There will be a £5.3m boost across key markets, including the UK, early next year, and a return to heavyweight TV advertising through Delaney Lund Knox Warren.
The Australian government wants to grow inbound tourism by 10% a year, despite a downturn in world travel.
The announcement was made at the weekend by Prime Minister John Howard and Ken Boundy, managing director of the Australian Tourist Commission (ATC). "This is the biggest step forward for the ATC since it was formed in 1967," said Boundy.
The Australian government said the marketing budget will be channelled via a new organisation called Tourism Australia, formed by the merger of the Australian Tourist Commission, the Bureau of Tourism Research, See Australia and the Tourism Forecasting Council.
International brand strategy will be co-ordinated by consumer marketing director Paul Davies, who has moved to Sydney (Marketing, September 25).
Tourism Australia is seeking a top European marketer as Davies' replacement.
Visitors from the UK in the year to August 2003 totalled 649,800, an increase of 5% on the previous year. But England's World Cup success may have lured an extra 50,000, which could see growth reach 10% in the year to December.
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