At the beginning of the 2019/20 financial year, work was underway on implementing a plan that was focused on continuing to grow demand from our key markets to achieve our Tourism 2020 goals, working in partnership with the tourism industry, state and territory governments and government agency partners.

Our aim was to deliver campaigns that showcased regional Australia, highlighting the unique and unexpected experiences that can be enjoyed across our country. This included evolving our global brand platform to ‘invite the world to experience the people behind the place’ through the launch of a new brand campaign called Come live our Philausophy. The campaign was to be delivered through an integrated approach that included a global brand campaign, local brand activations and PR in key markets, an update of australia.com, brand design and asset refresh, and partnership and distribution activity. This was to include dedicated brand activity in the UK, China, the USA and South-South East Asia, as well as promotion of the T20 Cricket World Cup in India. In Continental Europe, Japan and Hong Kong, the campaign was to be brought to life through brand partnerships.

With the bushfire crisis of the summer of 2019-20, followed by the global coronavirus pandemic, Tourism Australia, like so many organisations around the world, reviewed and re-evaluated all aspects of our activities, from our marketing and messaging approaches to our resourcing, work practices and priorities. This has been a continuous process since early 2020, as we have navigated our response to COVID-19 and what it means for Australian tourism. Central to our activities has been support for the Australian tourism industry as we steer the path to temporary recovery, which has included our re-entry into domestic marketing.