Australia pumps extra funds into luring UK tourists – Anonymous, Marketing, 36/6/2003.

Down Under is touted for the upwardly mobile – Mike Beirne, Brandweek, 11/8/2003.

Like many other destinations, Australia has taken a blow to its tourism industry over the last three years. Terrorism activities, such as September 11, 2001 in the United States and the Bali bombings in 2002, the war in Iraq, and the SARS outbreak, have all had an impact on holidaymakers, many preferring to travel locally than to risk international air travel.

The Australian Tourist Commission (ATC) dedicated Ł1million to a three-week marketing campaign in July 2003, in an attempt to kick start bookings from Britain following the war in Iraq. Spreading over several media vehicles, including TV, radio, newspapers and the Internet, this campaign was run in conjunction with a special airfare promotion by Qantas. While the existing campaign emphasised the possible outdoor activities in Australia, many of the ads for the three-week campaign used the Rugby World Cup as a positioning theme.

A different approach was used by the ATC to attract more American tourists to Australia. At present, Australia attracts less than 2% of passport-holding Americans, despite that fact that it is considered an aspirational destination for many Americans. To boost these figures, the ATC invested $6.5million in a ‘Have you ever?’ campaign that span across TV, print and the Internet. Unlike the British campaign, this campaign seeks to appeal to social status-conscious consumers who wish to express this status through choice of travel destinations. However, past campaigns, while highlighting the numerous things to do in Australia, have been perceived as not only being expensive, but also as requiring a lengthy stay. Attempts have been made to change this perception by promoting 2-week packages under $2000 that are available through marketing partners such as Qantas.

In the words of Michael Londregarn, ATC’s VP–the Americas, ‘We’ve explained the features well, but we haven’t translated them into consumer benefits and until you do that, people will want to go, but don’t’.

TALKING IT OVER AND THINKING IT THROUGH!

1. There are different bases for segmenting consumer markets. Name a few using examples.

2. What bases is the Australian Tourism Commission using to segment its customer markets?

3. Why do you think different positioning strategies have been used in Britain and the US? Do you agree or disagree with ATC’s choice of positioning?

4. Consumers typically choose products/services that give them the greatest value. In identifying possible competitive advantages, the ATC needs to differentiate its offering from competitors. Explain.