Celebrity chef campaign touts local attractions
LOCAL attractions are set to feature in a new international tourism campaign targeting the lucrative Asian market.
Tourism Australia’s ‘Undiscover Australia’ promotion will be launched on September 1, ahead of low-cost Malaysian carrier AirAsia preparing to fly out of Avalon twice a day from the end of the year.
About 500,000 passengers are expected to annually use the service, which will directly link Geelong to 130 destinations around the world.
Tourism Australia’s Samantha Caffin said the marketing campaign aimed to reestablish Victoria as a destination other than Melbourne and encourage travellers to self-drive, spend time discovering the areas outside Melbourne and stay in the regions overnight.
Travel agents will also be brought to Australia as part of the campaign.
Among those who will be spruiking the region’s virtues in the new campaign is popular Malaysian TV chef Anis Nabilah, who spent several days last week foraging the Bellarine Peninsula, Great Ocean Road and Otway food trails.
Nabila has been a TV chef for 11 years, with a show running every week in Malaysia on a variety of channels, and has more than 183,000 Instagram followers.
She said that AirAsia flying out of Avalon would be more reason to promote this region.
“Malaysians are quite scared to get out of their comfort zone. If they ever come to Australia it’s just going to be Melbourne and Sydney. That’s it really,” Nabilah said. “I keep on telling them there’s so many more things to see.”
This was her third visit to Australia but the first time she has come to the Geelong region. Queenscliff’s Q Train fine-dining travelling restaurant was her first stop; others included the RACV Resort, 12 Apostles, Apollo Bay and the Great Ocean Road Chocolaterie and Ice Creamery.
Tourism Greater Geelong and The Bellarine executive director Roger Grant said he was not surprised Tourism Australia made use of an international figure like Nabilah.
Mr Grant said Tourism Australia was focused on the global experience seeker and there were “significant opportunities” for Geelong to capitalise on the expected new influx of international visitors.
“What we’ve got to make sure is we’re providing enough experiences and enough quality accommodation so that we actually get the economic benefit,” he said.
“We don’t want the scenario that we’re seeing in some parts of the Great Ocean Ropad where we’re seeing coaches rolling through the region and spending very little.
“That’s why it’s important that people understand there’s more to this region that the 12 Apostles, as iconic as they are.”