Interstaters put Adelaide in exalted company

ADELAIDE is in the same league as the European cities of Rome, Nice, Vienna and Budapest according to our interstate counterparts.

ADELAIDE is in the same league as Rome, Nice, Vienna and Budapest according to our interstate counterparts.

Research conducted for the state's latest tourism marketing campaign asked Sydneysiders to name cities they believed were comparable with Adelaide.

The South Australian Tourism Commission survey results will be used to develop a new television advertisement showcasing the city of Adelaide, expected to be launched in January.

Tourism Minister Leon Bignell said the findings showed Sydney respondents held Adelaide in the same regard as some of the great European cultural cities .

However, Mr Bignell said the research - which also put questions about Adelaide's defining characteristics to people in Melbourne and Brisbane - revealed respondents only had a vague understand of what Adelaide had to offer.

"They thought of us as a bit highbrow, they know that we're cultured and we like wine," Mr Bignell told The Advertiser.

"What the research showed in Brisbane and Sydney was people there really don't have a view on what Adelaide is all about.

"They know our regions better than our capital.

"They certainly didn't have a bad view, which means we have a blank canvass to work with."

Overall, Adelaide was described as arty, quirky, cultural, intriguing and as a place that offers fine-dining.

Mr Bignell said the usual rivalry with Victoria was evident in the responses from Melbourne.

"Victorians are a really important market for us because they are right on our doorstep and many people drive across the border," he said.

The Adelaide advertisement follows the successful Barossa and Kangaroo Island campaigns.

They cost $6 million each and the Adelaide campaign is expected to have the same budget and employ the same creative teams.

Preliminary work on the Adelaide campaign has begun and the end result will likely showcase the revamped Adelaide Oval and the city's laneways as well as nearby attractions like McLaren Vale and the Adelaide Hills.

The advertisement will air on television and in cinemas in Perth, Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. It will also be broadcast to Adelaide audiences.

However, the government has drawn criticism from the Opposition for planning to launch the campaign just months before the March state election - and bringing forward funding from next year's Budget to complete it in time.

Responding to the feedback from interstate about cities comparable to Adelaide, Opposition tourism spokesman David Ridgway said: "It is Nice to be compared with Buda and I'm not being a Pest but we in Adelaide make better coffee than Vienna, you won't go Hungary and tourists will have a better time if they Rome around South Australia".