Tourism Australia to launch UK campaign promoting two-week holidays Down Under

TOURISM chiefs are setting their sights on time-poor Brits, hoping to convince them two weeks is enough for a trip Down Under.

English tourists Kate Manners and Nina Tant make a splash in Cairns with William Whyte an

FRESH from convincing the Barmy Army to spend big and stay long as it followed the English cricket team this summer, Tourism Australia has turned its attention to time-poor tourists.

The country’s peak tourism body will launch a campaign in the UK promoting Australia as a two-week holiday destination.

The move follows Australian Bureau of Statistics figures showing the number of UK arrivals jumped 6.8 per cent in 2013 to 634,100 — a result helped by an influx for both The Ashes and the British Lions tour in June and July.

The Barmy Army has contributed to a rise in tourists from the UK.

“Tourism Australia’s ‘There’s Nothing like Australia’ global creative campaign resonates well in this (UK) market,” Tourism Australia UK/Northern Europe regional general manager Denise von Wald said.

“Underpinning this with an achievability message will help convert consumer desire to holiday in Australia into bookings.”

The campaign, set to launch in the UK in April, is focused on first-time visitors and aims to overcome the perceived barrier of time and distance that is one of the biggest hurdles confronting Australian tourism.

It will feature a range of two-week itineraries, including:

1. Five days in Sydney, two days in the Blue Mountains and six days enjoying the coastal lifestyle on the Great Barrier Reef.

The Twelve Apostles await travellers on the Great Ocean Road.

2. Four days in Melbourne, a four-day road trip from Melbourne to Adelaide exploring the Great Ocean Road, and five days enjoying the wineries and wildlife of South Australia.

3. Three days in Perth, four days exploring the beaches and wineries in the Margaret River, and a six-day Outback tour taking in the Kimberley and Darwin.

4. Three days in Sydney, five days on the beach at Byron Bay and five days in the Red Centre exploring Uluru and Alice Springs.

5. Three days in Melbourne, four days in a beach house on the Mornington Peninsula and six days exploring Tasmania’s wildlife.

“Inspiring consumers with two-week itineraries which are rich in diverse experiences but don’t involve taking on all the whole country, will help move Australia off the ‘wish list’ and onto the ‘shopping list’,” Ms von Wald said.

The latest International Visitor Survey shows the UK is Australia’s most valuable international leisure market in terms of total spend — contributing 15 per cent, or $2.4 billion, of the total spend for all inbound leisure visitors to Australia.