What it’ll take to revitalise Australia’s ‘damaged’ brand

Australia’s international image has been “damaged” by the lengthy period of time our international borders have been shut, and it’ll take a significant effort to fix it.

CEO of the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Andrew McKellar, says although we’ll reopen to international tourists on February 21, Australia’s brand “has been damaged”.

“We’ve been closed now for over 700 days, by the time the borders open,” he told Neil Mitchell.

“We cannot assume that people will just come flooding back in. I think we’ve got to get out there and give them a reason to come back to Australia, so that will mean increased marketing and investment for sure.”

Mr McKellar says Tourism Australia has about $160 million to spend on tourism campaigns, but he estimates much more is needed.

“We think they will need to spend about $240 million to really turn around the brand, to make people aware that we are back open for business, and to try and get people back on planes coming to Australia.”

Press PLAY below to hear what needs to be done to revitalise ‘brand Australia’