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Lose yourself in Melbourne

The City of Melbourne has welcomed a new $12.4 million tourism marketing campaign. Introduced in September by the Victorian Government, the campaign uses the tagline, 'It's Easy to Lose Yourself in Melbourne'. The campaign is designed to promote the city as a place of hidden treasures and invites visitors on a journey of discovery.

Melbourne Lord Mayor, John So, said that the initiative is consistent with the 2005 Tourism Industry Summit, which was hosted in Melbourne and attended by Federal Minister for Small Business and Tourism, Fran Bailey.

"We have been working with key agencies responsible for attracting tourists, major events and conventions to establish a joint tourism plan," Lord Mayor So said. "The plan brings together Tourism Victoria, Destination Melbourne Ltd, the Victorian Major Events Company, the Melbourne Convention and Visitors Bureau and the City of Melbourne. It provides for a coordinated approach to tourism and events marketing, advertising and servicing, and the development of strong branding and positioning of Melbourne."

The Lose Yourself campaign features a young woman using a giant ball of thread to find her way around Melbourne. It comprises television, cinema, magazine and online advertising, public relations activities, sponsorship of the Moonlight Cinema in Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth, plus art house cinema promotions in Brisbane, Sydney and Adelaide.

The television advertisements commenced in September, with a 90 second version airing on all commercial networks in Brisbane, Sydney and Adelaide and SBS nationally. The campaign will be launched in New Zealand in 2007.

Lord Mayor So said that Melborne is a capital city for Melbournians, Victorians and Australians and is now emerging as a global capital, particularly with the success of the Commonwealth Games.

"Combining our ideas, expertise and resources in these ways places Melbourne in an unmatched position for developing our tourism and events potential," he said. "A coordinated strategy with key tourism and events agencies means Melbourne is well placed to make the most of its globally renowned assets. The City of Melbourne's tourism initiatives combine the talents of our Melbourne Marketing and Tourism, Events Melbourne, and our Customer and International Relations Divisions. Part of our success lies in our excellent visitor services, such as the Melbourne Visitor Centre in our magnificent Federation Square."

A third of all enquiries at the Visitor Centre are about regional Victoria, making it a crucial gateway to the State's tourism. Dramatic coastlines, vineyards, ski fields and lake districts are all within a couple of hours of the city centre.

"Melbourne's city visitors also receive excellent help from our booth in Bourke Street Mall, our roving City Ambassadors and our multilingual orientation tours," the Lord Mayor said.

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