2004 - 2005 Annual Report - Tourism Australia

The Americas
CANADA
OVERVIEW
Canada is an important contributor to Australian tourism, delivering around 98,000 visitors each year, and is
also a top performer in terms of visitor length of stay and expenditure.
Canadians take over 6 million long-haul vacations each year, searching the world for unique experiences.
Australia has great appeal among this travel base, to the extent that one in two long-haul travellers include
Australia on their list of ideal vacation destinations. However, lack of knowledge, combined with perceptions
relating to time, cost and complexity make the road from aspiration to conversion a difficult one for Australia.
The Canadian market is very price elastic and airfare is an important determinant of competitive market share.
The market is seasonal, with the northern winter a key driver in overall travel.
2004/05 saw Tourism Australia’s strongest result in this market. 44 per cent of all enquiries to Tourism
Australia’s marketing was converted within six months of response, compared with 31 per cent for the US.
Highlights and results
> The ‘Australia. A Different Light’ co-operative campaign delivered 4,401 enquiries with a media efficiency of
$91 per lead. This was an excellent result on the heels of the successful ‘Have You Ever’ campaign last year
(1,890 leads at $166).
> The co-operative Qantas Airpass product strategy was very successful, generating 82 per cent of all enquiries,
with three times the media efficiency and conversion power of traditional package advertising.
> The Aussie Specialist Program was restructured with 25 travel agencies enlisted as Premier Aussie Specialists
in Canada. The new program allows Tourism Australia to distribute consumer leads to its top retail converters,
while at the same time providing a framework to measure customer acquisition and conversion through the
retail network.
> australia.com was Tourism Australia’s primary communication platform in North America. In the
space of 12 months, the site experienced a dramatic increase in consumer traffic, lead generation
and conversion power.
> Tourism Australia-influenced ( VJP and proactive outreach) coverage of Australia reached a cumulative
audience of 34.02 million Canadians.
UNITED STATES
OVERVIEW
The US holds enormous opportunity for Australian tourism, with an
affluent consumer base of long haul travellers.
Australia’s appeal among American travellers is unmatched by any
destination in the world to the extent that one in two Americans
include Australia on their list of ideal vacation destinations. The
challenges in converting enquiries into bookings includes the depth
of knowledge of Australian tourism experiences and perceptions of
distance, time and cost.
The key market objective for 2004/05 was to convince Americans
to take their first step towards realising their Australian vacation,
recognising that they are (1) becoming ‘fully independent travellers’,
(2) increasingly hard to reach through traditional media, and (3) want
to ‘buy’ not be ‘sold to’ in the traditional marketing paradigm.
The return on investment (ROI) for Tourism Australia’s marketing in
the US for 2004/05 stands at 1:65 (for every $1 spent on marketing,
$65 has been returned to the Australian economy in air and land
sales). This is a significant improvement on the marketing efficiency of
the ‘Have You Ever’ campaign last year with a ROI of 1:48.
Highlights and results
> The ‘Australia. A Different Light’ co-operative campaign set a high
standard for Tourism Australia’s marketing in the US, delivering
33,216 enquiries with a media efficiency of $173 per lead.
> The co-operative Qantas Airpass product strategy contributed 76 per
cent of all enquiries in the growing FIT market, with twice the media
efficiency and conversion power of traditional package advertising.
> australia.com has matured into Tourism Australia’s primary
communication platform in North America. In the space of 12
months, the site has witnessed a dramatic increase in consumer
traffic, lead generation and conversion power. This accomplishment
demonstrates the clout of a fully integrated marketing effort that
combines a winning product strategy, big brand PR, and technology
designed to enhance customer engagement, such as the interactive
‘Stevo’ personality. In his first month on the site, ‘Stevo’ increased
consumer click-throughs from the homepage by 400 per cent.
> In January 2005, the Australia Week festival in Los Angeles garnered
unprecedented exposure for Australia in the US, including six
stories on national television entertainment and news programs
to a combined audience of 10 million people. More than 6,000
consumers and trade attended Australia Week events.
> The two-tier Aussie Specialist Program was launched in January
2005. Over 130 travel agents enlisted as Premier Aussie Specialists
across North America.
> Tourism Australia-influenced ( VJP and proactive outreach) coverage of
Australia reached a cumulative audience of 139.5 million Americans.
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