'People aren't stupid': Bushfire crisis scorches Australia's image ausfires
Debate has raged over whether the Matesong television commercial is an appropriate depiction of modern Australia. The timing of the campaign amid the bushfire crisis – which has burned more than 4 million hectares and destroyed 1200 homes in NSW – has also been questioned.
Those calls were partly heeded in the past 24 hours, with Tourism Australia in the United Kingdom confirming it had hit pause on the campaign’s digital rollout, asTourism Australia representative Sally Cope said the decision was taken "out of respect" and the agency would assess the situation "daily".
"There is no doubt in my mind that this national bushfire emergency will have a significant impact on both international visitation to Australia and domestic tourism within Australia,’’ he said. “We are monitoring the global media coverage and its impact on future bookings closely and assessing how to address the impact of this as the situation unfolds,” he said.
But Dr Picken said the images with the greatest impact were those that “joined the dots” between the fires and tourists such as holidaymakers sheltering on a beach as flames razed homes.It is difficult to assess the cost of the bushfire crisis and smoke haze on the tourism industry, but operators across NSW are reporting declines in business.
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