Tourism Australia and Jetstar woo Japanese tourists

Tourism Australia and Jetstar will spend A$10 million ($13 million) on a Japanese advertising campaign in an effort to boost tourist numbers devastated by Japan’s earthquake and tsunami.

Japanese travellers were once Australia’s biggest tourist market but visitor numbers have dropped dramatically since a powerful tsunami hit northern Japan on March 11.

Just over 350,000 Japanese have visited Australia so far this year, a fall of 11 per cent compared to 2010.

But Tourism Australia and Jetstar say they are confident the market has the potential to grow, and will each contribute about $1.6 million a year over three years on joint marketing activities in the world’s third-largest economy.

The campaign comes as Jetstar launches Jetstar Japan in 2012, its new domestic low-cost carrier.

“Like Tourism Australia, Jetstar has ambitious expansion plans for wider Asia and sees sustained and large growth opportunities, led by the greater China market, and numerable South East and North Asian markets including Japan,” Tourism Australia chief executive Andrew McEvoy said at a press conference in Sydney on Monday.

Japanese travellers spent about $1.5 billion in Australia in 2010 and Tourism Australia believes this market has the potential to increase to $3.3 billion by 2020.

Tourism Australia will use the campaign message There’s nothing like Australia alongside Jetstar’s contact details “to drive bookings and inbound travel.”