Australian Tourist Commission Research Articles

Impact of tourIsm marketIng on DestInatIon Image: InDustry perspectIves

The purpose of the current research is to study the importance of destination image to products and distribution partners in the tourism system. It also examines the perceived contribution of various image creation factors in stages of the consumer buying process. The study examines the opinions of management from travel products located in Australia and active marketing in the US and management from travel wholesalers marketing Australian travel products in the US. Results of the study highlight the importance of destination image to destination image stakeholders. It concludes that image creation factors play different roles during the consumer buying process. The study recognizes the perceived importance of Australian tourism Commission (ATC) brand development strategies. The Australian branding experience in the US provides insights for destination marketing organizations (DMOs) seeking to maximize their impact on destination image creation by leveraging “word of mouth,” public relations, e-marketing, and stakeholder marketing efforts.

Measuring the Economic Impact of Australian Tourism Marketing Expenditure

The objective of this study is to quantify the effects of marketing expenditure by the Australian Tourist Commission (ATC). Cointegration analysis and a dynamic modelling approach are used to estimate the elasticity estimates of income, price, price of substitute, cost of travel and marketing expenditure for Australia's four major tourism markets, USA, Japan, UK and New Zealand. ATC marketing expenditure has a positive effect on international tourism demand and the magnitude of the effect varies from country to country. In promoting international visitor arrivals to Australia, not only ATC and non-ATC marketing but the word-of-mouth effect and visitor satisfaction leading to repeat visits also play an important role. The performance of the ATC marketing strategy measured in dollar return per dollar invested in the international tourism marketing is higher in the New Zealand market, followed by the UK, Japan and US markets. The estimated overall average dollar return per dollar invested in international tourism marketing is 8:1.

The Development of the "Secrets" Image of South Australia

This article investigates the impact of a specific marketing campaign, aimed at raising awareness of both the image and attractions of South Australia, which would position South Australia as a holiday destination in its target markets. Most tourism (80%) in South Australia is from the domestic market, but extensive research showed the key markets of Sydney and Melbourne didn't know what South Australia had to offer—and this was the major factor preventing growth in domestic tourism. Potential holidaymakers had few negative perceptions about the State; rather, they were inhibited by a lack of information. In 1998, the South Australian Tourism Commission developed the "Best Kept Secrets" marketing strategy, which promoted authentic experiences and positioned South Australia as a compelling holiday destination. It involved extensive use of the media—cinema, magazine and print advertising—and the nation's largest direct mail tourism campaign, which created a "sense of place" that derived much of its impact from the use of iconic vision and images of South Australia. The camera was all important in portraying that "secret" image.

Scheduling Appointments at Trade Events for the Australian Tourist Commission

Many trade events include appointments between buyers and sellers. Each buyer indicates preferences for meetings with various sellers and vice versa. We developed an assignment model and implemented it in the SATE (scheduling appointments at trade events) software. SATE maximizes an objective that weights the preferences of buyers and sellers. Our assignment method schedules more meetings with higher preferences in less computational time than the previous method used. SATE allows organizers of trade events to control appointment scheduling and investigate various scenarios prior to publishing appointment schedules.

Statutory Authorities Dancing with Enterprise: WA Inc., the Western Australian Tourism Commission and the ‘Global Dance Affair’

Since the late 1970s, statutory corporations have become very familiar and significant features of Australia’s tourism political economy. Through a case study of the ‘Global Dance Affair’ in Western Australia (WA), this paper critically examines several dimensions of the functions, structures and operations of the Western Australian Tourism Commission (WATC). Particular attention is directed to the relationships between business and government, the confusion surrounding precisely who is responsible for the actions and performance of tourism statutory corporations, and the wider socio-political settings within which statutory corporations operate. Using a range of sources including texts, government documents, parliamentary debates and the media, we find that the lobal Dance ‘Affair’ involved a complex web of networks and alliances, including a statutory corporation (the WATC and its Eventscorp arm), the Premier and other Ministers, bureaucrats and private sector individuals and agencies. Numerous problems are revealed, including: public servants’ confusion as to what did and did not amount to ministerial direction; the number and nature of portfolios held by a single minister, in this case the Premier; inadequate evaluation of event-based proposals presented to the WATC; WATC commissioners lacking a background or qualifications in tourism; and misuse of public monies. The WATC has reflected broader WA State government ideology and has been a very important conduit for business interests to influence government policy and action, but the case study raises serious questions concerning its governance and accountability.

An Integrative Approach to Tourism Forecasting: A Glance in the Rearview Mirror

In 1996, the South Australian Tourism Commission initiated a tourism forecasting and economic impact study to assess their future tourism industry potential. The integrative forecasting approach adopted advocates a combination of quantitative top-down and bottom-up approaches, along with a qualitative delphi survey to gather key industry input to the forecasting process. The article provides a retrospective assessment of the forecast accuracy for South Australia’s domestic and international tourism markets. Consideration of the most appropriate methods for updating existing state tourism forecasts, based on the South Australian experience, is also made. The findings suggest that the forecast accuracy for both international and domestic visitors was quite high overall. However, this apparent accuracy disguises some significant inaccuracies for particular segments, such as New Zealand and Other Asia, illustrating the difficulty of using time-series-type approaches to tourism forecasting in situations where the numbers are quite small and subject to significant volatility.

The Sydney 2000 Olympic Games: How the Australian Tourist Commission leveraged The Games for tourism

This paper outlines the key strategies used by the Australian Tourist Commission (ATC) in leveraging the Olympic Games to boost tourism to Australia. In 1995, the ATC established its Olympic Games Business Unit. The key elements of the pre-Games strategy were in developing joint-promotions, the establishment of a major media programme, working with TV broadcasters, and the setting up the Business Development Programme. Following the success of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, a twelve month post-Games strategy was operationalised. It has included tactical advertising in key markets, the use of direct marketing, working with key market segments such as the business tourism sector, and developing research to monitor the success of the strategy and tactics. The ATC strategy has also been recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) as a benchmark on how to maximise the benefits for both the Games and the host country.

An Interview with Maggie White, Business Manager Olympic Games for the Australian Tourist Commission

One of the most significant innovations to emerge from Sydney's hosting of the 2000 Olympic Games has been the way that Australian tourism organisations have built the Games into their marketing strategies. As the Business Manager Olympic Games for the Australian Tourist Commission, Maggie White is responsible for the ambitious international Olympic tourism marketing program. Here she talks to Dr Laurence Chalip of Griffith University, about her role and the challenges she faced.

Hosting the international travel media — A review of the Australian Tourist Commission’s visiting journalist programme

Hosting the international travel media provides many benefits to individual tourism organisations and entire destinations. Various national tourist organisations (NTOs) have developed visiting journalist programmes to entice the media to visit a destination and maximise the publicity that can be gained. Unfortunately, there is also much scope for a mismatch of expectations between the destination and media. This paper initially examines the four main issues of understanding travel journalists, recognising different cultural needs, understanding individual journalists’ needs, and examining the travel media market. The paper then examines the case of the visiting journalist programme run by the Australian Tourist Commission. It examines their processes and highlights the integration of their media programme to support the overall marketing objectives. Finally, there is a discussion about some of the less understood issues that arise from operating such programmes.

Brand Western Australia: A totally integrated approach to destination branding

This paper outlines the Western Australian Tourism Commission’s1 (WATC) approach to destination branding. Based on intensive consumer research, Brand Western Australia (Brand WA) resulted in an entire organisational shift and has repositioned Western Australia as a premier nature-based tourism destination in the global market. The cornerstone of the strategy was a partnership between government and industry and this philosophy forms the platform for the future policy direction of the WATC, paving the way for tourism growth in Western Australia. To ensure delivery of the marketing promise, infrastructure development and partnerships with other key government agencies are a fundamental part of the Brand WA strategy. The WATC has adopted a totally integrated and inclusive approach to destination branding tht encompasses marketing and development strategies and, in the process, is crafting a unique identity for Western Australia.

Naturalizing the ‘primitive’: A critique of marketing Australia's indigenous peoples as ‘hunter‐gatherers’

This paper explores the representation of Australia's indigenous peoples in the visual and verbal texts of the Australian Tourist Commission's (ATC) international advertising campaigns. These advertisements employed representations of Australia's indigenous people to signify experiences of ecotourism, the escape to a primeval world and the adventure of an untamed frontier. I analyse these symbolic representations of indigenous Australians using semiotic techniques. By employing these representations within advertising strategies, the ATC differentiated Australia as an international tourist destination. The ATC's attempt to attract international tourists to sustain an economically prosperous tourism sector also provides the potential visitor with a range of cultural tools enabling the construction of fantasy, meaning and identity. My critical reading suggests that the ATC's representation of indigenous peoples helps maintain the myths of either eco‐angels or noble savages reiterating colonial power relations. Given the official contemporary rhetoric over the term ‘Aboriginally’, attention is drawn to the contradictions created by this imagery.

Is Sustainable Tourism Really Sustainable?

Is Sustainable Tourism Really Sustainable?

Best Kept Secrets: An evaluation of South Australia’s direct marketing campaign

In 1998 the South Australian Tourism Commission launched an innovative marketing campaign known as ‘Best Kept Secrets’ to attract visitors to the state from external domestic markets. The campaign involved direct mail, and was supported with cinema and print advertising. The centrepiece of the campaign was a magazine-style 148pp direct mail piece known as ‘The Book of Best Kept Secrets’ that was distributed to 1.4 million households in targeted geographic areas. Evaluation of the campaign indicates that it had a substantial impact in raising awareness of the state, stimulating interest in visiting and delivering a motivational and travel planning document that was valued and retained by a substantial proportion of recipients.

The First Australian Wine Tourism Conference

On the initiative of Professor Ross Dowling (Edith Cowan University, W. Australia) and in cooperation with the Western Australian Tourism Commission and the Augusta‐Margaret River Tourism Association, a conference on wine tourism was held in May 1998. Both the tourism and the wine industries were very well represented at this first conference to be held on the subject of wine tourism; around 250 visitors from Australia as well as from other parts of the world met in Margaret River on the magnificent premises of Leeuwin Estate Winery, well known for its al fresco concerts.

Selling Paradise and Adventure: Representations of Landscape in the Tourist Advertising

The representation of Australia is explored in the visual and verbal texts of the Australian Tourist Commission's 1992 international advertising campaigns. The advertisements employed representations of Australian landscape to signify tourists' desires for either paradise or adventure. By providing the potential visitor with a range of cultural tools enabling the construction of fantasy, meaning, and identity, these advertisements attempt to attract international tourists. My critical reading suggests that these representations of landscape help maintain a myth of Australian national identity originating from oppressive colonial and patriarchal relations. These representations are not only regressive but conflict with articulations of national identity emanating from other Australian institutions.

RESORTING TO KOREAN TOURISM IN AUSTRALIA

AbstractSince the late 1980s, tourism has become Australia's most important source of export earnings, surpassing traditional commodities of wool, wheat and meat. Globally, Australia's tourist sector is growing at a rate exceeding all other OECD nations. Arrivals were up 16% when the years 1992 and 1993 are compared. Maintaining this growth requires diversifying the source of tourists. This article explores the growth in the tourist trade to Australia from the Republic of Korea (henceforth Korea). From 1991 to 1993, Korea was one of Australia's most rapidly growing source of inbound tourists. The article examines the growth in tourist flows between Korea and Australia in terms of ‘functional space’ which emphasises the concepts of generation, linkage and attraction between home and destination countries. It is argued that the demand for overseas travel in Korea is a response to the complex interplay of reduced explicit government legislation controlling overseas travel and increasing personal wealth. Marketing is essential to encourage Koreans to visit Australia since it is a marginal location in terms of Koreans' actual holiday destinations. Transforming potential to actual travel is dependent upon the marketing strategies pursued by the Australian Tourist Commission, travel agents, and airline companies.

An integrative approach to tourism demand forecasting

Tourism demand forecasting has become an end in itself, with the forecasting process being divorced from the tourism management activities it is supposed to serve. This article argues that a combination of techniques should be employed in order to facilitate a more meaningful dialogue between analysts and those responsible for tourism management decisions. The emphasis placed on econometric modelling has the potential to create significant blind spots in our vision of the future. The failure of this approach to enhance our understanding of phenomena which are more amenable to modes of analysis based on alternative paradigms, such as chaos theory, has contributed to mixed results in the past. An approach to forecasting and strategic planning being developed by the Australian Tourist Commission is used as a case study to illustrate aspects of the integrative approach that is advocated.

Marketing international tourism to Australia: A regression analysis

The aim of this study was to empirically estimate the impact of the international marketing activities of the Australian Tourist Commission on the number of tourist arrivals. Multivariable regression analysis was employed in order to estimate the elasticities of demand from five origin countries for a set of potentially important determinants. The results imply that the marketing activities have been significant in all cases but that other factors have also been very important. Several implications are discussed in terms of limitations of the findings and the allocation of marketing resources.

Tourism: Australia's fastest growing industry

In 1988 international arrivals to Australia passed the two million mark. Tourism accounts for 6% of Australia's GDP and there has been massive capital investment in tourism infrastructure over the last five years. The Australian Tourist Commission is responsible for marketing Australia worldwide as a holiday destination. A priority market approach is a key aspect of the ATC's philosophy, and a significant part of the budget is being allocated to the European market where significant long-term development potential is forecasted.

Marketing Australia overseas—a corporate perspective

The Australian Tourist Commission promotes international tourism to Australia. It undertakes a range of marketing activities including advertising, public relations and tourist trade promotions. It does not sell travel. The tourist industry in Australia contributes 6% to Gross Domestic Product and employment. International tourism in Australia accounts for around 15% of all tourism. Australia is divided into eight states and territories all of which promote tourism within the country and also undertake offshore promotions with the Australian Tourist Commission. The strategy of the Commission for the next 3 years includes an emphasis on conventions and incentives, market research, quality promotions and special interest travel across a broad range of markets.