“Walking on a Dream” will be the catchphrase for selling tourism in WA for at least the next five years after the state launched a new $15 million global campaign.
Key points:
The new campaign will see adverts shown in 11 countries and interstate
WA is trying to rebuild its tourism industry after a tough two years
Musician Luke Steele says it is an “honour” to promote his home state
The 2008 hit song Walking on a Dream by WA’s Empire of the Sun has been reimagined for the campaign, which will run interstate and in 11 different countries.
West Australian-born Luke Steele, who is one half of the electro-pop duo, recorded a stripped-back cover of Walking on a Dream with his daughter Sonny and the Gondwana children’s choir.
At the centre of selling WA’s new “brand” are a series of video advertisements which will run on TV and online, showcasing dramatic landscapes up and down the state.
They also feature the dancing of two West Australian Aboriginal performers, Rika Hamaguchi and Ian Wilkes.
Dancer Rika Hamaguchi helped launch the campaign.(ABC News: James Carmody)
The advertisements, which will first air on the east coast from tomorrow before being launched overseas, include a one-minute video covering multiple locations.
There are also four 30-second clips focusing on individual WA locations — the Kimberley, Ningaloo Reef, the Margaret River region and Perth.
The adverts will also run widely on outdoor billboards, online and on social media.
A WA crew shot the videos on location and the creative direction came from The Brand Agency, based in Perth.
The international markets that will be targeted include the United Kingdom, Germany, Switzerland, New Zealand, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, USA, India, Hong Kong, Japan, and China.
The campaign was launched at a breakfast for hundreds of people under a giant blue whale skeleton inside Perth Museum Boola Bardip.
Tourism Minister Roger Cook told the crowd the campaign reflected Aboriginal culture being the “beating heart of WA’s tourism strategy”.
Roger Cook says the state is trying to rebuild its tourism offering after a difficult two years. (ABC News: James Carmody)
“Eighty per cent of international tourists come here wanting an Aboriginal cultural experience, less than 20 per cent leave having actually had that experience,” he said.
“We’re changing this, [with] the new tourism campaign guided through close consultation with WA’s Aboriginal community leaders and the community at large.”
Minister sets lofty goals
Mr Cook said tourism had never been more competitive and the Walking on a Dream campaign would keep WA in the fight.
Some of the imagery spruiking WA’s Margaret River region in the new campaign. (Supplied: WA government)
“The past few years have been unlike anything the tourism sector and the world have ever experienced. International tourism stopped completely,” he said.
“Every country, every state is trying to rebuild and refresh their tourism industry, everyone is competing for attention, it is the toughest and most competitive tourism market the world has ever seen.
“Western Australia offers tourism experiences that exist nowhere else in the world, but we can’t expect people to find us by accident. We need to be bold, we need to be different, but above all we need to have a strong sense of identity.”
While the government would not reveal any specific targets for visitor numbers or financial return it hoped the campaign would bring, Mr Cook did set a goal to double pre-COVID tourism business in WA by 2032.
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