Launch of Brand WA-Elle Macpherson commercial featuring Kalgoorlie

12/2/99

Tourism Minister Norman Moore was in Kalgoorlie today to launch a Brand WA-Elle Macpherson television commercial featuring the Goldfields.

The commercial is one of four new advertisements launched at functions in Kalgoorlie and Perth.

As well as the Goldfields, the new commercials feature Rottnest Island, Perth's King's Park and historic locations and fisherman's wharf restaurants in Fremantle.

They complement the first 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 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.

This campaign was aimed at encouraging more Western Australians to holiday in their own State.

The commercials would also be shown in Sydney, Melbourne and regional Victoria from this month and in WA's overseas tourism markets from March. "There is a strong focus on regional tourism, which highlights the Government's commitment to supporting the tourism industry in country areas," Mr Moore said.

"The tourism industry creates lots of jobs.

"Depending on season, it employs up to 77,000 people - that is one in every 12 WA workers.

"With about half the tourism industry workforce living with their families in regional areas, tourism helps our entire State, city and country alike.

"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.

"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."

Mr Moore said that 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," he 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."

He 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, is 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.