While they were launched to much fanfare, there are signs that not everyone is entirely delighted by the results of Baz Luhrmann's series of ads promoting Australia (as covered in a previous blog post). In fact, some notable figures from the Australian tourism community are saying that many businesses have been forced to take matters into their own hands when it comes to attracting travellers.
Speaking on the situation forced upon a number of companies in the Australian tourism sector, Managing Director of the Australian Tourism Export Council (ATEC), Matt Hingerty was quoted as saying "The industry is taking the response into their own hands. You would have seen a lot of retailing activity - cost cutting, advertising and so forth - because the big national branding exercise being conducted by Tourism Australia is just irrelevant to them at the moment. They're struggling for survival."
However, Mr Hingerty's comments come amidst contradicting reports that interest in Australia has never been higher; in a recent poll of over 5,500 people, Australia has been voted the most desired destination by travellers. Unfortunately, the poll also revealed that two-thirds of these potential Australia holiday visa travellers are being forced to rethink their holiday plans as a result of the global economic crisis; indicative that the lack of a tourism boom might not be poor old Baz' fault after all.
What's more, it'd be unfair to say that Luhrmann's recent efforts haven't proved inspirational to at least two individuals out there; namely Adam Buxton and Joe Cornish of BBC 6 Music's Saturday morning radio show. As part of their regular 'Song Wars' feature, both Adam and Joe wrote and recorded an original song inspired by their experiences watching 'Australia'.
They might not be exactly the kind of response Mr Luhrmann was hoping for, but they're still definitely worth a listen (especially if you weren't able to spare the three hours to see the film). Check them out below.
Adam Buxton's 'Australia' song
Joe Cornish's 'Australia' song
- Tom Blackett is the Online Editor for the Australian Visa Bureau
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