Fake Crocodile Dundee ad pays off with tourism boom

Tourism Australia’s Crocodile Dundee-themed Super Bowl gamble is paying off, with the ad campaign, starring the Hemsworth brothers, sparking a boost in visitors heading Down Under.

Exclusive: Tourism Australia’s Crocodile Dundee-themed Super Bowl gamble is paying off, with the ad campaign sparking a boost in American visitors heading Down Under.

Starring Chris and Liam Hemsworth and a host of prominent Australian actors, the ad premiered at last year’s NFL final and was viewed more two hundred million times within a month.

Tourist bosses are crediting the campaign with boosting by three per cent — or a 747 jet load a week — the number of Americans travelling to Australia.

The first minute-long ad, which featured cameos from Russell Crowe, Isla Fisher, Hugh Jackman, Margot Robbie and Jessica Mauboy, initially appeared to be a teaser for a remake of Paul Hogan’s cult 1980s film.

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Tourism Australia’s Crocodile Dundee-themed Super Bowl gamble is paying off, with the ad campaign sparking a boost in American visitors heading Down Under. Picture: Supplied

But it was later revealed as marketing, which cost $36 million and was the biggest campaign targeting the US since Hogan asked the country to “throw another shrimp on the barbie” three decades ago.

It was followed by a second ad last October.

Trade Minister Simon Birmingham said there were 24,000 more visitors from the states in the year ending September 2018.

“Tourism is worth $136 billion to our economy and that’s why our government continues to deliver record funding to Tourism Australia for campaigns such as Dundee,” he said.

“Americans want to visit Australia, we are on their wish list, but our biggest challenge is to convert this interest into action and actually getting them on a plane.”

Chris Hemsworth and Danny McBride star in the campaign. Picture: Supplied

After travelling so far to Australia, American visitors tend to spend big and the boost has pumped an extra $120 million into the local economy.

“We know US travellers splash the cash when they come out here with the average traveller spending on average $5000 per trip,” he said.

“An extra $5000 per American being injected into Australian restaurants, hotels or shops makes our investment in the Dundee campaign money well spent.”

Tourism Australia said the campaign has been viewed almost a billion times across different social media, 80 per cent of which was in the US.

Some operators reported a 30 per cent spike in bookings, according to government figures. Overseas visitor numbers showed American visitors jumped from 712,000 to 736,000.

“There is real power in using Aussie Hollywood stars such as the Hemsworth brothers who can leverage off their global popularity and be a powerful marketing tool for Australian tourism,” said Mr Birmingham.

More Americans visited NSW (485,993) than other states, ahead of Victoria (231,521), Queensland (226,887), South Australia (58,004), Western Australia (74,109), Tasmania (41,951), the Northern Territory (36,009) and ACT (22,471).

Originally published as Fake Crocodile Dundee ad pays off with tourism boom