Northern Territory commercial aims to attract Australian tourists

A unique new television commercial that uses a surprise twist to encourage Australians to book a holiday to the Northern Territory before it’s too late will start running across the country from this weekend.

Chief Minister and Tourism Minister Adam Giles said the It’s About Time … Do the NT campaign aims to increase holiday bookings to the Northern Territory by using the theme of life and time running out.

“The commercial breaks the mould of normal tourism ads, which traditionally feature vast landscapes, sweeping imagery and operatic soundtracks,” he said.

“Instead, the It’s About Time commercial features ordinary people in their everyday lives, beginning with characters reflecting about older relatives and loved ones who have ‘gone to a better place’.

“The humorous twist in the ad is that the better place is revealed to be the Northern Territory with the closing tagline of ‘Go now, regret never’ emphasising to viewers the need to book a holiday to the NT before it’s too late.

“The Northern Territory is an iconic destination that is on many Australians’ bucket list and this commercial features the larrikin spirit and humour the Territory is known for to help us stand out from the crowd.”

Mr Giles said domestic holiday visitors were extremely important to the Territory, injecting about $553 million into our economy annually, and the It’s About Time…Do the NT campaign was aimed at attracting even more visitors here.

“Tourism NT is investing $1.4 million on an extensive six week media blitz that will include free-to-air TV, pay TV, cinemas, outdoor advertising, YouTube, social media and co-operative campaigns with retail and airline partners,” he said.

“This is one of the biggest campaigns in years and will run from Sunday in the Northern Territory’s key markets of Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, regional New South Wales and Victoria.”

The campaign features original music from Alice Springs musician Dave Crowe and includes a separate television commercial promoting both the Top End and Red Centre as well as digital and print ads promoting regional areas of the NT like Darwin, Kakadu, Katherine, Alice Springs and Uluru.

Mr Giles said the Country Liberals Government had increased Tourism NT’s overall budget for 2015-16 to $50.4 million to help market the Northern Territory and its attractions.

“A thriving tourism industry will help to develop our regions, boost local businesses, create more jobs and grow the Territory economy,” he said.

“It’s all part of the Country Liberals Government’s plan to drive the development of North Australia and build a $2.2 billion visitor economy by 2020.”