Tourism Queensland is back with another campaign designed to create a buzz around the world. This time, they’re using the shock value of a million-dollar handout.

The Million Dollar Memo campaign concept is based on companies and workplaces sending in a 60-second video. Contestants have to explain in the video what makes their company great and why they think Queensland is the ultimate reward for their staff. The prize is AUD $1 million worth of travel experiences in Queensland tailored for the winning company’s employees.

Million Dollar Memo campaign, by Tourism Queensland

The campaign will proceed in three phases. Entries are being accepted from companies and organizations worldwide until May 1, 2011.

After that, there will be a top 50 short-list, a final 20 list and then an “Incentive Challenge” which will see representatives of the final 20 companies travel to Queensland to compete in different locations throughout the state from August 23.

Tourism Queensland is going to be milking this campaign all the way into 2013. It is part of a $6.9 million, four-year global campaign to boost incentive travel. For the past 18 months, the organization has been planning the campaign, setting up a dedicated website for incentive travel (www.queenslandincentives.com) and hoping to bottle lightning again after the phenomenal publicity received for the “Best Job in the World” campaign.

It remains to be seen whether Million Dollar Memo will be as successful as its predecessor. But it will at least provide a significant boost for incentive travel. Australia currently gets around 1.7 million domestic and international incentive travelers who spend more than AUD $1 billion each year. Of this, approximately $334 million is spent in Queensland alone.

Media reports of the Million Dollar Memo so far sound encouraging, and the campaign is sure to get a lot more attention in successive rounds and various markets as contestants get closer to the prize. Queensland Tourism is reserving the right to choose 45 of the initial top 50 short-list contestants, so they could in theory maximize the impact by choosing videos from different markets.

The Million Dollar Memo campaign was originally intended to be launched at the start of the year, but a series of significant events including the floods, Cyclone Yasi and the Christchurch earthquake kept pushing it back.

The campaign now has to compete for attention alongside the $10 million “Nothing Beats Queensland” campaign launched on March 10, 2011, to combat the effects of the floods followed by Cyclone Yasi on the $9.2 billion tourism industry. The Queensland Tourism Industry Council estimates that its members suffered flood and cyclone damage to the tune of AUD $1 billion.

To top that off, the bottom has fallen out of two of its major markets in Christchurch and Japan due to natural disasters, and Queensland now desperately needs both the Million Dollar Memo and Nothing Beats Queensland campaigns to do well.

Photo credit – Tourism Queensland

For more information, visit www.milliondollarmemo.com/.

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Tourism New Zealand (TNZ) and Pacific Blue have launched a joint campaign targeting Australian tourists called ‘What’s Ours is Yours.’

TNZ Aussie campaign - What's Ours is Yours

The slogan is a play on the many ongoing feuds between the two countries over things like the Pavlova and Russell Crowe, which both countries claim as their own.

The Pavlova – a meringue dessert named in honor of Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova, is a hot subject for debate down under.

Aussies consider it as one of their national dishes and believe it was first cooked up in 1935 at Perth’s Esplanade Hotel. New Zealand, on the other hand, is equally adamant that Pavlova is a Kiwi creation which dates back to 1929.

There’s also a lot of trans-Tasman rivalry over actor Russell Crowe. Crowe was born in New Zealand but his family moved to Australia when he was still a child.

The same story applies to a famous racehorse named Phar Lap. The thoroughbred was born in New Zealand but became famous as a racehorse in Australia.

Even New Zealand Prime Minister John Key weighed in on the debate last year in April, when he warned the Aussies to keep their hands off iconic Kiwi items. He said that it was ridiculous for Australia to claim Pavlova and Phar Lap as their own.

TNZ’s campaign is based on the premise that the Aussies may have laid claim to many of New Zealand’s favourite things, but as a visitor destination, the Kiwis are more than happy to let them share New Zealand’s fantastic tourism experiences.

The campaign consists of a three week advertising and sales push from 25 Oct to 15 Nov. The first week of the campaign will include discounted airfares, which will be followed by discounted travel packages in weeks two and three.

Both Pacific Blue and TNZ will be matching investments dollar-for-dollar for the campaign, which will run across TV advertising and banners on major websites, as well as advertising in major newspapers such as the Sydney Morning Herald and the Courier Mail in Brisbane.

Regarding the partnership with Pacific Blue, Tourism New Zealand Chief Executive Kevin Bowler said that “We want to do more partnerships that help us deliver more visitors and give us a clearer ‘line of sight’ to measuring our success through sales.”

More info: www.newzealand.com/travel/Australia/

Related posts:- Tourism New Zealand Tackles Australia with Giant Rugby Ball

This coming September, Tourism New Zealand is planning to set up a giant rugby ball near the Opera House in Sydney, Australia to promote tourism for the 2011 Rugby World Cup.

Tourism NZ Giant Rugby Ball in Sydney

The 82 feet long and 56 feet tall inflatable rugby ball is actually an event venue that can accommodate upto 220 people. It will take Tourism NZ five days to put it up.

The ’100% Pure New Zealand’ ball will be located on Circular Quay next to the Overseas Passenger Terminal, with the Sydney Harbour Bridge and Opera House in sight.

Admission into the ball will be free during the day, from Sept 3-12, 2010. Inside the ball, visitors get a 10-minute 360-degree immersion experience that highlights New Zealand as a destination.

Outside, there’s food and music and a cultural show. The ball will be used as a venue for trade and industry events at night, with food and drinks, along with a lighting show outside the ball.

The whole thing is meant, in the words of NZ Festival Director Briony Ellis, to “offer Australians a taste of our country’s art and culture, food and wine as well as showing the stunning scenery that makes New Zealand so distinct.”

Tourism New Zealand CEO Kevin Bowler says they’re expecting around 18,000 people to visit the ball while it is in Sydney. He adds that media coverage since the giant rubgy ball was first used as a marketing and tourism prop in 2007 has reached around 300 million people all over the world. The ball has already been to Paris, London and Tokyo. 

20 nations will be participating in the Rugby World Cup in New Zealand, which begins Sept 9, 2011. New Zealand is expecting up to 85,000 international visitors for the event.

The giant rugby ball venue was conceptualized by Mike Mizrahi of Inside Out Productions, and designed and built by Fabric Structure Systems.

More info: www.newzealand.com/

Tourism Australia has come up with a new tagline and campaign - “There’s Nothing Like Australia” which aims to showcase all the things that make Australia unlike anywhere else.

"There's Nothing like" Australia Tourism tagline

And this time they made sure there would be no Lara Bingle raising bloody hell. Actually, in addition to staying away from controversy, the two-phase campaign has been smartly designed to capitalize on user generated content and social networking.

Starting today, Australians are being invited to start taking photos of their favourite place or experience in Australia and come up with a description in 20 words or less on what makes it uniquely Australian.

A sample for Queensland is shown in the picture to the left, with the suggestive tagline – “There’s Nothing Like… Queensland.”

Andrew McEvoy, Managing Director, Tourism Australia, explains that “Australians are the experts on what is unique and special about their country and we want to share this with potential travellers in a way that will make them want to come and visit our country.”

So for Phase I, Tourism Australia is spending $4 million to create an interactive map of Australia, made up of all the things Australians think are special about their country.

From 15 April to May 12, Australians will have the chance to upload their entries to the campaign website www.nothinglikeaustralia.com. 

The data will then be used to create the interactive map, which will be searchable by experience type, location, and by 1,000 keywords. The map will be available on both australia.com and nothinglikeaustralia.com.

The Phase II global launch will be in May 2010, with the campaign website and map being made public, accompanied by a television commercial.

Some of the submitted entries will be used in print and online advertising globally. Tourism Australia will also create videos of suggested locations, to be used in ads on TV and in online video ads. They plan to spend $150 million on the campaign over the next three years.