wine offering. But for those who have visited Australia, it ranks second in the world for its food and wine experiences (60 percent) after culinary giant France and ahead of Italy.
"This perception gap presents a real opportunity to bring Australia's culinary credentials to the fore by developing rich content through traditional and social media channels that highlights the array of exceptional produce, created and served by people with fresh thinking, in the most stunning locations in the world," said Baker.
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