Were you expecting a big announcement at the Australian Tourism Exchange (ATE), which took place in Brisbane this week?
Perhaps somewhat unfoundedly, I was, but in hindsight, there was no real reason behind it.
The more things change, the more they stay the same, it seems, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. In fact, under the circumstances, it could be just what Australia needs.
We recently received the latest ABS data which showed an 8.2% decrease in short-term visitor arrivals for February 2025 compared to the previous year, but alarm bells were hardly going to be sounding.
The same data when December 2024 was used would show a 7.8% year-on-year increase – graphed, it is generally trending up.
Last year, Tourism Australia confirmed that it had shifted its retained creative advertising agency relationship, bringing in Accenture Song to replace M&C Saatchi on the creative account and Digitas on the digital front.
Accenture Song is the relatively new big player in the advertising industry, soaking up a raft of well-known (to the industry) creative shops like The Monkeys, Droga5 and more.
These are agencies that have created some iconic marketing campaigns for the likes of Qantas, IKEA, Telstra, NRMA and more.
Generally speaking, a change in relationship like that means a change in brand platform or at least a big shift in campaign strategy. Especially if you’re engaging big hitters like Accenture Song. But none was forthcoming.
It turns out, Ruby the Roo hit it out of the park so far that part of the brief for any new agency relationship was the retention of the furry marsupial who debuted in late 2022 and is voiced by Rose Byrne.
Typical for the marketing sphere, there were some “experts” that were quick to label Ruby a menace and request she be culled, but since her introduction, short-term visitor arrivals have generally been on the up.
I had the opportunity to speak to Tourism Australia MD Phillipa Harrison during ATE and quizzed her about the shift.
“Part of the pitch was that Ruby was to remain, so all of the companies went in knowing that we own the IP of Ruby,” Harrison told me.
“We believe in long-term messaging. We get sick of our marketing way before our customers do. You only need to look at the Cadbury’s ad and see how many years that’s been going to understand that marketing wear-out is not a thing.
“There [are] no plans at the moment to retire her [Ruby]. She’s still doing a great job and it’s not just our view on it. We’ve tested with System1. She’s in the top 2%. She’s highly recognisable. The most recognisable thing about Australia is a kangaroo.”
So, Ruby’s staying, and she will have a fresh lease of life via Accenture Song.
Then there was the matter of budget – a topic that perfectly encapsulated the “more things stay the same” part of my aforementioned prophecy, as TA’s coffers after the Federal Budget was announced did, indeed, stay exactly the same.
Again, I asked Harrison about it, and she wasn’t shy in coming forward with her thoughts.
“It’s not my job to comment on how much budget we get, it’s my job to make sure that we use our budget to its best and highest purpose.”
“I think we’ve got enough money to do the job that we need to do right now in all of the markets that are really important to Australia, and the markets that we’re in represent about 80% of the inbound market into Australia.”
She added that “this year we’re also into a 16th market, which is Vietnam”. Perhaps not the massive announcement I was foreshadowing, but an important one, none the less, when you dig through the numbers.
It’s not hard to see why Vietnam has been added.
On a slide Harrison shared during her media presentation, the core markets and their projected contribution in terms of visitor numbers to 2029 were presented on screen.
Vietnam was projected to contribute more than other core markets, such as Italy and France, and looked like it would be close to the same level as Canada.
To do a very simple cross-check, I took the short-term visitor arrival numbers from the ABS for the aforementioned countries and plotted them on the same chart – the visual representation of Vietnam’s potential from people who have already travelled is clear to see.
The rest of the week
There was plenty of other news coming out of ATE which was covered in Travel Daily and Cruise Weekly.
Infrastructure was a major talking point and TA flagged significant investment in order to keep up with the projected tourism influx.
Queensland insisted it would not waste the opportunity provided by hosting the Olympics, but stated that it was important to capitalise both before and after, not just during the Games.
And cruise was in the spotlight at ATE thanks to ACA and CLIA, who were right at the front of the showroom floor.
There were a number of important breakers this week as well – mainly in the form of the current political situation in the US causing grief to the projected revenue of some big businesses in the travel industry.
Both FCTG and CTM sent out alerts on the ASX with downgraded forecasts.
Meanwhile, ATIA slammed KPMG’s report claims that there’s been a decline in the need for travel agents, while the NTIAs have been refreshed and nominations are now open.
It turned out to be a big week for CEO Dean Long as he headed to Canberra to appeal for a fairer operating environment for travel businesses with the small matter of the federal election taking place today.
And the news around Paspaley Pearl continued to take up headline space as Sarina Bratton’s new venture Pearl Expeditions appointed Mick Fogg as GM and Head of Sustainability.
That wraps us up for another week.
Enjoy the weekend – if you’re Sydney-based, hopefully the sun finally makes a much-needed appearance.
Damian Francis
Editorial Director
