Multimillion-dollar travel ad sends message to the world as Australia opens border

Tourism Australia has made it known to the rest of the world that the country is now open for travel business with a friendly new ad campaign.

Tourism Australia has come to the rescue of the nation’s flailing travel and tourism sector with a simple yet appealing advertising campaign that announces to the world that the Great Southern land is open for business to foreign tourists.

The new multimillion dollar ad will launch in the US and UK tomorrow before airing in Europe and Canada, extending an invitation to visit as Australia opens its borders.

“G’day. Next time you holiday, why go small when you can go Australia?” a voiceover asks over video footage of some of the nation’s most obvious attractions including the Great Barrier Reef.

Tourism Australia’s Come and Say G'Day, Don't Go Small … Go Australia! tourism campaign. Picture: Supplied

The tagline is even simpler: “Go Australia.”

The $40 million campaign includes billboards in New York’s Times Square and London’s Piccadilly Circus.

It comes as Australia will reopen its borders to tourists from February 21, ending some of the world’s strictest and longest-running pandemic travel restrictions.

Tourism Australia’s Come and Say G'Day, Don't Go Small … Go Australia! tourism campaign – Great Barrier Reef. Picture: Supplied

“It’s almost two years since we took the decision to close the borders to Australia,” Prime Minister Morrison said, announcing borders will reopen to all visa holders”.

“If you’re double vaccinated, we look forward to welcoming you back to Australia,” he said.

Australia’s ports and airports slammed shut to tourists in March 2020 with the aim of shutting out the surging global pandemic.

The rules stranded nationals overseas, split families, hammered the country’s multibillion-dollar tourist industry and prompted often bitter debates about Australia’s openness to the rest of the world.

Tourism Australia’s Come and Say G'Day, Don't Go Small … Go Australia! campaign features the Great Ocean Road. Picture: Tourism Australia

Every month of “Fortress Australia” policies cost businesses an estimated $3.6 billion, according to the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

“Our borders will have been closed to international tourists for 704 days,” the chamber said in a statement. “This decision will allow our flailing tourism sector to recover, saving businesses and saving livelihoods.”

The day after Mr Morrison’s February 7 announcement, online travel site Skyscanner saw an overall 199 per cent increase in international bookings into Australia with a 272 per cent surge from the UK.

Australia’s most recent ad, which was a star-studded affair made just before the pandemic hit, had to be pulled when borders closed.

The last great Australian tourism ad was arguably the Lara Bingle fronted “Where the bloody hell are ya?” campaign.

Travel industry pundits have warned that this new campaign will only work if there are no more rule changes.

The latest government decision will see almost all remaining caps lifted after the country’s longstanding “Covid-zero” policy was abandoned, vaccination rates rose and the once stellar track-and-trace system collapsed under a wave of Omicron cases.

Kangaroo Island SA is featured in Tourism Australia’s Come and Say G'Day, Don't Go Small … Go Australia! campaign. Picture: Tourism Australia

Australia’s travel and tourism sector, which struggled as visitor numbers fell almost 98 per cent compared to pre-pandemic levels, has responded to the current rule with elation.

“We’re very excited about being able to reopen,” said Tony Walker, managing director of the Quicksilver Group, which operates cruises, diving and resorts across the Great Barrier Reef.

“The last couple of years have been incredibly difficult for us,” he told AFP, urging people overseas to “come visit”.

Over the course of the pandemic, the firm went from 650 employees down to the 300 it has today.

Avoca caves NSW is featured in Tourism Australia’s Come and Say G'Day, Don't Go Small … Go Australia! campaign. Picture: Tourism Australia

Mr Walker said he expected “it will take some time to recover” from the past two years.

Many tourism operators around Australia are experiencing staff shortages, given how few backpackers and working holiday-makers are coming.

Despite the national reopening, travel within Australia will still be restricted. Western Australia remains closed to most nonresidents. It is currently easier to travel from Sydney to Paris than from Sydney to Perth.

Originally published as Multimillion-dollar travel ad sends message to the world as Australia opens border