UK & Europe UK & IRELAND OVERVIEW The United Kingdom ( UK) continued to be <strong>Australia</strong>’s best performing long-haul market, generating $AUD3,438 million in <strong>2004</strong>. Marketing campaigns were successfully launched across a broad range of media, recording excellent exposure and enquiry numbers. These initiatives were well-received by the industry and were reinforced through a comprehensive agent training program. Many milestones were achieved in the UK and Ireland during <strong>2004</strong>/05 with new initiatives undertaken and high standards established for the future. A new collective approach was reflected in the Destination <strong>Australia</strong> Partnership (DAP), which united <strong>Tourism</strong> <strong>Australia</strong> and State Tourist Offices to maximise effectiveness in marketing the new Brand <strong>Australia</strong>. <strong>Tourism</strong> <strong>Australia</strong> also secured widely visible media coverage, a high rate of consumer response and strong industry satisfaction. Highlights and results > The Destination <strong>Australia</strong> Partnership (DAP) was moved to one central office, in December <strong>2004</strong>. The new DAP formation involved establishing new departments and functions and marked a key milestone in the global promotion of <strong>Australia</strong>. > australia.com remained the main call to action for <strong>Tourism</strong> <strong>Australia</strong> campaigns, recording a total of 680,957 sessions for the fiscal year (661,018 for UK, 19,939 for Ireland). While traffic for <strong>2004</strong> was similar to levels in 2003, the first three months of <strong>2005</strong> saw a 25 per cent increase on the same period in the previous year. > The Partnership Development Program continued to endorse trade relationships by hosting 12 familiarisation trips (11 in UK, 1 in Ireland) which attracted 256 participants (241 in UK, 15 for Ireland). An unprecedented 13 new tour operators and 19 Aussie Specialists were escorted to <strong>Australia</strong>n <strong>Tourism</strong> Exchange ( ATE) <strong>2005</strong>. The relaunch of an improved ASP site enabled more online interactions and provided training for a total of 2,286 agents (1,843 in UK, 443 in Ireland) during the year. > On average, 54 media articles per month were generated, and an advertorial was secured in Condé Nast Traveller featuring the Taste <strong>Australia</strong> event in partnership with Turquoise Holidays. > <strong>Tourism</strong> <strong>Australia</strong>’s advertising campaign in the UK ran from September <strong>2004</strong> to January <strong>2005</strong>, featuring the Delta Goodrem advertisement across television, cinema, outdoor, radio and press. Advertising via cinema gave <strong>Tourism</strong> <strong>Australia</strong> a unique marketing opportunity as no other tourism organisation had advertised using this medium over the past 12 months. The campaign focused on the key segments of Self Challengers and Comfort Adventurers. > The Delta Goodrem television advertisement achieved a 62 per cent recognition rate. <strong>Tourism</strong> <strong>Australia</strong>’s brand tracking indicated that 85 per cent of responses recalled the campaign in detail, 60 per cent discussed and thought about travelling to <strong>Australia</strong> and 42 per cent actively sought information through channels such as australia.com. > A series of effective co-operative campaigns with key airline partners continued during <strong>2004</strong>/05. The Qantas campaigns worked to convert strong desire to travel into bookings. > <strong>Tourism</strong> <strong>Australia</strong> commissioned celebrity photographer Rankin, to capture the spirit of <strong>Australia</strong> in a photographic exhibition in central London. Singapore Airlines co-sponsored the exhibition, which was launched at Sony Ericsson Proud Galleries, on 25 January <strong>2005</strong>. The <strong>Australia</strong> Day launch was attended by Rankin, UK media, the Minister for Small Business and <strong>Tourism</strong> the Hon Fran Bailey, and other high-profile guests including singer Delta Goodrem and chef Ben O’Donaghue. > The Rankin exhibition was recreated along the travellators at Waterloo underground station reaching an additional 546,000 people. An online gallery was set up at australia.com, attracting a further 7,829 visitors. The coverage from this campaign reached an estimated 8,309,628 people with an equivalent advertising value of £434,776. > BBC Holiday visited <strong>Australia</strong> as part of the Visiting Journalists Program ( VJP) in November <strong>2004</strong>. The group travelled from Perth to Sydney taking in Kalgoorlie, Coober Pedy, Adelaide and Echuca. The visit resulted in two segments of seven minutes which were broadcast in early February to 4.5 million viewers. The estimated publicity value from these broadcasts was £1.3 million. > <strong>Tourism</strong> <strong>Australia</strong> supported a visit by GMTV in January <strong>2005</strong> which generated two, ten minute films featuring Sydney and Byron Bay. The films were presented by Duncan James from the hugely popular boy band Blue and were broadcast to an audience of 11 million in March <strong>2005</strong>. GMTV is the UK’s leading breakfast program featuring a mix of news, lifestyle, current affairs features and celebrity interviews. > <strong>Tourism</strong> <strong>Australia</strong>’s UK operation was voted the best National <strong>Tourism</strong> Office in the Travel Trade Gazette Awards, a testament to its professionalism and the consolidated approach of the UK team. 72 73
FINANCIAL REPORT