Australian Test cricket captain Pat Cummins is all set to star in a special instalment Tourism Australia’s Come and Say G’day campaign to run on TV screens across India throughout the upcoming five Test series between Australia and India, beginning Perth on November 22, making him the newest member of Tourism Australia’s Friends of Australia advocacy programme.

The campaign features 30 videos of 15 and 6 seconds

In a press statement, Tourism Australia states that the campaign features 30 videos of 15 and 6 seconds, Out of Home creative and digital advertisements. A week ago, Tourism Australia also released a content series in India featuring the recently retired Australian cricketer, David Warner, showcasing his favourite Australian holiday destinations.

Phillipa Harrison

“With a population of more than 1.4 billion people and more Indians looking to travel the potential in the Indian market is endless and we see the upcoming Test series as our chance to get on the front foot and promote our country to a captive TV audience,” says Phillipa Harrison, Managing Director, Tourism Australia.

“The Test series will attract enormous TV audiences of up to 50 million across India and tens of millions of those are high yielding travellers who are in the market for an international holiday. While we have their attention firmly on Australia for the cricket this is an unmissable chance to encourage those travellers to visit Australia and see what we have to offer as a holiday destination,” she adds.

Harrison says she is hopeful that the number of Indians travelling to Australia will double 2019 levels by 2028, owing to strong aviation links between India and Australia amongst other factors. 

Susan Coghill, Chief Marketing Officer, Tourism Australia, says that the latest special instalment builds on the work the global Come and Say G’day campaign has already achieved since it launched in October 2022.

Susan Coghill

“Howzat for a holiday? proves the versatility of our brand ambassador Ruby the Kangaroo, who is once again voiced by the wonderful Rose Byrne. Ruby was at the centre of our global campaign when it launched two years ago and since then she has been central to all of our work including a campaign for the FIFA Women’s World Cup and now cricket,” Coghill says.

“Howzat for a holiday?” will launch in India today, just ahead of the highly anticipated Test series between Australia and India. The matches are set to take place in Perth from November 22-26, Adelaide from December 6-10, Brisbane from December 14-18, Melbourne from December 26-30, and Sydney from January 3-7, 2025. 

The campaign will also be adapted for the UK, going live from January 10, 2025, for both the Women’s Ashes and the Men’s Ashes series against England in November 2025.

“This new creative is part of a whole range of activity around the Summer of Cricket. Ahead of the Test series we launched a four-part social media content series with David Warner, we followed that with the launch of Howzat for a holiday? and we will also be hosting a group of Bollywood talent here in Australia. All of this activity will run in India throughout the series to showcase Australia as a holiday destination,” says Coghill.

“This is now a proven formula and it is one we will execute once again with a push into England with localised creative during the Women’s and Men’s Ashes here in Australia next year,” she adds.