Tourism Australia introduces traditional names across major destinations

Tourism Australia will introduce traditional Indigenous names for major Australian destinations into its marketing strategy in a bid to attract more international visitors.

The approach was introduced by TA’s CEO Phillipa Harrison at its Destination Australia conference in Melbourne earlier this month.

“We’re going to be dual naming the cities, using the current term alongside the traditional Aboriginal name,” Harrison said, according to the Australian.

“We’ve been doing it in social media and will be rolling it out across all of our content from this point on.”

The destination marketing entity said it would roll out dual-naming on marketing material for capital cities and other specific locations around Australia by using the known Aboriginal name alongside the English name.

Aboriginal and dual naming is becoming more common in Australia, with both the private and public sector seeking to acknowledge the traditional owners of the land we live, work and travel on.

According to TA, the move also incorporates 60,000 + years of Indigenous custodianship, language, and knowledge into the mainstream.

Late last year, Perth Airport took a similar approach to naming at its boarding gates across Terminal 1 Domestic, Terminal 3 and Terminal 4.

The screens at these terminals rotate between the commonly used place name and the name of the Traditional Custodians.

For example, a flight to Adelaide will be displayed as Adelaide/Kaurna Country, and flights to Newman will be Newman/Nyiyaparli Country.

TA’s new approach follows the launch of its latest international campaign to encourage travellers to book their next “big” holiday in Australia.

The $40 million campaign, “Don’t Go Small, Go Australia”, was rolled out in key markets such as the UK and the US to keep Australia front of mind.

Harrison said TA is already working on a new global campaign, promising a “bold and creative” approach.

Featured image: Tourism Australia