Tourism Australia launches ‘Restaurant Australia’ focus to lure international foodies
Tourism Australia has revealed plans to raise the profile of food and wine experiences Australia has to offer in a new ‘Restaurant Australia’ focus for international marketing campaigns.
The next phase of the international ‘There’s nothing like Australia’ campaign, developed in partnership with Wine Australia, aims to close the gap between the priorities of holidaymakers and a poor perception of Australia’s culinary industries.
Andrew McEvoy, managing director of Tourism Australia, unveiled the campaign at the inaugural Savour Australia forum in Adelaide this morning attended by over 800 wine industry and media delegates from around the world.
McEvoy said when people are making decisions about where to travel food, wine and local cuisine ranks above beauty and natural environments (38 per cent over 37 per cent) however just over a quarter (26 per cent) of people who have never been to Australia associate the country with good food and wine.
“Clearly, we need to narrow the perception gap between those who have visited Australia and those who have not. This is a great marketing and communications challenge,” McEvoy said.
“To do this we are evolving our global campaign with the idea that Australia could be the world’s greatest restaurant – Restaurant Australia – serving up the most unique food and wine experiences in remarkable locations every day.”
He added: “Our challenge is that for people who have never visited Australia, only 26 per cent associate the destination with a good food and wine offering. For those who have visited though, Australia is ranked second for its food and wine experiences (60%) after culinary giant France and ahead of Italy (third). We are ranked as the number one destination for food and wine for people who have visited from China, USA, France, India, Indonesia, Malaysia the UK and South Korea.”
The campaign builds on Tourism Australia’s partnership with Wine Australia, established late last year.
James Gosper, Wine Australia’s general manager market development, said: “Tourism Australia’s food and wine strategy will help forge a strong identity in the marketplace about Australia’s incredibly diverse, unique and top quality wine and food experiences.
“This is an exciting new era in the promotion of our food and wine and will ensure our offering becomes more relevant to the decision making process for travel to and within Australia.
“This new food and wine focus will help the wine industry extend its consumer reach on a scale we’ve not been able to achieve before.”
Earlier this year Tourism Australia also announced a partnership with Ultimate Wineries of Australia offering wine experiences including barrel, private and structured tastings, food-wine matching, wine education and gastronomy in spectacular locations within renowned wine regions.
