'Not really for tourists' — Tasmania's reverse campaign to draw visitors

Australia's island state of Tasmania is telling tourists that the island is 'not really for tourists'. But this is not an announcement turning visitors away; Tourism Tasmania's new campaign is built on reverse psychology, designed to attract travellers who want to avoid crowds towards the island itself.

The reasoning offered behind the campaign comes from research — studies have shown that 'tourists hate themselves'. In other words, many people do not want to identify as a 'tourist'; Australians prefer to see themselves as 'travellers', and the campaign is built on that idea.

Former SBS newsreader Lee Lin Chin has been enlisted for the campaign. She lives mostly offline and does not use a mobile phone. In the campaign videos she explores Tasmania's walking trails.

The campaign's centrepiece video shows a man being pointed to the back of an endless queue for a 'world famous' pastry. Eventually he abandons the line to find solitude in the Tasmanian outdoors.

Tourism Tasmania's chief executive, Sarah Kingston Clark, said the campaign was deliberately wry rather than anti-visitor, and reflected the 'tensions' of modern travel.

Professor Can-Seng Ooi, professor of cultural and heritage tourism at the University of Tasmania, pointed to that tension in the research. 'Studies have shown that tourists hate themselves,' he said. 'They want to avoid each other.'

Ooi identified stressed people yearning for 'quietness' as the campaign's target audience, especially those living in cities on the mainland. He said it taps into the type of tourist people want to be, adding that people prefer to view themselves as 'travellers' because of the negative connotation of 'tourist'.

Ooi spent 20 years living in Scandinavia, researching how tourism, culture and heritage contribute to the development of regional destinations. He said the message is very Scandinavian, as is the imagery — the sauna, the vinyl records, the books and so on. Instead of the cold north, he said, this is the cold south: a quiet place where time slows down.

Char-lee McLennan, an associate professor from QUT's school of management, said the campaign used 'an element of reverse psychology' that could benefit regional economies by steering visitors beyond established hotspots. But she said its success depends on whether the real experience of visiting Tasmania lives up to its promise, as well as delivering meaningful economic benefits to regional communities.

Professor David Waller, a marketing expert with UTS, said Tasmania's 'Come down for air' theme was less 'anti-tourist' and more anti-overcrowded, line-joining tourist destinations. On Lee Lin Chin, he said she adds humour to the message: she is an icon — intelligent, avant garde, with a dry sense of humour.