Elle Macpherson to feature again in TV ads promoting WA tourism

12/2/99

Elle Macpherson is about to go to work again for Western Australia - this time to get more of us to holiday in our own State.

She is also going to be busy encouraging people in the Eastern States and overseas to come here as well.

Tourism Minister Norman Moore gave these details today when he launched the second set of Brand WA-Elle Macpherson television commercials shot around Perth and the Goldfields last October.

The new advertisements follow the highly-successful first series which helped bring a record 579,000 international visitors to Western Australia last financial year, including 106,000 from the United Kingdom.

Mr Moore said that for the first time, the Brand WA Elle Macpherson television commercials, including the new advertisements, would be screened in WA from next Sunday.

The commercials would also be shown in Sydney, Melbourne and regional Victoria from this month and in WA's overseas tourism markets from March.

The four new Brand WA-Elle Macpherson television commercials feature the historic goldrush towns of Gwalia and Kalgoorlie, Rottnest Island, Perth's King's Park and historic locations and fisherman's wharf restaurants in Fremantle.

They complement the existing Elle commercials which highlight regional beauty spots at Cable Beach, Karijini National Park, the Bungle Bungle, Walpole's Treetop Walk, Ningaloo Reef and swimming with whale sharks.

"The first Elle television commercials have helped position WA as one of the world's best nature-based destinations, with WA currently outperforming almost every other Australian State in percentage growth in international and domestic visitors," Mr Moore said.

"While Australia's overseas arrival numbers were minus 0.8 per cent for the financial year 1997-98, WA's overseas visitor numbers were up 4.3 per cent. Domestically, visitors to WA grew 6.5 per cent, compared with the Australian average of 5.1 per cent.

"The record number of visitors last year was good news for the State's $2.1 billion a year tourism industry and the up to 77,000 people it employed - this is about one in 12 WA workers."

Mr Moore said WA had exclusive rights to use Elle Macpherson's name and image in its tourism advertising for three years until March 31, 2002, in the United Kingdom, Germany, all of Asia, and Australia.

"The first four Elle commercials have already proved to be winners with increased awareness of WA in all tourism markets where they were shown," the Minister said.

"As an example, in addition to their primary objective of increasing consumer awareness, they generated at least $7.3 million worth of extra tourism business for an investment of $1.5 million when shown in the United Kingdom just over a year ago."

Mr Moore said it was hoped that similar impressive results would be achieved from this year's campaigns.

The estimated cost over the next three years, including Elle's US$600,000 fee, production and local, national and international media placement of the new television commercials, was about $7 million.

The advertisements needed only to persuade just over *4,000 extra international tourists to visit WA during the next three years to cover this investment.

"Given that 106,000 United Kingdom tourists alone visited WA last financial year, this should not be difficult," Mr Moore said.

Media contacts: Hartley Joynt, Minister's office, 9321 1444

Roger Buddrige, Corporate Communications Manager, WA Tourism Commission, 9 220 1716

* Calculation based on standard industry formula that the average international tourist in 1998 spent $81 a day in Western Australia and stayed an average 21 nights. This generates an economic impact per tourist of $1,700. Multiplied by 4,117 tourists, this totals more than $7 million, which cover's Elle's fee, production of television commercials and estimated media placement costs until March, 2002.