Arabic version: حملة في تسمانيا تحث الزوار على الهروب من الحشود
According to The Guardian, Tourism Tasmania’s new campaign says the island state is “not really for tourists”, using a deliberately wry message that responds to tensions around modern travel and overcrowding.
The campaign features former SBS newsreader Lee Lin Chin and draws on the idea that Australians prefer to see themselves as “travellers” rather than “tourists”. Its centrepiece shows a man directed to the back of an endless queue for a “world famous” pastry before he leaves to seek solitude in Tasmania’s outdoors.
Tourism Tasmania chief executive Sarah Kingston Clark said the approach was not intended to be anti-visitor. Professor Can-Seng Ooi of the University of Tasmania said studies showed tourists “hate themselves” and want to avoid one another, identifying stressed urban residents seeking quietness as a key audience.
Ooi said the campaign’s imagery and message had a Scandinavian character, invoking “the cold south” and a place where “time slows down”. Char-lee McLennan of QUT said its use of reverse psychology could help regional economies by directing visitors beyond established hotspots.
University of Technology Sydney marketing expert Professor David Waller said the “Come down for air” theme was less anti-tourist than opposed to overcrowded, queue-filled destinations. McLennan said its success would depend on whether Tasmania can deliver the promised experience while creating meaningful economic benefits for regional communities.
