Keep it social, tourism group urges

Cheer squad: Australian tourism businesses should recruit their fans to act as social media ambassadors, Tourism Australia says. Picture: Bridgeclimb Source: Supplied

SMALL businesses and tourism operators are being recruited as social media ambassadors in a national publicity drive to make Australia the world's most Tweeted-about holiday destination.

Tourism Australia has published a set of social media guidelines to help turn the almost one million people working in the nation's tourism sector into the world's biggest online marketing team.

The guidelines recommend small tourism operators create social media platforms that allow their fans to be "the hero" such as Facebook pages that feature user-submitted photographs and content, and to give fans "compelling stories" they want to share on their social networks.

Tourism Australia Managing Director Andrew McEvoy said the organisation wanted to build on Australia's status as 2012's most popular travel destination on Facebook, Google Plus and Instagram.

"Ultimately, we want our four million Facebook fans, the 23 million Australians who live here and the 6.1 million people who visited last year to become part of the world's biggest social media team and ambassadors for our country," he said.

"The more operators willing and able to become part of our social media team, to share their great tourism experiences and demonstrate Australia as an aspiring travel destination, the better."

Tourism Australia has released a new advertisement with a new take on the famous Icehouse song Great Southern Land.

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