Tourism Australia ad keeps it real and big

Who needs Kylie, quokkas, bikinis and Bingle jingles to sell the country when there’s purple prose and posters?

“Australia calls you to a scenic wonderland of mild winter and glorious summer. An infinite variety of enchanting scenery from tropical luxuriance to snow-clad alps.”

Who needs Kylie, quokkas, bikinis and Bingle jingles to sell the country when there’s purple prose like that to entice overseas visitors back to our shores? I recently stumbled upon an exhibition of rare vintage travel posters in George Place in Sydney’s CBD. The Great Australian Poster Roadshow, curated by Justin Miller Art and dating from the early 20th century, taught me a lot about my homeland.

Who knew, for instance, Victoria was “the place to start a fish story” (picture a rock angler reeling in a whopper, no life jacket in sight)? Or that Mildura was “Australia’s sunniest holiday playground” (a fedora-wearing chap lazing in a hammock beside an impossibly blue Murray River)? Or that the Sunshine Route, the train journey between Brisbane and Cairns, was “like a magic carpet ride” (an unrealistically cheery family – Dad’s pineapple-print shirt is fabulous – with two children looking out in wonder as opposed to staring at their phones)?

A poster for the train journey between Cairns and Brisbane.

‘Think Tove Jansson on drugs, minus the Moomins.’

I wasn’t aware Mount Gambier was “the lake district of South Australia” (Ambleside, eat your heart out); that “any time is holiday time in Adelaide”; Western Australia was the “land of leisurely living”; or that “lovely Lindeman, an island jewel in a Coral Sea”, was the place for “big game fishing within the Great Barrier Reef”. At the time, Sydney was “the new world below the equator” (a gorgeous twinkling harbour at night) while Australia was, variously, “for sunshine and romance” (a Cobb & Co carriage, possibly being pursued by a bushranger) and the “land of tomorrow” (words fail me; think Tove Jansson on drugs, minus the Moomins).

It’s fascinating to see how marketing people once portrayed Australia and its population to the outside world (and ourselves). Some elements are absolutely on the money; you can almost smell the bush or feel the dry heat of the desert. Others present a fantasy version.

Which is why it is so pleasing to see Tourism Australia’s latest advert, timed to coincide with this week’s opening of our international borders to tourists. It doesn’t rely on celebrities, gimmicks or clever ditties but plays to our country’s diverse array of strengths: stunning scenery, close encounters with nature, iconic city landmarks, great food and wine. It’s big and it’s real.

Visitors are urged to see the Blue Mountains for themselves.

Who knew the Murray was so blue?

Bookings for inbound flights for March and April have soared, especially from Britain and Germany, with Skyscanner reporting increases of 175 per cent and 200 per cent respectively the week after the announcement that the gates were opening.

Let’s hope for a steady influx of visitors from now onwards. And here’s some advice for them from the 1900s marketeers: “Take a Kodak.”