AUSTRALIAN TOURISM RECOGNISED FOR OLYMPIC EFFORT

The strategy of the Australian Tourist Commission (ATC) and the tourism industry to make the most of the opportunities presented by Sydney's staging of the 2000 Olympic Games has received further international acclaim.

At this week's Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) Conference in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, the ATC picked up three prestigious awards - all relating to tourism programs run over the past five years in association with the Games.

The awards were:

- Grand Award: Olympic Games tourism strategy. The strategy involved working with the Olympic Movement in Australia and overseas, sponsors, media and broadcast rights holders to promote Australian tourism in association with the Games. The strategy helped achieve an additional 1.6 million visitors over seven years spending over AUD$6 billion.

- National Marketing Program - over AUD$2 million: "Paul Hogan - Stop Dreaming" campaign. This campaign was launched at the conclusion of the Games in association with Qantas and industry partners and involved Crocodile Dundee telling Americans to "stop dreaming" and come to Australia. The campaign aimed to convert record interest in Australia into record holiday bookings.

- Public Relations Campaign: Olympic Games Media Relations program. The program covered the media servicing program run in the lead-up to and during the Games - resulting in additional AUD$6 billion in publicity for Australia.

ATC Managing Director John Morse, said it was an honour for the ATC and the industry to win these prestigious awards against tough competition from North America, Japan, Asia and the Pacific.

"The Australian tourism industry rallied behind the Olympics opportunities and these awards are confirmation that we made the most out of the Games," Mr Morse said.

"The PATA awards are a credit to the ATC's worldwide team, State and Territory tourism organisations and the industry as a whole - nor could they have been achieved without the support of the Federal Government, the Olympic Movement, the Olympic Coordination Authority and Sydney Organising Committee for the Olympic Games.

"The International Olympic Committee has previously declared that the approach of the ATC and Australian tourism industry to the Games is a role model for future host countries. Our challenge now is to take what we have learned and look at ways that we can use these skills on other Australian tourism projects," Mr Morse said.