One year of Ruby the Roo gives international tourism industry a bounce

It’s been a year since Tourism Australia launched Ruby the kangaroo on to the world stage in an effort to revive international tourism. Has she succeeded?

Ruby the Roo on a billboard in Chengdu, China. Picture: Tourism Australia

A year since Ruby the 'roo invited the world to “Come and Say G’Day” in Australia, international visitor numbers have hopped from 50 per cent of pre-Covid levels to almost 80 per cent.

Voiced by actor Rose Byrne in English-speaking countries, Tourism Australia had hoped Ruby would do for international tourism what Paul Hogan did in the late 1980s in the original “Come Say G’day” ad.

Aided by a budget of $125m, the computer-generated kangaroo has graced billboards all over the world, including in New York’s Times Square, central London and Singapore.

Tourism Minister Don Farrell said a year on, it was clear tourists were coming to say g’day and returning to Australia in strong numbers.

“Overall, we have reached 79 per cent of pre-pandemic arrivals, with some individual markets back at 2019 levels,” Senator Farrell said.

“Tourism Australia’s campaign has ensured that Australia remains front and centre for travellers on the world stage, and it is great to see Come and Say G’day and brand ambassador Ruby the kangaroo are doing just that.”

Oxford Economics research showed Australia’s international tourism recovery was now tracking ahead of expectation, with expenditure set to match 2019 levels next year and visitor numbers forecast to get there by 2025.

Ruby the Roo on an electronic billboard in New York. Picture: Tourism Australia

In a further boost for tourism operators, online searches for flights to Australia was up by 10 per cent globally compared to the same time last year.

Tourism Australia managing director Phillipa Harrison said the ongoing recovery was great news for the industry.

“These numbers demonstrate that Come and Say G’day is working, and will play an important role, as we look to not only recover to 2019 levels but to return to the sustainable growth our industry experienced in the decade before the pandemic,” Ms Harrison said.

The most recent Bureau of Statistics data showed some markets had already exceeded pre-Covid figures, including South Korea and Indonesia.

Visitors from New Zealand were back to 87 per cent of pre-Covid levels, Americans at 91 per cent and short-term arrivals from India at 92 per cent.

Chinese visitors were also recovering strongly to be at 52 per cent of 2019 figures, and already the second biggest source of international arrivals after New Zealand.

Ms Harrison said the campaign was helping Australia to stand out in a “very competitive global market”.

“We are confident Come and Say G’day will continue to drive more demand back to Australia,” she said.

Ruby the Roo in London. Picture: Simon Jacobs/PinPep

To mark the one year anniversary of the costly campaign, the plush toy kangaroo was again hopping on to electronic billboards in New York, London, Singapore, Beijing and Chengdu.

At the same time, jobs in the tourism industry were recovering after hundreds of thousands of people left their roles during the pandemic, creating a massive shortage for operators.

Recent data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed there were 713,000 people working in the tourism sector in the June quarter, compared to 363,900 in June 2020.

The latest figures were about 6 per cent down on 2019 numbers and slightly below what they were in the March quarter.

Originally published as One year of Ruby the Roo gives international tourism industry a bounce