29 December 2008

UK's Film4 teams up with Luhrmann to promote Australia

Channel 4 will be advertising Baz Luhrmann's new epic film Australia, using an introduction from the director to recent tourism campaigns he made, reports mad.co.uk.

Channel 4 designed the advertising break for Film4 and features Luhrmann talking to the camera before advertisements are played, including for the Australian Tourism Board.

During October, Tourism Australia and Baz Luhrmann released a worldwide campaign to market Australia as a "must-visit" destination.  Their movie-style advertising campaign has focused on Australia’s unique adventure qualities: “walkabout”, release, joy, and self-reconnection, and now Qantas has jumped on board to provide international tourists with the dream-like experience they see in the advertisements.

"We knew that this huge film would create a wave of publicity that would put the country in the spotlight around the globe," Tourism Australia Managing Director Geoff Buckley said of his new advertising campaign.  "And we found that the film’s story had a remarkable resonance for what we do marketing the country as a travel destination."

Inspired by Baz Luhrmann's movie Australia, which is due for release in November, and the spin-off advertising campaign encouraging tourists to rediscover themselves on walkabout in Australia, Qantas has designed four new themed itineraries, one that focuses on historic outback pubs, and three that follow in the footsteps of the film.

International visitors to Australia need an Australian holiday visa, except for New Zealand passport holders.  Visitors wishing to travel the country can apply for a short-stay tourist visa, or ETA, which is valid for three months.  The conditions of the visa mean that tourists cannot work at any time during their stay in Australia.

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The Australian Visa Bureau is an independent consulting company specialising in helping people with emigrating to Australia.

Article by Jessica Bird, Australian Visa Bureau.