The Forum is consistent with a partnership that was formed to address tourism issues associated with the 2000 Olympics however, its work can be analysed as a series of network relation-ships. These included participation in interdepartmental com-mittees of the state government and a special Olympic planning committee of the Federal government that reported directly to the Prime Minister. Close links with SOCOG provided access to the ‘Olympic Family’ including members of the IOC, National Olympic Committees, Olympic sponsors and accredited Media organizations. Some of the relationships were formalized and a partnership was formed between Visa, an Olympic sponsor, and three Forum members (Tourism NSW, the ATC and the Sydney Visitor and Convention Bureau). Resources were invested by Visa to support a destination promotion campaign under the banner of ‘Australia prefers Visa’.
The ATC was a key member of the Forum and was a central player in many of its most important activities (see discussions on policy legacies in Chapter 5). It also had distinctive responsi-bilities as the tourism agency responsible for marketing Australia as a tourist destination. Activities related to this role will now be discussed.
Table 7.4
Australian Tourist Commission Olympic Strategies
1. Maximize destination and product promotion for Australia by offering media rela-tions services and resources to a greatly expanded media clientele.
2. Increase the ATC’s capacity to handle media sponsored to Australia under the Visiting Journalist Program (VJP).
3. Protect the Australian tourism industry from the ill effect of a global media crisis by maintaining a highly effective media relations capacity.
4. Promote brand Australia in association with the XXVII Olympiad and related partners.
5. Service all Olympic related markets with destination information.
6. Encourage the establishment of a National Visitors Centre in Sydney and a National Telephone Enquiry Service.
7. Increase high-yield markets resulting from Olympic-related activities, such as MICE, promoting to a wider target audience of associations, exhibition organizers and corporations.
8. Create trade marketing programs for the industry to capitalize in the Olympic opportunities.
9. Identify and access Olympic opportunities through research which will enhance promotional support for consumer marketing programs.
10. Capitalize on tourism findings from previous host destinations of Olympic Games and hallmark events.
11. Build the ATC’s profile with corporate Australia and government bodies through the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
12. Reinforce the ATC’s position as the peak body responsible for Australia’s inter-national tourism marketing.
(ATC, 1998)
conjunction with traditional partners such as the state tourist commissions and industry associations but approaches were also received from Australian government departments and corpora-tions which had demonstrated little interest in tourism prior to the Games.
Strategic alliances were formed with players that were new to the tourism industry in Australia such as the broadcast rights holders, Olympic sponsors and the sports marketing companies that managed the Sponsor’s hospitality programs. These alliances greatly enhanced the ATC’s ability to influence and participate in destination promotion activities. An internet site that was estab-lished by the ATC in 1996 made it possible for users to customize
information about Australia as a holiday destination for the first time. It also provided links to web sites of the Commission’s growing list of Olympic partners. Established distribution chan-nels remained important with Olympic-specific information sup-plied by Aussie Specialist travel agencies and by the telephone Helplines that were operated by the ATC’s main overseas offices.
The vast majority of the ATC’s projects were conducted in the period leading up to the Games but certain initiatives were nec-essary during the Games and a post-Games strategy sought to convert the heightened level of interest in Australia into visitor arrivals.
Marketing partnerships with Olympic sponsors such Visa International, Kodak and McDonalds resulted in an estimated additional A$300 million in advertising exposure (ATC, 2001).
Examples of these partnerships included Visa billboards that showcased Australian images on Shanghai’s Bund boulevard and a Down Under Tour roadshow in conjunction with US Olympic sponsor, Bank of America. This was a travelling exhibit of Aus-tralian attractions that visited 48 cities in the United States.
The ATC’s Olympic media strategy generated A$3.8 billion in publicity between 1997 and 2000 (ATC, 2001). This included host-ing more than 5000 international journalists through the Visithost-ing Journalist Program, providing services for another 5000 non-accredited media at the Darling Point Media Centre and respond-ing to more than 50,000 international media enquiries. The ATC provided story leads, production assistance and sound and vision resources at locations throughout Australia. This was designed to encourage media visits to dispersed locations, away from the host city. A particularly notable relationship was developed with the broadcast rights holder in the United States, when the ATC worked with NBC to develop a television advertisement in 1997.
It was titled ‘Colours of Australia’ and was shown, without cost to the ATC, during coverage of major sport events that attracted large television audiences such as the Superbowl. The ATC also provided support for NBC’s Today Show that was broadcast live from Australia for two weeks. The show gained some of the highest ratings in its 49-year history (ATC, 2001).
During 2000, there was concern that many visitors would avoid Australia due to uncertainties caused by the Games. Thus, the Australia 2000 – fun and games promotion was launched to com-municate the message that it ‘was business as usual’ in Aus-tralia. Information about special packages was provided and a web site was developed for the international travel trade that gave information about flights and accommodation availability, the torch relay and some other, timely, issues such Y2K and taxation changes in Australia. The ATC invited 50 of its most
important business partners, from eleven countries, to attend Olympic events. The hospitality was used to retain the good-will of people who had been negatively affected by the disrup-tive influence of the Games on their normal pattern of business activities.
The opportunity to take advantage of the positive public-ity generated by the Games led to a post-Games strategy. This included tactical advertising, promoting special packages, in the six months following the Games. For example, a price-led, joint campaign with Qantas was aired on national television in the United States. It was supported by press advertising and gener-ated more than 100,000 responses. Additional activities included a A$6 million direct marketing campaign and a number of ini-tiatives focussed on further developing the lucrative MICE sec-tor. The extensive list of initiatives by the ATC gave rise to the claim that:
Since winning the Games bid, the ATC has worked tire-lessly to ensure that every possible opportunity from hosting the Games was maximised. Well over 1,000 indi-vidual projects were implemented to ensure that at the end of the 2000 Olympic Games, when Australia had a permanent seat on the world stage, the tourism industry would be the one to reap the benefits. (ATC, 2001:1)