Tourism Australia’s new ‘philausophy’ on promoting tourism to our wide brown land has been met with mixed responses.
The tourism board’s latest campaign, Come Live Our Philausophy, shines a light not on a hunky Hemsworth or a humorous Hoges, but on the face of real-life Australia tourism operators who actually show off our country to local and international tourists
According to Tourism Australia managing director Phillipa Harrison, Australia’s greatest assets are its people.
“We know from our research that 70 per cent of international travellers believe that Australians have a different perspective on life; 79 per cent believe that the Australian people are an important part of the Australian lifestyle; and 82 per cent would like to travel to Australia to experience our lifestyle,” said Ms Harrison.
“The Australian character and way of life has long been woven into our marketing. The journey began with Paul Hogan and Come Say G’Day.
“In more recent times Chris Hemsworth, our global ambassador, has been integral in embodying the Australian character for our audiences.
“Philausophy will be brought to life by our industry, because who better to talk about the Australian way of life than the tourism operators who live it themselves every day.
“Not only will they be front and centre in the campaign, but they will be pivotal in ensuring its success by continuing to be the face of our country’s tourism offering to international travellers.”
“Australia’s way of life is a breath of fresh air,” says Tourism Australia.
“There’s really no other country quite like us in the world, and it’s our people that really make it special. But there is something truly unique that links everyone here together – a shared spirit and attitude that has created our lifestyle. We call it our Philausophy. Philausophy needs to be experienced to be fully understood. And it’s something that will stay with you long after your visit.”
The social media reaction to the campaign has been mixed, to say the least.
“If I was in the meeting where Tourism Australia’s ‘philausophy’ line was spawned, I would have jumped out the window!” tweeted one dissenter.
Others lambasted the cost of such campaigns.
“$38 million? And they came up with ‘philausophy’? FFS …,” posted one critic, while another added: “Ad agencies usually run this stuff past focus groups to see if it’s a complete dud before they release it to market. Either they didn’t this time or the focus groups were all drunk.”
One YouTube poster made an interesting point about the facts presented in the video.
“We don’t have everything we need in Australia. We need water. But we have something we don’t need and will be happy to give away, the politicians,” he posted.
Good point.
What do you think of this campaign? Check out the full philausophy here.
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