Tourism Advertisement in Australia - Case Study Example

Name : xxxxxxxxxxx Institution : xxxxxxxxxxx Title : Tourism Advertisement in Australia Tutor : xxxxxxxxxxx Course : xxxxxxxxxxx @2010 Tourism Advertisement in Australia Introduction Advertisement is a form of communication meant to create public awareness about the existence of certain products and persuade them to either purchase or take any other action upon the products. Due to the increased competition in the market, the marketers are coming up with different ways of advertising products such that they seem unique from others hence capture the attention of the targeted audience or consumers. All the advertisements include: the brand name of the product or services and an explanation of how it is used and benefits the consumer. In Australia, advertisement is very common not only to the goods and services which can be consumed by the consumers but also to pass an idea to a large group of people about something with the intention of wanting them to take certain action. Both commercial and non-commercial advertisers are very common in Australia. The study below considers the ways myths of gender, nature, Australian identity, race, celebrity or ‘cool’ are used to sell products to consumers in reference to three advertisements. The three advertisements are on tourism in Australia: Kangaroo Island located in Southern part of Australia, Uluru or Ayers Rock which is a large sandstone rock and Kikadu National Park in the northern parts of Australia. These are the recent adverts used on the respective features in Australia and have highly contributed in boosting the position of the tourism industry across the nation. Tourism advertisements in Australia Tourism in Australia is considered as one of the largest economic sectors. According to the records of 2003/2004 academic years, the industry represented 3.9% of the Australian’s GDP whose value was around A$32 billion to the economy of the entire nation. For the past two decades, the number of the international tourists has rapidly increased and by the end of the financial year ending April 2010, 5.7 million tourists were recorded to have visited Australia. These changes are noted as result of the well developed marketing strategies. Almost all the Australian’s international tourism advertisements are reflected on the laid back styles such as the ones used by Paul Hogan. All the environmental factors such as gender, nature, Australian identity, race, celebrity or ‘cool’ are considered when creating adverts so as to capture the attention of almost everybody (Tellis, 2004). Creativity is the most essential aspect which is considered to be used especially in the technical skills in the developed nations and the other up coming (Louw, 2010). According to Schroeder & Detlev (2004), many questions are being posed in relation to the meaning of advertisement based on the large social-cultural perspective. Specifically the struggles over the representation of gender and gender role within the markets which are gender centered. The imagery of advertising provides the consumers with necessary solutions to gender based tensions and other struggles over representing idealized masculine consumers. The historical approach of the artistic work focused on the how the male structure of the body is portrayed to differentiate them from their counterpart. The advertisers especially in Australia have a god image of the nation especially in terms of the preservation of natural environment. The political development of the nation is also reflected by the tight security in the area enhancing the freedom of exploring the tourist attraction sites (Louw, 2010). The advertisers also show a positive perception towards the tourists who visit the place; the pictures used show the visitors as they peacefully enjoy their adventure. The social-cultural part is based on how families and couples relate, on the advertisement picture the couples are shown to enjoy as they relax with their children on the good picnic sites (Cortese, 1999). Media is preferred to be praying a great role in advertisement by reaching the targeted audiences. There are many different mediums of communication in Australia, these include: both local and international radio and television stations, newspapers, magazines and other electronic mediums like internet. Through these channels the advertisements reaches as many tourists as possible and at their most favorable mediums (Bignell Jonathon, 2002). Below are some of the tourism advertisements which are used to create awareness of the existence of various tourists’ attraction centers. The first picture is on Kangaroo Island located in Southern part of Australia and it is the third largest from Tasmania and Melville Islands (Langeland, 2008). The second picture is on the Uluru or Ayers Rock which is a large sandstone rock. It is one of the most recognizable natural features since it existence from the beginning and was even recognized by the Aboriginal Australians as a sacred place. The third picture is commonly used in the advertisement of Kikadu National Park in the northern parts of Australia. These are some of the features which are recorded to be attracting most of the tourists in Australia. The advertisers have considered all their skills and creativity to ensure that their commercials serve the intended purposes. These commercials include social factors like myths of gender, nature, Australian identity, race, celebrity or ‘cool’ which are used to sell products to consumers. Advertisement on Kangaroo Island The above picture is considered in the advertisement of Kangaroo Island which was separated from the rest of the land by the rise of sea level. According to Hallack (2000) the stone tools which are found in the area suggests that Aboriginal (indigenous) people at least 11, 000 years ago. This Island started attracting the attention of the of the foreigners long ago, in 1802, explorer Matthew Flinders explored the land and named it "Kanguroo (sic) Island" after he almost landed on the head of a kangaroo. The stories told through the print and electronic records like magazines, newspapers in the archives, radios and televisions create some sense of curiosity thus people have interests in visiting the place or getting more information regarding the place (McKelvey, 2003). The print out for advertisement is meant to attract the attention of all genders. The inclusion of good resting place may attract the attention of women as well as their children. The part of the Island which attracts the tourists most is its natural features and not the man made. The many kangaroos, ground cover, water and the well shaped rocks are the key features attracting both local and international tourists. The picture is common in both print and electronic media in the local and international markets of the consumers thus it is viewed as one of the identities. This advertisement is very natural and distinct this island from the others hence is preferred by the tourists (Miller, 2009). Advertisement of Uluru or Ayers Rock The picture above is used as a common advertisement of Uluru or Ayers Rock. This rock is a tourist attraction cite and very unique not only in Australia but also in its surrounding and the world as whole. It has attracted most of the tourists both locally and internationally. This is after a perfect process of marketing has been carried out hence people are made aware of the existence of such feature. Its uniqueness still existed from the beginning because the Aboriginal people considered it as a sacred place. Australia is privileged to be hosting one of the World Heritage Site thus it has improved its identification across the world. The professional markers who create its awareness to the public are keen to ensure that it captures the attention of all people irrespective of the age and gender. In the advertisement they include all the features, for example, people dining around the table in an open place with the background of the Uluru rock is likely to attract not only the men but also women therefore those who will not be attracted by the appearance of the unique feature can be attracted by the setting of the dining table in a open place (Arnold & Arnold, 2003). The picture of people riding on camels also adds value to the feature and the citer as whole because it attracts the attention of more people especially young boys and men who would wish to have such an opportunity. Including the young men as they cook and eat together in an open place is specific on the attention of this group of people. The advertisement also add value to the identity of the Australians especially by portraying the togetherness of the people as they fed together and their freedom and security to stay and eat in an open place at night. The residents are also associated with such cultural and social activities like riding the camels. This guarantees the tourists that the place is secure for survival of any human being. The people portrayed by the picture are from various parts of the world but are shown to unite well with the locals who guide them around the place. This has greatly facilitated to the increase of the number of people touring the place people are certain of the security of the place and the hostility of the residents (Layton, 2001). Commercial on Kikadu National Park The picture above advertises Kikadu National Park is one of the tourists’ attraction parks which are located at the northern park of Australia. The place is both biologically and ecologically diverse with most of the natural features like rivers, landforms and wildlife concentrated in it. For a long time the park has been used as an identification of Australia due to its wide recognition across the world. The markers of the feature who are concern about advertising the feature do it in a more professional way that they are able to survive in the stiff competition (Smitz & Cruttenden, 2005). The modern advertising agents have developed their arts with the rise and advancements in the field of mass communication. Mass media is aimed to reach information to a large group or mass amount of people. Different mediums can be used to reach information to mass audience, for example, the magazines, radios and television. The advertisement above was used on print media and was meant o reach as many people as possible. Print is better than electronic because the audiences will have time to study it and keep referring to it if need be (Ovington, 2009). The above picture displays so many things in the area even without being narrated by anyone. By just a mention of National park, wildlife features in the minds of the audiences thus many of them may not be attracted to them because these features are very common and not all everyone especially women may be interested in seeing animals. The advertisers and markers of Kikadu National Park considers this thus in their commercial print out they include other features such as water bodies, rocks and forests. This may attract the attention of other people like women who may not be interested in wildlife. Both men and women are included in the pictures as they explore the park in search of good sites with might reputation. Both parties are shown to enjoy all what they see at the place including the good resting places. This advertisements is able to distinguish this park from the rest across the world thus attracting more local and international tourists in search for more and variety of features which they belief are not available in other related features but are only found in Kikadu National park. Among other features, this park also serves as a national identity. This is enhanced by the information that is provided by the advertisers (Parish, 2004). All the three adverts shown above are advertising the some of the many sites of tourists’ attraction in Australia. Although most of these features may not attract everybody either because of the unfavorable environmental conditions or because it may be risky to reach at them, the advertisers are keen to ensure that they are able to capture and hold the attention of everyone whether male or female and at all ages. There are various myths of gender and age which outlines the differences between men and women and those that states that different groups of people have different opportunities of accessing some of the natural opportunities thus women the most unfortunate species is reluctant towards reaching them. Some of these unique features existed from the beginning and according to the Aboriginal Australians, their beliefs held their existence to be superstitious. For example, Uluru or Ayers Rock was seen as a sacred place where the indigenous Australians were offering their religious sacrifices and only old and some specified religious men were allowed to step into these areas. This belief has existed for a long period of time especially with the indigenous communities no woman could dream of visiting these places or allow their children to. These cultures have however changed and with the revolution and adaptation of other cultural and religious activities and the prohibited places are becoming economic improvement sites by attracting many local and foreign tourists (Pearce, 2005). The pictures of these advertisements are breaking these taboos and encouraging more people to visit these sites irrespective of age and gender. Many of the women who had interests of discovering the reality behind the uniqueness of these features can plan to visit them. The sites are completely natural apart from few things like resting places and boats for transportation which people have made to add to the comfort offered by the natural features. Many people are eager to discover how these features look like not only in the photographs but also eyewitness. This is why the pictures displayed by the advertisers as they create public awareness of the existence of these features have a good influence of their visits (Rebe, 2002). Both men and women are guaranteed freedom of exploring anything which is of interest to human life. For example, the pictures of women as they enjoy themselves exploring the realities of the natural resources attracts the attention of many women across the world that they all wish to have such a moment. This is having a positive effect on the tourism market because it attracts more people especially women to visit the sites. It is also improving the cultural activities as well as customs of the residents by reforming people especially the indigenous from their conservative states to embrace the changes. Women and children are the most unfortunate because they are held captives of social taboos and superstitions (Uden, 2005). The adverts are also reducing the gaps between many races in Australia, for example, the Aboriginal Australians; they did not have similar opportunities of accessing the available resources. Their customs demanded that they remain in their homes or around their families especially women who remained at home to nurse their husbands and children. Like the modern Australians, the indigenous are free to visit any feature and explore them. The touring of these places by the local tourists is influencing the international tourists and boosting the market because help and guide the foreigners in achieving their objectives (Folland, Goodman & Stano, 2007). Other natural factors that the commercials displays concerning the identity of Australia is their ability to take care of the natural resources like rocks, rivers, wildlife and forests. They are also shown to be friendly not only to their fellow country men but also to the foreigners. So many people from all parts of the world are shown on the adverts meaning that they had visited Australia to explore its unique features. This is adding value to the market because more people turn up to make purchases of the products being advertised. The industry is highly contributing to the economic development of the area as well as its political and social status. All the advertisements are in print medium of communication so as reach as many audiences as possible and increase their understanding by allowing them more time to study them or discuss with others (Stacks & Salwen, 2008). Conclusion Advertisement is necessary as a marketing tool because creates awareness to the consumers about existence of goods and services and their benefits to them. Tourism industry in Australia is enjoying all the benefits of advertisement because it is one of the best performing industry especially because of its effects in the economic status of the nation. Kangaroo Island, Uluru or Ayers Rock and Kikadu National park are one of the leading natural features and tourists attraction sites. The study considered their recent used print advertisements and what the advertisers consider when creating the commercials. Gender is one of the factors which is put into consideration because the aim of the advertisers is to ensure that everybody is aware of the existence of these features and is willing to explore them. There are some myths which existed with the indigenous Australians and those that prevent the residents to fully explore the place. These included the taboo that women were not allowed to reach at the sacred places like Uluru; the advertisers are working hard to stop them. The advertisers also show these features as identities of Australia and some of the activities taking place like riding camels. Bibliography Langeland, D., 2008, Kangaroo Island: The Story of an Australian Mallee Forest, New York : Sound prints. McKelvey, M., 2003, Kangaroo Island, South Australia: Rigby. Miller , P., 2009, Kangaroo Island, New York: VDM Publishing House Ltd. Hallack, E., 2000, Kangaroo Island: Adelaide's sanatorium, with map and illustrations, Newcastle: W.K. Thomas, Printers and Publishers. Pearce, P., 2005, Tourist behaviour: themes and conceptual schemes, Dublin: Channel View Publications. Rebe T., 2002, Unearthed: The Aboriginal Tasmanians of Kangaroo Island, Kent Town: Wakefield Press Arnold, C. & Arnold, A., 2003, Uluru, Australia's Aboriginal heart, New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Layton, R., 2001, Uluru: an Aboriginal history of Ayers Rock, Australia: Aboriginal Studies Press. Smitz, P. & Cruttenden, P., 2005, Australia & New Zealand on a shoestring, Kansas: Lonely Planet. Ovington, D., 2009, Kakadu: A World Heritage of Unsurpassed Beauty, Australia: Australian Govt. Pub. Service. Parish, P., 2004, Kakadu: an Australian world heritage 1995 calendar, Melbourne: Steve Parish. Uden, T., 2005, Australia: the Backpackers Ultimate Guide, Melbourne: BUG Backpackers Guide. Folland, S., Goodman, A. & Stano, M., 2007, The economics of health and health care, London: Prentice Hall. Stacks, D. & Salwen, M., 2008, An integrated approach to communication theory and research, Jewish-Arab: Taylor & Francis. Tellis, J., 2004, Effective advertising: understanding when, how, and why advertising works, Cedar: SAGE. Schroeder Jonathan E. & Detlev Zwick (2004) ‘Mirrors of Masculinity: Representation and Identity in Advertising Images’, Consumption. Markets and Culture, Vol. 7 (1) pp. 21– 52. Louw, Eric (2010) ‘Selling politicians and creating celebrity’, excerpt from Ch 6 in The Media and the Political Process, London: Sage pp. 109-118; Cortese, Anthony (1999) “Muscularity as masculinity’. Provocateur: Images of Women and Minorities in Advertising, Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, pp. 58-62. Bignell Jonathon, (2002) “Advertisements”, Media Semiotics, Manchester: Manchester University Press, pp. 28-54. Read More

The imagery of advertising provides the consumers with necessary solutions to gender based tensions and other struggles over representing idealized masculine consumers. The historical approach of the artistic work focused on the how the male structure of the body is portrayed to differentiate them from their counterpart. The advertisers especially in Australia have a god image of the nation especially in terms of the preservation of natural environment. The political development of the nation is also reflected by the tight security in the area enhancing the freedom of exploring the tourist attraction sites (Louw, 2010).

The advertisers also show a positive perception towards the tourists who visit the place; the pictures used show the visitors as they peacefully enjoy their adventure. The social-cultural part is based on how families and couples relate, on the advertisement picture the couples are shown to enjoy as they relax with their children on the good picnic sites (Cortese, 1999). Media is preferred to be praying a great role in advertisement by reaching the targeted audiences. There are many different mediums of communication in Australia, these include: both local and international radio and television stations, newspapers, magazines and other electronic mediums like internet.

Through these channels the advertisements reaches as many tourists as possible and at their most favorable mediums (Bignell Jonathon, 2002). Below are some of the tourism advertisements which are used to create awareness of the existence of various tourists’ attraction centers. The first picture is on Kangaroo Island located in Southern part of Australia and it is the third largest from Tasmania and Melville Islands (Langeland, 2008). The second picture is on the Uluru or Ayers Rock which is a large sandstone rock.

It is one of the most recognizable natural features since it existence from the beginning and was even recognized by the Aboriginal Australians as a sacred place. The third picture is commonly used in the advertisement of Kikadu National Park in the northern parts of Australia. These are some of the features which are recorded to be attracting most of the tourists in Australia. The advertisers have considered all their skills and creativity to ensure that their commercials serve the intended purposes.

These commercials include social factors like myths of gender, nature, Australian identity, race, celebrity or ‘cool’ which are used to sell products to consumers. Advertisement on Kangaroo Island The above picture is considered in the advertisement of Kangaroo Island which was separated from the rest of the land by the rise of sea level. According to Hallack (2000) the stone tools which are found in the area suggests that Aboriginal (indigenous) people at least 11, 000 years ago. This Island started attracting the attention of the of the foreigners long ago, in 1802, explorer Matthew Flinders explored the land and named it "Kanguroo (sic) Island" after he almost landed on the head of a kangaroo.

The stories told through the print and electronic records like magazines, newspapers in the archives, radios and televisions create some sense of curiosity thus people have interests in visiting the place or getting more information regarding the place (McKelvey, 2003). The print out for advertisement is meant to attract the attention of all genders. The inclusion of good resting place may attract the attention of women as well as their children. The part of the Island which attracts the tourists most is its natural features and not the man made.

The many kangaroos, ground cover, water and the well shaped rocks are the key features attracting both local and international tourists. The picture is common in both print and electronic media in the local and international markets of the consumers thus it is viewed as one of the identities. This advertisement is very natural and distinct this island from the others hence is preferred by the tourists (Miller, 2009).

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