Ruby the animated kangaroo unveiled as Tourism Australia's new brand ambassador

Federal Trade and Tourism Minister Don Farrell has revealed the new brand ambassador for Tourism Australia - a computer-generated kangaroo named Ruby - as part of an upcoming global marketing campaign.

Ruby, revealed on a digital billboard in Shinjuku in Tokyo,  “will hop onto billboards” around the world over the next week, building anticipation ahead of Tourism Australia’s ‘Come and Say G’day’ campaign launch.

Brought to life with CGI animation, Ruby, the souvenir kangaroo, will also appear on billboards in Singapore, London and New York.

Ruby will translate across both English and non-English speaking tourism markets, with Australian actress Rose Byrne to be the English voice of Ruby and Japanese actress Maryjun Takahashi to be the voice of Ruby in Japan.

The new campaign is the next instalment of Tourism Australia’s global ‘There’s Nothing Like Australia’ brand platform. It will showcase Australia’s most iconic destinations and support the nation’s tourism industry’s recovery by converting the pent-up demand for an Australian holiday into bookings.

Pre-pandemic Australia welcomed 9.5 million international visitors annually, spending $45.4 billion and Japan was Australia’s fifth largest market with Australia welcoming 499,000 Japanese travellers spending $2.1 billion in 2019.

Tourism Australia’s global campaign, 'Come and Say G’day', will officially launch on Wednesday, 19th October 2022 in New York, and roll out across 15 key international markets.

Images Ruby the Kangaroo (top) and Federal Trade and Tourism Minister Don Farrell revealing the new brand ambassador (below).