Agency overview | |
---|---|
Formed | 1 July 2004 |
Preceding agency |
|
Jurisdiction | Australian Government |
Website | www |
Tourism Australia is the Government of Australia agency responsible for promoting Australia to the world as a destination for business and leisure travel.
Tourism Australia’s purpose is to increase the economic benefits to Australia of tourism, supporting the industry’s Tourism 2020 strategy, which aims to grow the overnight annual expenditure generated by tourism to as much as $140 billion by 2020.
The organisation is active in around 30 key markets, including Australia, where it aims to grow demand for the destination’s tourism experiences by promoting the unique attributes which will entice people to visit.
Tourism Australia’s activities include advertising, public relations and media programs, trade shows and programs for the tourism industry, consumer promotions, online communications and consumer research.
The organisation caused controversy in 2006 when its advertising campaign "So where the bloody hell are you?" gained media attention following a ban in the UK.
In January 2010 Tourism Australia displayed a caged kangaroo on a street in Hollywood. The kangaroo was filmed by a concerned member of the public who was reported as saying, "The kangaroo was there in a pen, like a 10 by 12 (foot) pen, straight on the concrete and it was really, really disturbing. It was just disturbing. There were kids who were really upset because this kangaroo was just rocking back and forth and back and forth and back and forth."
Australian macropod expert Tim Faulkner, after viewing the video of the kangaroo, said that it was clear the animal was not acting normally, "The animal is obviously distressed, there is no question about it. The sort of stress I see here suggests that it has endured long-term problems."
In 2010, Tourism Australia launched its There's nothing like Australia campaign, sourcing its stories and photographs from the Australian public through a competition with strict licensing conditions. The terms and conditions of the competition require the authors to assign all rights including moral rights to Tourism Australia and indemnify Tourism Australia against any legal action as a result of its re-using the works, which the Australian Copyright Council says are extreme conditions and "particularly disturbing given that Tourism Australia is a Government body".
In January 2014, Tourism Australia announced it had appointed Fox Sports chief operating officer John O’Sullivan as its new managing director.