Rodney Harrex Interview
Rob Savage sits down with Rodney Harrex from Visit Australia
This month I had a great little chat with Rodney Harrex who's the General Manager in Europe for Visit Australia. We talked about Tasmania, the Olympics and everything in between. Prepare yourself for an overwhelming desire to visit Oz.
One random, hypothetical day - someone hands you a one way ticket to anywhere in Australia. Where would you head to and why?
One of my favourite places is actually Tasmania. I enjoy the wilderness engagement and the natural attributes of what Australia has to offer. Tasmania also has very unique and very personal accommodation experiences. You can do a self drive experience - just get the ferry across from Victoria, arrive in Launceston and then plan your journey as you want. When you travel up and down Tasmania it's so different in terms of what you see on one coast as opposed to the other
Obviously you keep a close eye on traveller statistics when it comes to the Aussies and the UK. What trends have stood out the most in the past two years?
From an arrival point of view we've actually had a decline. Why is that? We did such a great job getting people down for the Ashes, there were an extra thirty five to forty thousand people who came specifically for the Ashes at the end of 2006 - in November and December. After that great cricket result we haven't been able to inspire that many people to come back without the sport - so we're down six percent. But I think there are some underlying, fundamental strengths between our countries – culturally and historically. It's about the Australian lifestyle – people want to see and experience the lifestyle of space and sometimes some decent weather. Sometimes that just what it's about. There's also the desire to engage with Australians.
And what do you think we can expect as a result of this?
We're in a fortunate position in that there are thirty carriers that fly between Australia and the UK, and that creates a very healthy aviation environment. I think the next twelve months are going to be very difficult economically and when you have a tough economic environment, one of the key things people think about is long haul travel. The interesting thing though in this market, when you do research and talk to people, is that travel is still an important factor. People still need to get away and escape for a while, but I think we'll have a flat period in terms of people arriving into Australia.
I interviewed the Editor of TNT Magazine a few weeks ago and asked him if he had any questions for you. So from Krysten Booth I ask you: “How would you get young Australians to explore their own country – when a lot of the Aussies in London have only really seen Sydney, Melbourne or Brisbane? (I've ever seen a campaign like this targeted at that age.)
Well we actually do quite a bit of domestic marketing so it's a two fold approach. First of all it's about getting foreigners from all of our overseas markets to travel to Australia and secondly it's about getting Australians to see and explore their own country. Australians have a very interesting attitude when it comes to travel – it's very easy to get on a plane and go so we've been doing quite a bit of work to make them realise what is in their own country. We promote all of Australia and focus on seven key areas – Aboriginal Australia, Aussie Coastal Lifestyle, Australian Major Cities, Australian Journeys, Food and Wine, Nature in Australia and Outback Australia. Australia is an emotional experience and that's hard to market, but really worth it. That's why we rely heavily on taking journalists out there because they're great at communicating what they see and do to their specific audience.
What exciting new projects can we expect to emerge from the Tourism Australia pipeline over the next twelve months?
There's a new campaign coming out later this year to replace the current run of: “So where the bloody hell are you?” We've got Baz Luhrmann to direct a creative piece - Baz is an ideal person to do this because he's a very emotional person. Basically there's a movie that's launching this year – called Australia and it's starring Nicole Kidman, and Hugh Jackman. It's set to launch later in the year so we've asked Baz to create a piece that we can put out there in the run up to that, which will play off the strong messages that come through in the movie. The work that Baz is doing for us is due out in October.
How did you get where you are today?
I've been with Tourism Australia for twenty years and I've been very fortunate. I've actually been based up here once before when the office was in Putney, so I was there for four and a half years. Before that I spent six and a half years in our American offices – so in New York and Los Angeles. Before that I was also in our New Zealand office. At the very beginning I actually applied for a contract role – they were doing event management and needed some assistance. I did that for six months, then some other roles came up, I applied and started to work in the media support area. It was an interesting time to join the organisation – in the late eighties, when tourism in Australia was really beginning to grow. So I've seen a lot of change over the years – it's an important industry to Australia, it employs a lot of people. It takes people to all over Australia so all visitors travel very widely. It creates jobs, funds conservation and globally - it brings people closer together.
Which British, D List celebrity do you find more irritating? Jordan or Kerry Katona?
Both of them I guess! They're both irritating – equally so! That's one thing which is interesting in the UK – the way the media is obsessed with these people.
Is Tourism Australia going to be doing anything to market the 2012 Olympics - to the Aussies coming over during the Olympiad?
This is the opportunity for Britain to really shine so we would not be doing anything to take that away from them at all. We know from Sydney and the 2000 Olympics that it's a really special time that allows visitors to immerse themselves. Yes it is about the sport but it's also about what visitors see and understand in that country. We'll definitely do some advertising beforehand so if people want to escape, they can – just like the Sydney Olympics when there were a lot of Sydney-siders who wanted to get away from the crowds. But more importantly this is the opportunity for Britain to shine. I think it will be an important one – to bring the country together, in terms of getting the population behind it – getting pride and respect behind what these athletes put in - when it comes to representing their country.
There are practically dozens of free magazines out there in ex-pat hubs – targeting Saffas, Kiwis and Aussies. Of these which ones do you trust the most?
I actually don't read any of them – I have to be honest. I get most of my news online and I think a lot of them are aimed at a young audience and I'm 40, with three children! I read the Australia, smh.com.au and theaustralian.com.au. I just click on and read through.
What's your favourite mini break destination in the UK?
I enjoy the Cotswolds – they're not too far, it's a big area and it covers a lot of the country. That's a great thing about living in the UK – everything is so close and everything is quite different. You never have to do the same thing twice.
Finally – who do you think has done more for international Aussie comedy, Kath or Kim?
Kim – she's young and she's got attitude. I like a person with attitude.
- Rob Savage
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