Tourism Australia launches new food and wine campaign, ‘Restaurant Australia’

THEY tried to woo tourists with bikini babe Lara Bingle and a controversial slogan: “Where the bloody hell are you?

Then they spruiked our most luxurious experiences, such as the extravagant Wolgan Valley Resort and Spa where Michael Clarke wed Kyly Boldy.

So, what the bloody hell has Tourism Australia thought of for their next big tourism campaign?

Well, it seems we’ve almost come back full circle to days of throwing another shrimp on the barbie, Paul Hogan-style.

Tourism Australia has unveiled their latest campaign and this time they reckon that tourists can be wooed by our food.

Lara Bingle in a still from the 2006 'Where the bloody hell are ya?' Tourism Australia ad. Source: News Limited

The $10 million “Restaurant Australia” campaign was launched this morning and is based on the idea of Australia being the world’s greatest restaurant.

“Restaurant Australia is all about bringing together the incredible stories of our people, place and produce to demonstrate to the world that every day, unique and exceptional food and wine experiences are being served-up in remarkable locations, and then sharing these stories through the creation of rich and compelling content,” Tourism Australia Managing Director John O’Sullivan said.

A romantic dinner by the water. Source: Supplied

Relying on the involvement of Australia’s food and wine operators, the campaign is set to be rolled out in three stages and will culminate with the Invite the World gala dinner in Tasmania in November.

So how big a part does food and wine now play in people’s travel choices?

“The concept of ‘Restaurant Australia’ has been built based on consumer research which identified ‘food and wine’ as a key factor in holiday decision making and the most important emotive trigger, ahead of world class beauty, for influencing people’s destination choice,” said Tourism Australia Chief Marketing Officer, Nick Baker.

International visitors spent more than $4 billion enjoying Australia’s food, wine and culinary experiences in 2013 and this latest campaign has been developed off the back of research conducted by Tourism Australia last year.

Will tourists be wooed by our food? Source: Supplied

Surveys across 15 of Australia’s key tourism markets showed that there was a significant gap in the perceptions of Australia’s food and wine offerings.

For people who have never visited Australia only 26 per cent thought we had good food and wine. But for those who have visited, Australia ranks second in the world for its food and wine experiences (60 per cent) after culinary giant France and ahead of Italy.

For visitors who have previously visited from China, the US, France, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, the UK, and South Korea, Australia is ranked number one in the world for its food and wine.

The new campaign website asks Australian food and wine businesses to submit their stories and to use the #restaurantaustralia on social media to capitalise on Tourism Australia’s online platforms.

Up, up and away. Source: Supplied

The broadcast ad focuses on the message that eating goes beyond the plate. That it is Australia’s produce, people and places that make it unique and shows tourists catching their own lobsters, eating a seafood picnic on the beach, drinking wine from our vineyards and dining under the stars by Uluru.

With a host of celebrity chefs on board including Peter Gilmore, Kylie Kwong and Maggie Beer the campaign is using our big names at home in hope of catching the attention of the world stage.

“We want to win over their hearts, minds and their stomachs so that the dream of visiting Australia becomes reality,” Mr O’Sullivan said.

Saffire Freycinet at Marine Oyster Farm, Tasmania. Source: Supplied

Source: news.com.au - 7 May 14