News Home > Social Media
Facebook and Twitter Boosts Australian Tourism
The tourism authority in Australia has announced that top social networking sites are helping to attract more holidaymakers to the country, pulling the travel industry through the recession.
Geoff Buckley, Tourism Australia’s managing director and a fan of digital media spoke of the effectiveness of social networks at promoting the country.
Mr Buckley was speaking at the Australian Tourism Exchange in Melbourne as an advocate of the new media which has helped the travel industry: “Tourism Australia’s activities on Twitter and Facebook are connecting people around the world who have visited Australia and getting them to share their experiences with a community of travellers who are equally passionate about our country”.
Facebook in particular has created quite a buzz online for Australian tourism. A strong following has grown for the Facebook page which was launched a year ago for World Youth Day. There are now over quarter of a million fans on the page with nearly 1,000 new people signing up each day on average.
Whilst roughly a third of those members of the online community are based in Australia, the shared experiences on Facebook walls provide genuine and authentic comments for other members to be read and be lured to the country. The Australian members of the Facebook group are some of the strongest ambassadors for the country, providing a free and trusted source of online advertising.
“Fans from the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, France and the United States of America are the most vocal in sharing their experiences of Australia,” Mr Buckley said, “What’s more it is generating word-of-mouth about Australia’s tourism experiences that is very powerful in convincing people why they should choose to holiday here.”
Social Media news posted by Lily Townsend on 01 July 2009
