Press Conference

Question: Minister, it’s a pretty competitive market. What are you guys hoping to achieve with this ad?

Simon Birmingham: We really want to capture the attention and the hearts and minds of British tourists. We know that by using Kylie Minogue, Shane Warne, Adam Hills, Ian Thorpe, these are personalities that people know and love. And we’re presenting it in a way that is fun and engaging and really taps into the concerns the Brits have had over Brexit and offers them a little bit of escapism from it. 

Question: There’s some fairly big names. Was it tricky to get Kylie in particular on board?

Simon Birmingham: Kylie was wonderful, enthusiastic and generous in the time she committed to filming of this campaign. We’re making sure that we feature each of the Australian states in different ways. It’s about really trying to invest in a market that is so crucial for Australian tourism, with 700,000 British visitors who come to Australia and we want to make sure that they keep coming and grow that market as best we can. 

Question: And someone like Kylie, she is globally recognised and they love her here. 

Simon Birmingham: Kylie is so loved in the UK and that’s why the idea that having families together over the Christmas period seeing Kylie singing a song about how Australians are great mates with the Brits and how you can have a fabulous time in Australia really is about hoping to spark a conversation that takes people who may have an interest in coming in to Australia that gets them to say well, that’s what I’m going to do in the next year or two. 

Question: It pokes fun a little bit at Brexit and the fact that Brits don’t really like showing emotion too much, have you had any reaction from the Brits?

Simon Birmingham: I think there’s a little bit of tongue-in-cheek in that, but it is about trying to make sure we just hit the sweet spot there with the British public, knowing that they’ve had a rough couple of years with the Brexit debate and from that rough couple of years, many of them will just want to say god, now that it’s over, now that we’ve had this election in the UK, how can we move on from it? And there’s no better way to move on than by planning an Australian holiday, you know, which can be fabulous for them and their families. 

Question: And that scheduling, how critical was it to get that time slot before the Queen’s message?

Simon Birmingham: Well it really shows the innovation and the deep thinking that came from Tourism Australia who have been planning this campaign for many, many months and in doing so making sure that they seized the best opportunity when families were together, they might have had a couple of drinks and they’re relaxed and having that chat about what they’re going to do over the next couple of years. And so hopefully, the Queen’s Speech might well have been looking backwards over the year a little whereas Kylie’s looking forwards to making sure that people are actually planning the holiday for the future. 

Question: Usually an escape from the British weather. It’s pretty good today.

Simon Birmingham: Seeing a bit of blue sky in the UK. But UK visitors know that they’ll get blue sky, warmth, beaches, beers, fun times when they come to Australia and that’s of course really what we’re showing and highlighting in this campaign. 

Question: Thank you so much.

Simon Birmingham: My pleasure.

Question: Thanks Minister.