Tourism Australia hails success of blogger famils

Tourism Australia has hailed its Visiting Opinion Leaders Program a big success for the youth market as the next wave of influential bloggers begin to land on Aussie soil.  

Launched in April 2009, the program targets digital influencers – bloggers – rather than traditional media, who then talk about their Australian experiences to their networks in their own voice.

The program has seen visits from, among others, New York-based Scott Schuman (The Sartorialist), rated one of the top 100 design influencers by Time Magazine, and China’s Yibo FAN, whose The Colourful Map travel blog was nominated Power Blog 2007 and 2008 by Sina.com.

Speaking at a BTAP/Backpacking Queensland forum in Brisbane last week, Tourism Australia Manager Industry Development Dawn Howell said an analysis of the program had found it generated 3.4 million opportunities for global media consumers to see blog entries promoting Australia during the study period. As a result, Australia was considered by bloggers and blog readers to be a “fashionable destination” with an overall favourability rating of 99 per cent.

The next wave of bloggers arrive in February and March 2010.

To view Dawn Howell’s presentation in full, click here.

By Martin Lane  ·  March 1st, 2010 at 10:30 am

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Comments


  1. AJ
    2 Mar 10
    10:03 am

    2. Dawn’s presentation was enlightening. An excellent assessment. Facebook is undoubtedly a good way to go, but the VOLP programme needs a tighter control to get value-for-bucks. Example: an audit of all postings by one visiting VOLPer over a 9 month period showed minimal destinational blogging by the invited blogger (nothing to give a buzz) — and a rather odd remark by somebody interviewed during his Aussie trip claiming that Errol Flynn was the biggest ‘Australian Style Icon’. LOL. Is Tasmania’s swashbuckling errant son really known to the overseas youth market?

  2. Andrew Peters
    3 Mar 10
    9:34 pm

    3. it would be interesting to know the international numbers on the AUSTRALIA fanpage – is it made up of australians ?

    Also are the VOLP people paid in anyway to visit Australia and whether any publicity agreement is made with them ?

    Queensland Tourism to me still is a winner in Social Media execution with the Best Job in the World Campaign – should Tourism Australia take some hints on how to make a global inmpact with a SINGLE concept & worldwide execution ?

  3. AJ
    3 Mar 10
    10:42 pm

    4. @Andrew — Tourism Australia tried a single concept /global execution with the Bloody Hell campaign — it did not work. All concepts have to be geared to local markets — their nuances and and sensibilities. I agree with you on Tourism Queensland’s ‘best job’ campaign — the beauty of which was that it did not cost an arm and leg, unlike some past Tourism Australia campaign dogs. I think the new MD, Andrew McEvoy is switched on: he can lead Tourism Australia to better things — as long he can keep the pollies at bay.

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