New Crocodile Dundee film revealed as Australian tourism campaign

A spectacular and star-studded new tourism campaign encouraging Americans to take a trip down under was officially launched at the Super Bowl today. The Super Bowl is the most watched television broadcast in the United States, viewed by 100 million Americans and many more globally.

The campaign initially gave the appearance of a film trailer for a new Crocodile Dundee movie before it was revealed to be Tourism Australia's latest campaign, which focuses on increasing spend and visitation out of the United States.

The campaign features some of Australia's biggest stars, including Chris and Liam Hemsworth, Hugh Jackman, Margot Robbie and Russell Crowe, as well as the original Mick 'Crocodile' Dundee, Paul Hogan. It has been amazing to have Australia's stars come together for their country and support this campaign, their popularity will help showcase Australia and get the message out to visit Australia.

While it officially launched today, the campaign is already kicking goals. The teasers have generated almost 4,000 news stories, with an estimated advertising value of $30 million and an estimated audience of 3 billion people. In addition, more than 412 million people have been reached on social media platforms and importantly, 80 per cent of that is United States based.

The original 1986 Crocodile Dundee movie was a huge success and helped to put Australia on the map for many Americans.

This new creative campaign targets high value travellers and, with support from more than 20 key distribution partners in the US, encourages Americans to book their tickets now.

The United States is Australia's second largest market for spend and third largest for arrivals, with close to 780,000 American visitors spending $3.7 billion per year in Australia.

Currently, the US is forecast to be worth between $4.5 billion and $5.5 billion by 2020. This campaign aims to grow annual spend to $6 billion by 2020.

The sheer size of the United States means that it holds so much potential for Australia. The favourable exchange rate, strong aviation capacity and highly competitive airfares make this the right time to increase our investment in this significant market.

Whilst Australia ranks highly among Americans in terms of desirability and awareness of our tourism offerings, we lag behind our competitors when it comes to actual bookings. This new campaign will address this conversion challenge.

Australia has incredibly diverse experiences to offer, but increasing awareness and demand for our beautiful country remains crucial to attracting visitors.

The Turnbull Coalition Government continues to deliver record funding to Tourism Australia, because more tourists means more jobs.