Australian Tourism Commission launches new campaign to target Italian travellers

22 July 2002

A new tourism campaign has been launched to boost the number of Italians travelling to Australia each year, Australian Tourist Commission (ATC) Managing Director, Ken Boundy said today.

"The new campaign aims to build the awareness and interest in Australia and increase the likelihood of Italians choosing our country as their next holiday destination," he said.

"Australia has strong appeal with European travellers and there is great potential to increase our share of outbound travel from the region, including Italy. 

"The campaign includes online advertising and a 14-page travel supplement distributed in the country's leading newspapers, Repubblica and Corriere della Seraa which have a combined readership of five million people. 

"Australian model and superstar Megan Gale features in the supplement to promote Australia and invite Italians to holiday in her homeland. 

"Megan is a high-profile fashion model in Italy, a well-known Australian and the 'face' of a major Italian telecommunication company. Her endorsement of Australia will help increase interest in Australia and drive more Italians to consider holidaying in our country.

The ATC's $500,000 campaign is a cooperative initiative with Qantas and major wholesalers in the Italian market. The supplement includes an interview with Megan who details her favourite holiday getaways in Australia and invites Italians to visit her homeland. 

The campaign also include online advertising on Italian Web site iol (Italy Online) and Virgilio driving visitors to the ATC Web site (www.occasioni.australia.com) and to Italian tour operators providing information on Australian holiday deals. 

The campaign targets Italians who have never visited Australia before and focuses on a range of Australian holiday experiences; urban style (cities / lifestyles), free style (national parks), sun style (winter sun and beaches) and love style (honeymoon and romance).

Mr Boundy said outbound travel from Italy was slow last year due to a range of issues including the economy and the events of September 11. These factors impacted on travel to Australia, with 47,000 Italians visiting in 2001, a drop of around 19 per cent.

"The Italian market has begun to recover with consumers now looking to travel overseas," he said. "There is a great opportunity for Australia to attract more visitors from Italy and to exceed arrivals from previous years. 

"The ATC was provided with additional funding post September 11 to help rebuild inbound visitor arrivals. Additional funding has been allocated to our activities in Italy to help rebuild consumer interest in Australia." 

Mr Boundy said consumer response to Internet promotions which are already underway have been strong and the ATC was now focused on working with tour operators in Italy to convert the interest into holiday bookings.