Tourism Australia exploits over two million Facebook fans

Tourism Australia has risen above other tourism organisations around the world by having the highest number of fans on its Facebook page.

As a result, Tourism Australia's marketing strategies are adapting to the 2.4 million Facebook users who 'like' the Government agency's Facebook page.

Tourism Australia Managing Director Andrew McEvoy explains "with almost three times as many fans as our nearest rival, Las Vegas, we can effectively demonstrate our country's continuing appeal both to Australians and people overseas."

According to McEvoy, the best way to get a consumer's attention is by using the same channels that they use, "to be relevant, Tourism Australia has to provide compelling content, and to deliver impact, we have to use the channels where consumers are researching and booking their holidays - and today, that's online.

"Through Facebook, we get real stories about what people are currently thinking about Australia, which influences our marketing and makes the platform a primary interaction point with our global advocates."

Of the 2.4 million Facebook users who 'like' Tourism Australai, over 900,000 are based in Australia, and the rest are based in other parts of the world.

According to which Nick Baker, Executive General Manager - Consumer Marketing of Tourism Australia, this helps spread the word about Australia as a holiday destination.

Baker explains "our strategy embraces our 850K fans based here in Australia who advocate for their country to their international friends on our behalf."

However, Baker concedes that it is hard to determine how many of those international fans will actually visit Australia, adding "while it is difficult to pinpoint the exact number of fans who visit Australia, we know from the posts that many of the fans have already visited and that others have a strong intention to do the same."

Baker cites a survey by Teletext in the UK, which "found that more than 27% of people booked a holiday after seeing their friends' Facebook holiday photos, and that 25% actually went on to book the same holiday."

Baker believes word of mouth is a powerful way of getting a message across, and social media is the perfect outlet for that, where fans can share their own photos and experiences.

"We have simply created a platform for those travellers to share their travel photos and advocacy on Australia to a wider audience.

"Every week, we get over 1,000 fan photos posted to our Facebook wall. Each one of these photos not only tells a story, but also allows fans to interact with each other and share that content with their own networks."

Tourism Australia added a 'Things to do' tab in early December, which is still in a trial phase, that lets other businesses in the travel industry add themselves and any upcoming events.

Baker further stated the importance of businesses to be using social media, concluding "social media is where the consumer is, so that's where we as an industry also need to be. We have 230 companies' Facebook pages linked to our [Australia] site, and this is growing."

Tourism Australia launched its Facebook page in May 2008, see www.facebook.com/SeeAustralia 

20th January 2011 - OPRAH AUSTRALIAN ADVENTURE SCREENED TO US AUDIENCES