Come and Say G’day, Tourism Australia’s global campaign, is here to stay one year on from launch.
Brand Ambassador Ruby the kangaroo, to celebrate the first birthday, has hopped onto major billboards in New York, London, Singapore, Chengdu and Beijing.
Tourism Australia CMO Susan Coghill says it's not a surprise Come and Say G’day is resonating internationally as it tested extremely well in markets ahead of the launch.
“We put the 60 second television commercial through System1 testing last year and it received an ‘exceptional’ or ‘strong’ response in most markets and we have since re-tested it and are pleased those results are holding up,” Coghill says.
“Come and Say G’day has proven to be an incredibly versatile campaign that translates across English and non-English speaking markets and it can be adapted to capitalise on key moments such as the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023, where we were able to make the most of the global attention on Australia with a special instalment of the campaign.”
Phillipa Harrison, Tourism Australia managing director, says the work of Come and Say G’day is far from done.
“When Come and Say G’day launched in October 2022 visitation to Australia was at about 50% of monthly pre-pandemic levels," Harrison says.
"The latest arrivals numbers for July 2023 show we have steadily climbed back to about 80%, compared to the same month in 2019.
“This ongoing recovery is great news for our industry, and we are confident that our campaign will continue to drive more demand back to Australia, as we look to stand out in a very competitive global market.
"We know the campaign has already driven up global consideration for an Australian holiday, and our share of flight search is already up by 10% globally, compared to 2019.
“These numbers demonstrate that Come and Say G’day is working, and will play an important role, as we look to not only recover to 2019 levels, but to return to the sustainable growth our industry experienced in the decade before the pandemic.
“As part of the campaign Tourism Australia has 190 campaign partnerships in market, including a variety of airlines and travel agents, and the feedback from those partners on the ground is they have seen a jump in interest in an Australian holiday since the launch of Come and Say G’day.”
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