Tourism Australia will redeploy international marketing and promote domestic tourism thanks to $76m government grant

The Australian Government has granted Tourism Australia an initial $76m in a tourism recovery package as part of the National Bushfire Recovery Fund.

The package will break down into a $20m domestic marketing campaign, which will launch this week, and a $25m boost to Tourism Australia’s international marketing efforts.

The $25m for international marketing will see Tourism Australia “[redeploy] its existing marketing budgets and campaigns”.

Its latest campaign, which launched on Christmas Day and saw Kylie Minogue sing a ‘Matesong’ to members of the United Kingdom, was pulled just ten days later in light of the bushfire crisis.

Tourism Australia’s Matesong campaign which launched in the UK on Chirstmas Day was pulled in light of the Bushfires

At the time Tourism Australia stated that the safety of tourists in the country was its priority.

“As the Australian Government agency responsible for attracting tourists to our country, Tourism Australia will have an important role to play in highlighting that Australia will continue to be a world-leading and safe tourism destination, whether in unaffected regions or those that will recover from these bushfires in the months and years to come,” a Tourism Australia spokesperson told Mumbrella.

The new international marketing activations will “protect and restore Australia’s reputation as an international tourism destination, by reinforcing to global audiences that Australia is safe and open for business.”

Meanwhile, the domestic campaign will support the Australian tourism industry as a whole, but with focus given to the communities and regions affected by the bushfires. It will also involve joint activity with each state and territory’s individual tourism body.

Additional funding includes $9.5m for international media hosting, bringing international media outlets and television programs over to promote the areas of Australia that are unaffected by fires, and a $6.5m boost for the Australian Tourism Exchange, an event bringing together Australian tourism businesses and international tourism retailers and wholesalers. Each year the event contributes between $5.5 to $8.5bn in international sales to the Australian tourism from 30 countries.

If you’d like to assist with bushfire recovery, relief and rescue efforts, please explore the options below: 

• New South Wales Rural Fire Service
• Victorian Country Fire Authority
• South Australian Country Fire Service
• Queensland Rural Fire Service 
• Salvation Army Disaster Appeal
• St Vincent de Paul Society Bushfire Appeal
• Australian Red Cross Disaster Recovery and Relief
• WIRES (Wildlife Rescue) Emergency Fund
• Koalas in Care 
• Western Australia Volunteer Fire and Rescue