AIME AIME Daily Day 2 | Page 9

CROCODILE DUNDEE INSPIRES NEW $36M AMERICAN TOURISM PUSH T he recent Super Bowl in the US saw the launch of a new $36 million marketing push by Tourism Australia to attract more high spending Americans Down Under. The fictitious trailer for Dundee: The Son of a Legend Returns Home starring Chris Hemsworth and Danny McBride is the largest campaign Tourism Australia has run in the US since Paul Hogan’s famous Come Say G’Day ads more than 30 years ago. The star studded clip featuring the likes of Hugh Jackman, Paul Hogan, Margot Robbie, Ruby Rose and Russell Crowe even managed to get US President Donald Trump excited enough to tweet his support. Australia’s Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment, Steven Ciobo says this year presented the perfect opportunity to “aggressively target” the US market, which he describes as a critical market for Australia. “A favourable exchange rate and strong aviation capacity leading to highly competitive airfares makes this the right time to increase our investment in the United States,” he says.  “Whilst Australia ranks highly among Americans in terms of desirability and awareness of our tourism offerings, we lag behind our competitors when it comes to actual bookings. This new campaign will address this conversion challenge.” The new campaign is the single largest investment Tourism Australia has ever made in the US market, and one they believe will grow annual spend by American visitors from the current 3.7 billion per year to $6 billion by the year 2020. Hemsworth, who is also Tourism Australia’s global tourism ambassador, says that being involved in the new campaign was a huge honour.  “Crocodile Dundee and Hoges did an outstanding job thirty odd years ago of captivating American audiences and putting Australia onto their travel wish lists. I’d like to think the inspiration the film has provided for this new Tourism Australia campaign will ultimately translate into similar success,” he says. Fresh. Fragrant. Flavoursome Experiences Reimagined with Executive Chef Garry Kindred AIMEDaily Day 2, 2018 9